Lauren Berry, May Hanover, and Kelsey Ellis first met about two decades ago, at a summer arts camp called Wildwood. At the time, May and Kelsey were adolescent campers.....
.....and Lauren was the 23-year-old music director.
The trio were at Wildwood every summer for years, with May and Kelsey eventually becoming counselors. The threesome became close friends and kept in touch, but haven't been together in the same place for a decade. That's about to change this weekend, with a planned get-together at a luxurious Airbnb in the Hamptons.
In many ways, Lauren, May, and Kelsey have enviable lives, but each of them has encountered 'cancel culture'.
Lauren: Lauren is a world class musician and the first African American Music Director of the Houston Symphony. While working at Wildwood arts camp, Lauren was romantically involved with Thomas Welliver, the married Texas oilman who co-owned Wildwood with his wife. When Lauren and Thomas's affair became public knowledge, an ugly culture war erupted with Lauren at the center.
May: May is the child of a Chinese mother and White father (who played no role in her life). May graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School, after which she became a prosecutor and then a law professor. May's troubles stem from an incident on a subway platform, when someone called her a racial slur, and May wrongly attributed the insult to a Black man. The incident went viral, with people calling May "AsianDAKaren".
Kelsey: Kelsey grew up in a very wealthy family and has a good job in her father's commercial real estate company. Kelsey married a restaurant chef called Luke Freedman, but it didn't work out and the couple filed for divorce. In the midst of the proceedings, Luke was gunned down and robbed, and the homicide went unsolved. Internet trolls flooded the internet with messages saying Kelsey hired someone to kill her husband. Kelsey knows the harassment will continue until Luke's murderer is caught.
For the Hamptons weekend, Lauren, May, and Kelsey plan to relax and enjoy swimming, food, music, drinks, and conversation. On their first vacation day together, the gals start to party hardy, then drive to Sag Harbor for dinner at the historic American Hotel.
Sag Harbor is crowded, but Kelsey - who's driving - spots a pickup truck preparing to leave a parking space. The women wait a few minutes, and as the truck leaves, the spot is snatched by a small white sedan. A handsome man and beautiful woman exit the sedan and stroll off, two happy little lovebirds.
Later, over dinner with LOTS more liquor, Lauren, May, and Kelsey grouse about the stolen parking space and joke about revenge. The result is that the following note is left on the white sedan's windshield: 'He's cheating. He always does.'
The fallout is unexpected and unfortunate. The next day, the handsome man in the white sedan, whose name turns out to be David Smith, is a missing person.
Much to their chagrin, Lauren, May, and Kelsey get drawn into the police investigation. This happens, in part, because May's law enforcement instincts lead her to stick her nose into the David Smith case, which brings the women to the attention of the authorities.
As a result, secrets emerge - revelations that threaten the women's longtime friendship as well as their well being. One plot point involves frozen embryos, which I found interesting and enlightening.
Additional characters add interest to the story, including: Kelsey's well-meaning but interfering father, who tries to control every aspect of her life;
Kelsey's stepbrother Noah, whom May dated many years ago;
May's current fiancé Josh, who may be too humdrum for her;
and oilman Thomas Wellifer - who's still in Lauren's life.
I enjoyed the book, though the motive for the wrongdoing stretches credulity a little bit (for me). Still, I'd recommend the novel to fans of suspense novels.
Thanks to Netgalley, Alastair Burke, and Knopf for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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