Such a Clever Girl

A family’s mysterious disappearance from their Hudson Valley home propels this murky thriller from bestseller Kane (The Wife Deserved It). Fifteen years ago, the Tanner family—parents Patrick and Victoria, and their children, Aubrey and Noah—vanished from their Sleepy Hollow mansion, leaving behind bloodstains in the foyer and a half-eaten meal on the dining table. Since then, the house has remained empty, deteriorating into ghost story fodder, and no one in town has heard from the parents and two children again in this cold case. When Xavier Tanner, the ancient patriarch of the Tanner clan, dies, 33-year-old Aubrey Tanner returns to town to help settle her grandfather’s will. Aubrey’s reemergence stuns the community and resurfaces old questions about the Tanners. Particularly shocked are three women—elementary school teacher Marni, café owner Hanna, and psychologist Stella—who orbited the Tanner family around the time of their disappearance, and have long harbored secrets about the circumstances. Kane switches between Aubrey’s, Marni’s, Hanna’s, and Stella’s perspectives, slowing momentum and dragging out the reveals, which, when they arrive, are too tied up in lukewarm family drama. This contains the seed of an intriguing novel, but Kane fails to make it bloom. (Jan.)