TALKING TO STRANGERS

4 stars out of 5

With three narrators, this one didn't strike me as an entry in a series, which usually highlights a central figure. The book is, in fact, the second featuring Detective Elise King (I read the first one as well), but here, the other two got what seemed to be just as much page time. The other two are Kiki Nunn, a journalist looking for a story that will catapult her to fame and fortune, and Annie Curtis, whose young son was murdered 16 years ago.

Early on, Elise is called to a wooded area where the body of local hairdresser Karen Simmons is found leaning against a tree - clearly a murder victim. Kiki, of course, smells her big break, so she jumps in with both feet and a cell phone to annoy the heck out of Elise. Annie's perspective is important because the place where Karen is found is the exact same place where her son was murdered all those years ago - and she's still got unanswered questions.

As expected, the story follows the murder investigation - and the private lives of the three narrators - showing the impact on all of them. All have a vested interest in seeing the case through to the end, albeit for very different reasons (some of them surprising), winding through a dark world of online dating.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a struggle for me to keep the various characters straight, but in the end everything got resolved (well, almost everything - leaving a bit to make readers eager for the next installment. Count me in!

Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy of this one.

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton (Berkley, August 2024); 400 pp.