Killer Story

Journalist Petra Kovach, the narrator of this unconvincing thriller from Witten (The Necklace), is desperate to keep her career alive after being laid off from several jobs. Petra hopes to use her current position at a Boston newspaper to seek justice for murdered Harvard student Olivia Anderson. Petra was once Olivia’s camp counselor, though they’d grown apart when Olivia became a celebrity for her right-wing videos. While filming one, Olivia opened her dorm door, only to be fatally bludgeoned. A professor with whom she’d been sleeping was tried and acquitted, but Petra believes the real killer was never identified. On the verge of being fired again, she sells her boss on a podcast dedicated to the crime, based on the flimsy claim of Olivia’s brother that he knows a secret about his sister’s murderer. Petra scrambles to find something of substance to report, crossing line after line in the process, imperiling her career and her personal life. The twists aren’t surprising, and Petra’s constant ends-justify-the-means mindset becomes tiresome. Those interested in a whodunit framed around a podcast will be better served by Matt Wesolowski’s Beast. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (Jan.)