The Block Party

Murder shakes the wealthy denizens of Meadowbrook, Mass., from their suburban stupor in Day’s appealing debut. The action starts during an exclusive Meadowbrook cul-de-sac’s Memorial Day celebration, where Day introduces the novel’s key players: sexy widow Brooke Bailey, melancholic mom Mandy Kumar, real estate agent Emily Adair, and Emily’s sister, Alex Fox, the event’s organizer, who’s fortified herself with one too many glasses of wine. During the party, someone dies, and the timeline begins to shift between the current Memorial Day and Memorial Days one year earlier and one year later. Potential killers and victims gradually emerge alongside the cul-de-sac’s “waterfall of secrets” as the women’s friendships evolve and they start comparing notes that coalesce, uncomfortably, into an array of potential motives. Chapters alternate narration among the central women, while snarky commenters on the Meadowbrook Online Community Page serve as a Greek Chorus that speculates about the numerous skeletons in the community’s walk-in closets. Day’s choice to withhold both victim and perpetrator ratchets up the tension nicely, and her jabs at suburban repression are sharp. This is wicked fun. (July)