MYSTERY

A Simple Favor

by Darcey Bell
Harper. Mar. 2017. 304p. ISBN 9780062497772. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062497796. F
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Widowed mommy blogger Stephanie and Emily are good friends who met through their five-year-old sons. When Emily asks Stephanie to watch her son Nicky for several hours, she willingly agrees to the favor. Yet she becomes concerned when Emily does not return to retrieve Nicky. Stephanie's anxiety escalates with each passing day that Emily is missing. When Sean, Emily's husband, comes back from a business trip, Emily has been gone for six days. When a body is discovered that is identified as Emily's, their joint grief draws Stephanie and Sean closer. But things aren't always as they seem. Many secrets swirl around Emily's disappearance. Was she really the friend Stephanie thought she was? What life-altering skeletons in the closet are waiting to be exposed?
VERDICT Bell's edgy first novel is chock-full of dirty little secrets, lies, and manipulations. Gone Girl devotees should reserve an advance copy and carve out uninterrupted time for this juicy read. [See Prepub Alert, 9/26/16; library outreach.]
Reviewed by Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights , Feb 15, 2017
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