Forget me not A novel

Willingham's suffocating latest Southern thriller (after Only If You're Lucky) thrusts disillusioned New York City journalist Claire Campbell back into the rural South Carolina environs she'd hoped to flee forever. When Claire's father calls to tell her that her mother has been in an accident, she reluctantly returns to her hometown of Claxton, S.C., having just quit her job and tired of her latest friend-with-benefits. Still grieving her older sister Natalie's disappearance 22 years earlier, Claire can't bear to stay at home, so she takes lodging on a spooky nearby island and finds a job picking grapes for elderly local Mitchell and his spacey wife, Marcia. Finding Marcia's teenage diary ignites Claire's curiosity about her new employers, and soon, she's mired in Dixie-fiction clichés, dealing with copperheads and cups of suspicious tea as she notices that Marcia's youthful obsession with an older man mirrors the long-missing Natalie's. Willingham tries to enliven the flat proceedings with gothic accouterments and long-festering family secrets, but none of it takes. The result is a pedestrian tale of angst and obsession that will leave overheated readers yearning for a blast of convincing realism. (Aug.)

Once again, Willingham (Only If You're Lucky) delivers a gripping thriller packed with twists that will keep readers on edge until the final page. It's been 15 years since Claire returned home to South Carolina, a place haunted by the disappearance of her older sister Natalie at age 18. Having been called back to her hometown by her father, Claire gravitates to nearby Galloway Farm, where Natalie spent time before she disappeared. Hoping to escape her estranged mother and feel closer to her sister, Claire takes a job at the farm and moves into its guest cabin, where she discovers an old journal belonging to one of the farm's owners. The diary recounts a story of young love that soon takes on more sinister form. It also hints at unsolved crimes that lead Claire to investigate Natalie's ties to the farm. When she uncovers evidence of another woman's disappearance, Claire begins to wonder if these are more than coincidences--and if she's getting too close to the truth. VERDICT Fans of Sally Hepworth and Kate Alice Marshall will enjoy the novel's Southern heat, slow-burning tension, and suspense.--Kerri Copus