Paula Hawkins is one of the masters of the unreliable narrator and takes it to new heights in a book told from multiple points of view, none of whom understand the full story. The result is a “who done it” that starts with even trying to figure out what it is.

The most recent death is a single mother who has been researching the long history of death in this particular river, back centuries when witches were drowned. She leaves behind a teenaged daughter who was already grieving the death of her best friend just months earlier in the same spot and a sister who is forced to return to the small town who hides her dark childhood secrets.

The lead local detective struggles emotionally with the crime because his own mother drowned in the same spot decades earlier. A young detective, with baggage of her own, is brought in to help solve the mystery which is compounded by conflicting stories from various members of the community.

Mix in the families and backstories of the various families for rich, complex story that will keep you guessing what happened to the very last page.