Parenting issues take center stage in Lori Rader-Day's thoughtful domestic thriller The Death of Us, which examines the definition of family and what makes a parent. Liss and Link Kehoe had been married only a couple of months when Ashley Hay, Link's former lover, showed up and handed Callan, Link's infant, to Liss. Ashley then disappeared. Liss has made Callan the center of her life for 15 years, giving him emotional support, cheering him at sporting events, and ferrying him to school and activities. She has been Callan's main parent, but legally she's unable to adopt him because Ashley might return.
But then Ashley's remains are found in a car submerged in a water-filled quarry near the family's home. Ashley didn't drown--someone murdered her, and Liss and Link, now separated, become immediate suspects. Town marshal Mercer Alarie learns that the former marshal--Link's father, now suffering from a neurological illness--did not thoroughly investigate Ashley's disappearance. And Liss's romantic relationship with Mercer further hampers the case. Rader-Day (Death at Greenway) ramps up the suspense with strong, believable characters in complicated relationships. Liss's love for Callan is pure, but her estrangement from Link shows her how little currency she has with her in-laws or her colleagues in the guidance office at the high school where she works. Link, a serial cheater, ignores the chaos he creates. Rader-Day expertly leads the solid plot of The Death of Us to a satisfying denouement. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer