GIRL NUMBER FOUR

In this series-launching thriller, Seattle private detectives look into a 10-year-old case involving a vicious prom-night attack.

After Mallory Dimante saves a boy from being hit by a bus, the resultant viral footage makes her an internet sensation. Consequently, she and her boyfriend/partner, Jake Steiner, name their new business Diamond and Stone Investigations to avoid being bombarded by her fans. Initially Peter Dann seems to be one of those fans, but his visit to the office is on behalf of Alison Adams. A decade before, a still-unidentified person threw acid in Alison’s face at her front door on prom night. Incentive to take the case is that now-disfigured Alison is actually Mallory’s sibling, or so Dann claims. Mallory doesn’t quite believe this—she has no sister—or Dann’s assertion that Alison wants to forgive her assailant. Regardless, the PI couple investigates and sets about interviewing Alison’s apparent clique; her prom date; and her mother, whose witnessing of the attack has traumatized her. Questions beget more questions, like why the initial investigation missed a student who expressed clear animosity for Alison. But a warning meant for Mallory and Jake may indicate they’re close to unmasking the culprit. Booth’s opening series installment is a riveting mystery. The PIs, who appeared in the author’s preceding Park Trilogy (2011-2018), continue to develop their relationship. The story concentrates a bit more on Mallory, who’s shrewd and empathetic. Their interviews with others comprise much of the narrative, which suits the concise prose, along with illuminating flashbacks into Alison’s life, both pre- and post-attack. Notwithstanding the story’s early implication of one character’s guilt, the final act teems with surprises until the disquieting conclusion.

Remarkable protagonists headline a first-rate mystery.