We don't talk about Carol A novel

Six Black girls from the same neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina, disappeared in the mid 1960s. After her grandmother's death, Sydney Singleton brings their stories and cases to the forefront when she finds a photo of her Aunt Carol, who was one of the missing girls. Tracing her way back through the neighborhood, with important clues shrouded in the shadows of family dynamics, Sydney unravels the girls' cases and contends with both her immediate family trauma and her struggles with starting her own family. Berry explores issues with police and media favoritism, the historical context for Black families not allowing anything negative to be publicized, and how these factors combined to keep this 60-year-old case unsolved. Berry also highlights the world of true-crime podcasts and internet sleuths who can help solve a crime, if the right amount of respect is applied. Media coverage of missing Black girls, generational abuse, and trauma are deftly brought forth in this nail-biting debut thriller.

Berry debuts with a striking and soulful crime novel about a woman investigating her aunt's decades-old disappearance. Publicist Sydney Singleton draws on her skills as a former investigative reporter when she learns, after her grandmother's death, that she had an aunt she never knew about. After a little digging, Sydney discovers that Carol Singleton, her father's sister, was one of six young Black women who vanished between 1963 and 1965 in Raleigh, N.C., with little follow up from law enforcement. Certain that the disappearances are linked, she trawls old newspaper articles for clues and posts on true crime sites until she attracts the attention of a well-known true crime podcast and prompts the Raleigh PD to reopen the case. Meanwhile, she juggles a strained marriage, arduous IVF treatments, and painful childhood memories while attempting to repair her relationship with her younger sister, Sasha. Berry maintains suspense via the central mystery, but she's as interested in character as she is in plot, to the novel's immense credit. With an eye toward racial disparities in crime solving, Berry traces the emotional fallout of Carol's disappearance on Sydney's family and their neighbors, and delivers a stirring ode to the power of community. Readers will be wowed. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (June)