She’s Going to Pay

Ivy (the Guardians of Eternity series) colors between the lines in this pedestrian thriller. In 2016, bar owner Mac Hudson was charged with murdering his wife, Victoria, and his stepdaughter, Tegan, after an eyewitness claimed to see Mac’s truck near where Victoria disappeared in Canton, Mo. While no bodies were ever found and the case against Mac was eventually dismissed, suspicions lingered. Mac himself vanished soon after the case against him ended, and nine years later, his daughter and heir, Jesse, takes steps to have him legally declared dead. Her return to Canton to get the family bar in shape to be sold revives questions about all three disappearances, including the possible coercion of Mac’s accuser by corrupt deputy Adam Tillman, who’s since become sheriff. Jesse’s inquiries uncover some disturbing facts, including the absence of any record that Mac and Victoria were ever married, and that Victoria was living under an assumed name. Ivy hits a laundry list of standard domestic suspense beats competently enough, but an unremarkable conclusion, forgettable characters, and uninspired prose weigh things down. This fails to make much of an impression. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Oct.)