This was a solid mystery/thriller read! Readers come to the novel as the main characters' mother dies. With Beth acting as the long suffering saint who had her dreams crushed by a sports injury and watched her mother die, Nicole as a drug addict, a day away from her first sobriety chip the day her mother dies, and Michael as the sibling who got out of the Grove, Wisconsin and made it big, none of these characters are particular good nor likable, but in a very engaging way.  The mystery is full of red herrings and the progression of the storytelling reveals things in such a way that there's never a lull.

I thought Christie was going to be revealed to be the killer, but I'm very glad she wasn't. Having the misunderstood loners and overly sheltered/neurodivergent children not be perpetrators perfectly turned that trope, which I pretty greatly dislike, back on itself. The killer being the overly spoiled son so proud of hav gotten out, and having the tools he used to do so be put into his possession as a way for his parents to redirect his nascent murderous tendencies was a fantastic twist! The end, in which Lucas, Beth, Nicole, Beth's daughter, and Lucas and Beth's newly adopted son come together lends a found family flavor to this book about the lengths to which parents will go for their children.