For the Best

Poe Foundation CEO Jules Worthington-Smith, the protagonist of this smoothly plotted thriller from Lillie (Little Voices), wakes up one morning with a hangover at home in Providence, R.I. The night before, Jules hosted an event honoring celebrity professor Terrance Castle, but she remembers little of it. Then Det. Frank Ramos arrives at her door and shows her a wallet that she identifies as hers. Ramos tells her the wallet was found next to a murder victim in an alley. The police take Jules to the crime scene, where she learns the victim is Terrance, whom she vaguely recalls meeting at a bar after the event. The only suspect in the killing, Jules soon loses her job and her reputation. As she struggles to piece together what happened that night, she launches a vlog with the purpose of uncovering Terrance’s murderer. Along the way, Jules must contend with her fraught family history and her drinking problem. Lillie keeps the suspense high up to the shocking ending. Readers will root for troubled Jules every step of the way. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders and Assoc. (Sept.)