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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

The 1990 disappearance of Charlotte Salter, a well-liked mother of four, remained unsolved for decades, burdening the village of Glensted with rumors of infidelity and suspicion. As salt on the wound, the Salters’ close friend, Duncan Ackerly, drowned the day after her disappearance, and Charlotte’s son, Paul, eventually committed suicide. Twenty years later, Charlotte’s remaining adult children, Niall, Ollie, and Etty, have gathered in Glensted to sell the family home. Duncan Ackerly’s sons, Greg and Morgan, have also returned to launch a podcast about the likely connections between Charlotte’s disappearance and their father’s death. With the spotlight on the police’s questionable initial response, Bristol DI Maud O’Connor is sent to Glensted to re-investigate both cases. Maud confronts resistance from her team, raging public criticism of the original investigation, and decades of cold clues with unshakable confidence in the cases’ solvability. French cleverly plays on that suspense by doling out Maud’s plan and clues in tantalizing bits. The wolf hides in sheep’s clothing here, to great effect.