cover image If You Knew My Sister

If You Knew My Sister

Michelle Adams. St. Martin’s, $15.99 trade paper (284p) ISBN 978-1-250-12670-2

Irini Harringford, the socially awkward narrator of British author Adams’s uneven psychological thriller, lives a life scarred by abandonment. Her parents sent her away at the age of three to live with an aunt who resented her while her seven-year-old sister, Elle, remained at home in Scotland. Defying her parents, Elle seeks out Irini. At their first reunion, Elle rescues Irini, then 13, from a schoolyard bully and viciously attacks him. As the years pass, Elle’s visits result in ever more frightening episodes. Irini tries to hide from Elle, until Elle calls to summon her home for their mother’s funeral. Fearful of what will happen, Irini reluctantly returns to Scotland. Shortly after her arrival, their father dies and Elle disappears. Irini is the primary suspect in a frame-up that Irini recognizes as her sister’s handiwork. Irini must unravel her past if she’s to escape Elle’s trap. Adams fills her dark story with plenty of twists, but the plot falls apart with tacked-on events as it nears its conclusion. Agent: Madeleine Milburn, Madeleine Milburn Agency (U.K.). (Oct.)