Her Pretty Face

Frances Metcalfe, the mousy protagonist of this diverting domestic suspense novel from Harding (The Party), has been shunned by the other Forrester Academy parents since her troubled 11-year-old son, Marcus, peed in a mean girl’s water bottle, so she can’t believe her luck when cool, confident Kate Randolph invites her out for coffee. The stay-at-home moms become fast friends, bonding over their mutual contempt for the snobs in their Seattle, Wash., suburb. But as it turns out, that’s not all they have in common: both women are also hiding terrible secrets. Harding’s tale unfolds from the perspectives of Frances and Daisy, Kate’s 14-year-old daughter, who’s being stalked by a mysterious stranger. Flashbacks to the 1997 trial of suspected murderer Amber Kunik keep readers guessing at the involved parties’ modern-day identities and the crime’s connection to the present. Regrettably, Harding’s conclusion is a murky anticlimax that offers more questions than answers, but three-dimensional characters, well-timed plot twists, and a sea of convincing red herrings make for an otherwise entertaining story. Agent: Joseph Veltre, Gersh Agency. (July)