Review by Booklist Review
This bunch of college pals used to be tight, but as in many groups from that time of life, they drifted apart as they eased out of youth and into adulthood. Now they're reuniting for a much-needed summer vacation at the house on Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, where they used to spend so much time. But something's different now. . . . Something is wrong. One of the friends vanishes; somebody is breaking into vacation homes in the area; and at least one of the group has a growing feeling that something awful is about to happen. The new novel by the author of An Honest Living, 2022, and The Stolen Coast, 2023, is extremely well-crafted--it's not just the superb writing but also the structure of the story, which grabs the reader from the opening paragraphs and keeps them constantly on their toes, trying to figure out what's going on, and becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of these beautifully constructed characters. Murphy outdoes himself here, spectacularly.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
CrimeReads editor-in-chief Murphy (The Stolen Coast) charts the complex relationships between a group of longtime friends in this masterful psychological thriller. After attorney Jim inherited his family's beach house in southeastern Massachusetts, he made it a summer retreat for his four closest college friends and nicknamed it the Nanumett Sand and Swim Club. In recent years, the group has drifted apart, but Jim and his new wife, Valentina, have decided to reunite the crew, who are all at new phases of their lives: Bruce is a bestselling novelist; Rami a diplomat; Maya an art teacher; and her partner, Shannon, an expectant mother. Though the reunion begins well, things take a turn when Bruce chides Jim for bad parenting, causing the pair to get into a physical confrontation. The next day, Bruce disappears. Ties between the group unravel further when a woman named Camille arrives, claiming Bruce invited her. Eventually, somebody winds up dead. Murphy takes time to flesh out each of his main characters before executing a series of dizzying rug pulls. It's a devilish twist on the traditional locked-room mystery. Agent: Duval Osteen, UTA. (June)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Strange things are happening in the Massachusetts resort town of Buzzards Bay, where a group of old college friends has reunited at a large summer house. Jim, the narrator, a lawyer, inherited the ancestral home and turned it into a retreat for his circle of close friends. He and his wife, Valentina, and twin children are joined there by Maya, an art teacher, and her pregnant wife, Shannon; Rami, a diplomat who spends much of his time in Europe; and Jim's late-arriving, ill-tempered best friend, Bruce, writer of a popular series of crime-solving novels about a philosophy professor. A physical brawl between Jim and Bruce and the latter's subsequent disappearance are the first of a string of odd, unexplained events to pierce the idyllic surroundings. Is the creaking and heaving house "troubled," as is suggested by a "self-appointed medium" from the local library who convinces Jim to conduct a séance there? The woman fails to make contact with Bruce or anyone else, succeeding only in stirring up unpleasant thoughts among the friends--and between Jim and Valentina in both their waking and dream lives. "Little secrets, all around: Somehow, they never brought me anything but pleasure," muses Jim. Until they don't. Though the climax seems forced, the sly, subversive way Murphy undercuts Agatha Christie andBig Chill tropes keeps the reader on edge. As with his previous novel,The Stolen Coast (2023), he makes the most of the coastal setting, advancing the belief of Jim's forebearers that it has "a special wavelength or disposition" conducive to ghosts. Another top-notch effort by Murphy, one of the most distinctive of young crime-oriented novelists. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
