LIES BETWEEN US

A group of teens in Pelican Island, a small, monied beach community, become embroiled in a murder mystery.

Sisters Lucy, Millie, and Frankie Gold alternate narrating this tale of a summer gone wrong when the bruised and scratched body of Billy Godwin, a not altogether well-liked guy in their social circle, is found floating in the Long Island Sound after a drunken party. The three Silver brothers, Ethan, Trevor, and Alex, have long been enmeshed in the lives of the Golds, routinely hanging out with the trio of sisters. This year, the eldest siblings are preparing to leave for college at the end of the summer. Lucy and Ethan are a couple, and though Billy was Ethan’s best friend, Lucy was no fan of his; she was glad when he and her best friend, Erica, broke up after prom. Many of the cast members are harboring secrets, and readers will be swept along with their reveals as the narrative rotates among the Gold sisters’ introspective, first-person voices and timestamped chapters that recount the events of the ill-fated party. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but Goodman effectively keeps all the plates spinning until the denouement, including a backstory involving Lucy’s ex-girlfriend, Olivia Godwin, who’s back in town for the summer. The main characters read white, and the Gold and Silver families are Jewish.

A thrilling, fast-paced whodunit with a distinctive setting.