Never Ask Me

Set in an affluent Austin, Tex., suburb, this cunning and complex domestic thriller from bestseller Abbott (The Three Beths) centers on the Pollitt family: parents Iris and Kyle and their teenage children, Julia and Grant. Early one morning, Julia and a friend, Ned, find Ned’s mother, Danielle Roberts, murdered in a neighborhood park. The Pollitts’ lives are turned upside down as all four family members become entangled in the subsequent investigation. Danielle—who facilitated the Pollitts’ contentious adoption of Grant from a St. Petersburg orphanage when he was a baby—had a complicated history with Iris and Kyle. Julia is tangentially involved in Ned’s prescription drug dealing business, and Grant has been receiving disturbing emails warning him that his parents are lying to him. Excerpts from Iris’s old journal chronicling Grant’s adoption process raise the suspense. And while the jaw-dropping conclusion feels a bit contrived, readers will appreciate the savvy way in which Abbott fits together the pieces of the puzzle. This page-turner will please old and new fans alike. Agent: Peter Ginsberg, Curtis Brown. (July)