MYSTERY

The Note

Knopf. Jan. 2025. 304p. ISBN 9780593537084. $29. SUSPENSE
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In the latest stand-alone from Burke (Find Me), a girls’ weekend in the Hamptons, a stolen parking space, and a note left on a windshield put into motion a series of events that leave one man dead and a trio of friends embroiled in a murder investigation. When the three friends learn of the disappearance of the man who took their parking spot, May, the nosy do-gooder of the group, wants to call the police, but Lauren and Kelsey convince her not to get involved. Hoping to determine whether she made the right decision, May takes it upon herself to make sure the parking-spot thief and the missing man were one and the same. It’s a decision that lands her and her friends on a detective’s radar. Then the missing-person case becomes a murder investigation, and Kelsey’s relationship with the deceased comes to light. The novel gets off to a slow start but builds gradually, gaining momentum in the second half. Multiple perspectives and timeline shifts dribble out details that add context to the friendship as well as offering clues about the killer.
VERDICT Burke’s trademark style creates tension and suspense, but the deeply flawed protagonists might turn off some readers.
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