High Season

This wobbly psychological suspense novel from Bishop (The Girls of Summer) breaks little new ground in its exploration of class tensions on the Cote d’Azur. Privileged 25-year-old Nina has built a satisfying life for herself after surviving a traumatic childhood under the care of her self-absorbed mother and manipulative older siblings. Her fragile peace is threatened, however, when a true crime documentary seeks to reopen the case that catapulted Nina into the headlines as the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial: when she was five, her troubled sister, Tamara, was found floating in the family pool during their mother’s lavish birthday party. Nina’s testimony led to the conviction of the family’s babysitter, Josie Jackson, for Tamara’s murder, but now Josie has been released from prison, and the public has begun to relitigate her guilt. Josie returns to the Cote d’Azur with hopes of putting the past behind her, but for Nina, her reemergence drags the memory of that fateful day screaming into the present. Bishop toggles between the frenzy around Tamara’s death and the present day, spreading narration duties across multiple characters who never really come to life, with Nina’s heartless and ultrawealthy family in particular verging on cliché. Despite an intriguing setup, this fails to ignite. (Aug.)