If You Knew Me
S.P. Miskowski. Thomas & Mercer, $16.99 trade paper (368p) ISBN 978-1-662531-83-5
Horror author Miskowski (The Worst Is Yet to Come) shines in this inventive psychological thriller. After resolving to become a journalist during the Covid pandemic, Parker Dillon was hired to write for her aunt Jody’s modestly successful women-focused news and culture website, JG+2. Then Jody sold the site, and Parker was left directionless. Thumbing through a pile of unexamined JG+2 pitches at Jody’s house, Parker finds a letter and a manuscript sent three years earlier by a woman named Ann Mason. In the letter, Ann states that when she was 14, she wrote to actor Van Slate, star of her favorite private detective TV series. Though he never responded, Ann became obsessed with him, and she eventually confessed to Slate—and to JG+2—that she’d killed someone. Though Parker is unsure about the letter’s veracity, she decides to seek Ann out, figuring she can piece together a memorable feature story either way. After she tracks Ann down and starts to correspond with her, Parker realizes the woman is far more dangerous than she seems. Miskowski makes Parker’s desperate need to give her life meaning palpable and poignant, and hides a dazzling number of big surprises up her sleeve. This is a winner. Agent: Danielle Svetcov, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Sept.)
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Reviewed on: 07/14/2025
Genre: Mystery/Thriller