The Fourth Girl

Staub (Windfall) examines the corrosive power of shared secrets in this devilish thriller. Childhood friends Midge Kennedy, Kelly Barrow, Talia Shaw, and Caroline Winterfield grew up together in the hollowed-out town of Mulberry Bay, N.Y., united by their shared dream of getting out. On prom night in 2000, Caroline walked out of her family home and into the woods, never to be seen again. Only the other three girls know where she went—a secret that’s bonded and haunted them across the intervening decades. Twenty-five years later, Midge, Kelly, and Talia return to Mulberry Bay, hoping Caroline is still alive and will finally make good on their long-stalled plans to reunite. Shortly after the women arrive, however, they start receiving mysterious, threatening letters that reference secrets only Caroline would know. A murder and sightings of a strange figure skulking around town feed their fears that the friend they’ve been protecting for decades is now trying to kill them. Staub effortlessly glides between the immediate aftermath of Caroline’s disappearance and the women’s increasingly tense reunion, doling out key details with a steady hand before walloping readers with a surprise ending. It’s dark, satisfying fun. Agent: Laura Blake Peterson, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Mar.)