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The Three Beths

by Jeff Abbott
Grand Central. Oct. 2018. 352p. ISBN 9781538728697. $26; ebk. ISBN 9781538728673. THRILLER
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Three-time Edgar Award nominee Abbott (The Last Minute) returns, with this latest novel centered on three women—Bethany, Beth, and Lizbeth—all literally "gone girls," either missing or murdered. As Mariah Dunning, Beth's daughter, works to clear her father, the prime suspect in her mother's suspected murder, she's convinced she just saw Beth in a mall, though the woman in question flees and can't be found. When a crime blogger ties Beth to the missing Bethany, Mariah wonders why the latter woman would disappear when husband Jake is about to make a fortune selling software. Bethany's mother accuses Jake of murder, but why did her own husband commit suicide? As connections among the three Beths are revealed, the count of potential villains mounts, and other crimes from embezzlement to a hit-and-run killing complicate matters in a dizzying crescendo of sinister events.
VERDICT Abbott is a master of misdirection, though multiple red herrings and ever-tightening entanglements lead to a conclusion that some might find confusing. Still, the suspenseful plot with its numerous twists will appeal to readers of Harlan Coben or Gillian Flynn. [See Prepub Alert, 1/22/18.]
Reviewed by Ron Terpening, formerly of Univ. of Arizona, Tucson , Oct 15, 2018
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