The last ferry out A novel

From the author of the terrific We Were Never Here (2021) comes this story of a woman whose determination to confront a terrible memory leads her to some startling revelations. Abby's fiancée, Eszter, died on the tropical island of Isla Colel. Coming to the island now, trying to understand how it happened, Abby discovers a small community of ex-pat Americans who make the small island their home, one of whom hints that he might know something about Eszter's death. But before he can elaborate, he vanishes. Does the man really know something? Is this all an elaborate prank? (Nobody seems too bothered by the man's disappearance.) Or is it possible that one of these people is actually the murderer who killed Abby's fiancée? In her previous novels, Bartz demonstrated a gift for telling the kind of story that grabs the reader with a killer premise and keeps the reader flipping the pages with a combination of intricately rendered characters and impossible-to-predict twists and turns; that continues here. A first-rate thriller.

Bestseller Bartz (The Spare Room) chronicles a grieving woman's quest for answers in this stylish, serpentine thriller. Four months ago, Abby's fiancée, Eszter, died unexpectedly during a solo vacation on a small Caribbean island off of Cancún. Abby attempts to deal with the loss by heading to Isla Colel herself. Once she arrives, she becomes involved with a trio of expats Eszter had befriended during her trip, each of whom is dealing with their own trauma. As the behavior of the expat crew grows increasingly suspicious, flashbacks reveal escalating tensions in Abby and Eszter's relationship before Eszter left. When one of Abby's new friends disappears just before sharing the details of Eszter's death, Abby fears that her fiancée's killer is still on Colel. Though the setup signals a traditional locked-room mystery, Bartz delivers something sadder and stranger, pairing tender explorations of grief and homophobia with a series of horrifying twists. The results aren't for the squeamish, but those willing to follow Bartz's lead are in for a memorable ride. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (May)