What Happened Next

Hill (Who to Believe) wrings every last drop of suspense from what at first appears to be an open-and-shut case in this superior thriller. When Charlie Kilgore was an infant, his father, Mark, stabbed his friend Isaac Haviland to death in the family’s New Hampshire lake house before turning the knife on his wife. Charlie’s older brother rowed the siblings to safety, and Mark disappeared. Twenty-five years later, Charlie decides to make a podcast about the murders, which he has no memory of, in hopes that doing so will turn Mark into something other than the “monster who haunts the shadowy corners of my world.” Charlie’s trip down memory lane doesn’t sit well with some of his family members, however, especially when his initial probe reveals that the lead detective on the case died under strange circumstances. As Charlie continues to relitigate the crime, he receives threats meant to discourage him from looking any further. Though the premise is familiar, Hill takes things in surprising and inspired directions, and populates the action with remarkably well-shaded characters. This is an absolute treat. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Mar.)