We Had a Hunch

Former teen detectives pursue a killer in this sinuous small-town thriller from Ryan (The Treasure Hunters Club). In the year 2000, ambitious 17-year-old twin sleuths Alice and Sam Van Dyne tire of helping their police officer dad with low-stakes cases and contrive to trap the murderer terrorizing Edgar Mills, Mass. Their sting goes sideways despite computer whiz Joey O’Day’s assistance, and the killer—school janitor Bruce Kershaw—slays the girls’ father and Alice’s boyfriend before being arrested. Twenty-five years later, Alice, Sam, and Joey receive calls from the Edgar Mills police chief, who is chasing an apparent Kershaw copycat. Though incarcerated, Kershaw claims to have valuable intel about the new killer that he will communicate only to Joey and the twins. After the trio pay him a visit, they launch their own investigation. The setup is convoluted, but it doesn’t take long for Ryan’s tale to hit its stride. Whiplash-inducing plot twists and convincing red herrings abound, but Ryan leaves plenty of room for character development, using the present-day mystery as a means for his three protagonists to confront their pasts and reassess their futures. This is criminally good fun. Agent: Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic Literary. (Oct.)