Such a Perfect Family

Singh (There Should Have Been Eight) comes in hot and never lets up in this exhilarating standalone thriller about a man whose string of dead lovers starts arousing suspicion. When Tavish Advani arrives at his new wife Diya’s family’s home in New Zealand, he finds that an explosion has left the residence in flames. Diya herself is barely alive on the ground outside, her body crisscrossed with stab wounds. Before passing out, she whispers a cryptic message to Tavish about a woman he’s never heard of named Annie. While Diya is in a coma, Tavish tries to figure out who Annie might be, and whether finding her might help explain the destruction at Diya’s house. When the police get hold of Tavish and question him about the circumstances of the blaze, he starts to fret that the authorities will find out about the recent death of another ex-lover, who perished in a car crash in California, leaving behind a son who was convinced that Tavish was involved and that he wanted her money. Singh shrewdly toys with readers’ expectations en route to some truly bombshell revelations. Even genre veterans are likely to be fooled by this devilish puzzler. Agent: Nephele Tempest, Knight Agency. (Jan.)