The Tree of Light and Flowers

Perry (1947–2025) delivers a welcome follow-up to The Left-handed Twin with this frenetic thriller that finds Native American witness protector Jane Whitfield grappling with motherhood. The premature birth of her daughter, May, has drawn Jane into a quieter, more domestic life. Her fragile peace is shattered, however, when Clare Markham, an Indigenous teenager from Oklahoma, seeks her help after fighting off a sexual assault. When Clare’s attacker dies from the injuries she inflicted on him, she becomes the target of a relentless manhunt led by the dead man’s brother, a police officer. Jane tries to set Clare up with a new living situation and identity, even as she herself is being hunted. Magda Kaprovna, a Russian enforcer, has been broken out of jail by Boston mob boss Pavel Oblonsky and tasked with capturing Jane, torturing her into revealing the identities and locations of people she’s helped relocate, and selling the information to the highest bidder. Perry crafts a taut, morally charged narrative where loyalty and survival collide. Fans of high-stakes suspense will savor this white-knuckle ride. Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (Mar.)