SWALLOWTAIL

The killer who took the life of a 16-year-old girl in Quincy, Massachusetts, seems to have struck again 20 years later.

The novel begins with its narrator—the Quincy Police Department’s Det. Samantha Star, who grew up in town—recounting her 1994 abduction at age 16; her captivity ended when a detective discovered her later that night “in a couple of inches of water at the bottom of a ravine hidden in the miles of wooded wilderness near Quincy.” Samantha was lucky: Her best friend and companion that night, Bridget McGann, didn’t escape with her life. Now it’s 2014, and Samantha still can’t remember what happened between her abduction and her rescue, but ever since, she has been periodically overwhelmed by “episodes,” or fragmentary visions, tied to the tragedy. Also tethering Samantha’s past to her present is the murderer, who has occasionally sent her letters that contain clue-like references to Greek mythology. Samantha remains bent on solving her friend’s murder, and 20 years later, a new case suggests a link: The body of a man who overdosed is mutilated in a way that recalls what happened to Bridget. Things get even more personal for Samantha when yet another corpse is found—this time it’s the body of a member of her teenage daughter’s dance team. Ross’ capably structured first mystery for adults reads like something of a throwback, with its throughline about tapping into Samantha’s repressed memories and its use of reheated language (there’s a lot of eye-rolling and brow-raising). There’s some good stuff here about Samantha’s insider-outsider status, though it vies for attention with the book’s more psychologically frothy sections. As for the mystery’s multiple reveals, they’re probably equally likely to inspire “Oh my gods!” and “Oh, come ons!”

Works dramatically until it shirks plausibility.