Under the Harrow

At the start of Berry’s tight debut, Nora, the book’s initially guarded narrator, travels from her home in London to her sister Rachel’s house in the Oxfordshire countryside, where she finds Rachel dead, stabbed multiple times. Devastated, Nora proceeds to insinuate herself into the ensuing police investigation, while starting her own among the people Rachel came in contact with. Determined to the point of obsession, she manages to offend nearly everyone. Old secrets come to light in all of their ugliness, including an attack on Rachel as a teen (and the sisters’ ongoing efforts to find the perpetrator). Nora struggles to resolve her love for her sister with the resentment that’s always simmered below the surface. Readers will enjoy trying to ferret out the clues along with Nora, but those who think they have the mystery figured out may be caught off guard by the surprising, if a bit abrupt, ending. [em]Five-city author tour. Agent: Emily Forland, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. (June) [/em]