Don't look now—that's the warning you'll wish the heroines would heed in these two twisty thrillers, even as you're urging them to uncover every clue to the sudden deaths of those closest to them. Secrets can only be avoided for so long.

In Heather Gudenkauf's atmospheric Missing Pieces, Sarah Quinlan travels to her husband Jack's rural hometown of Penny Gate, Iowa, only to find that it holds little of the quaint charm she had pictured. The reason for the visit is troubling—Jack's beloved Aunt Julia has been badly hurt in a suspicious accident—but it's nothing the long-married couple can't handle together. Soon, though, Julia is dead, and small-town gossip tips Sarah off to some secrets in Jack's past that don't mesh with the man she's known for decades. Gudenkauf expertly develops the story from Sarah's perspective, so readers ask questions, doubt answers and seek the truth right along with her. What if Jack isn't who he says he is? How did his parents really die all those years ago? And who's next?

Gudenkauf's cast of shady characters, from Jack's mentally unstable sister to his grieving uncle, all have their mysterious moments, which sustains suspicion until the final pages. Gloomy, dark corners of barns and farmhouses, along with long, lonely stretches of back roads and cornfields, play equally large roles in keeping the tension rising. Sarah's trail is a winding one, but one that we want to see through to the end.

Far from tiny towns like Penny Gate, K.A. Tucker's He Will Be My Ruin takes readers to the crowded streets of New York City, though this heart-stopping urban thriller asks a similar question: How well do we really know the ones we love? Where Gudenkauf sticks with one perspective, Tucker alternates between the voices of humanitarian heiress Maggie Sparkes and aspiring antiques dealer Celine Gonzalez. The two were best friends when growing up in the Sparkes home, where Celine's mother served as Maggie's nanny. As adults, they've lived on opposite ends of the globe, but now Maggie has been called home by the unthinkable: Celine is dead, an apparent suicide. 

Maggie doesn't believe for a minute that Celine would do such a thing. When she finds the high-end wardrobe in thrifty Celine's closet and the picture of the handsome—and very naked—man hidden in the modest woman's treasure box, Maggie knows there's more going on. Tucker gives us just enough of a glimpse into Celine's life through diary entries to intrigue before returning to Maggie's present-day perspective. As Maggie applies her considerable will and inexhaustible fortune to the case, she becomes entangled in Celine's secret life. Soon, she's seduced by the same men, has tea with the same nosy neighbor and doesn't know whom to trust. Steamy sexual encounters may throw Maggie—and the reader—off the trail, but not for long. Tucker keeps Maggie moving forward at a relentless pace, and it seems she'll meet the same fate as Celine, unless she can outsmart the true culprit at the very last minute.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Gudenkauf, who launched her career with the Edgar Award-nominated, New York Times best-selling The Weight of Silence, goes hardcover with the story of Sarah Quinlan, whose husband lost his mother when he was a teenager. Returning home with him after his aunt Julia's accident, she realizes that there's something shady going on with this family. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Gudenkauf, who launched her career a few years back with the Edgar Award-nominated, New York Times best-selling The Weight of Silence, which sold over 400,000 copies in print and digital, now breaks out into hardcover. Her heroine is Sarah Quinlan, whose husband lost his mother under mysterious circumstances when he was just a teenager. He's barely been home since, but he and Sarah return when Aunt Julia suffers a terrible accident, and Sarah begins to realize that there's something shady going on with this family. Originally scheduled for February; with a 250,000-copy first printing.

Edgar-finalist Gudenkauf (Little Mercies) exchanges her usual child-centered, topical stories for an old-fashioned melodrama in her hardcover debut. Physical therapist Jack Quinlan and his advice columnist wife, Sarah, are enjoying a comfortable life in Montana when they hear that Jack's beloved aunt Julia, who took him in at 15 after his parents were killed in a car accident, has suffered a potentially fatal fall. Jack returns to his Iowa hometown for the first time in 20 years with Sarah by his side, but Sarah swings rapidly from supportive to suspicious when she discovers that he has lied about his past. Pestering the locals for information and the original case files, she learns that the circumstances of the deaths of Jack's parents remain suspicious. The police classify Julia's subsequent death as a homicide and target Jack and his troubled sister when investigating the linked crimes. Readers should be prepared for implausible plotting, an unsympathetic protagonist, and a clichéd denouement. Hopefully, Gudenkauf will return to form next time. Agent: Marianne Merola, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. (Feb.)