Stephen Amidon (The Real Justine; The Sublime Engine), who's written short story collections, nonfiction books and novels, delivers thrilling suspense and plenty of mystery in Locust Lane. It's a normal day in Emerson, Mass., and the parents of three high-school students don't worry when they're notified of the school's lockdown. However, in a town this size, the news of a young woman found dead quickly reaches the whole community. And with these three students last present at the crime scene, their families are pulled into the biggest town gossip of the decade. Each character, alternately narrating the events of the days following the murder, brings a new voice, new clues and new drama to the story. Parents and children unveil each other's worst vices, including misplaced loyalties, secret affairs and hushed connections to the crime scene.
The three teens connected to the crime don't provide a concrete story, especially given that drugs may be involved. However, as the kids slowly inform their parents about the events of the night in question, the timeline starts making sense. Meanwhile, the community finds an outsider to blame. The faults of the characters and the community as a whole expose lingering small-town racial and classist biases. The diverse ages and backgrounds of the narrators provide a breadth of perspectives as characters get closer to solving the mystery. This truly gripping novel, both a convoluted family drama and a suspenseful murder investigation, delivers intrigue and moral depth. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer