Justine Champine

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Knife River

“A twisting, engrossing, and beautiful mystery. Thrilling, yet also deeply moving, layered, and powerful.”—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark, a Read with Jenna Book Club pick as seen on Today

“A delicious smoke curl of a novel.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

“An intelligent literary mystery.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Paula Hawkins

A compelling story of family, home, and the bond between sisters that asks: Who do you believe when you can't even trust yourself?

When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and never returned. Jess and her older sister, Liz, never found out what happened. Instead, they did what they hoped their mother had done: survive. As soon as she was old enough, Jess fled their small town of Knife River, wandering from girlfriend to girlfriend like a ghost in her own life, aimless in her attempts to outrun grief and confusion. But one morning, fifteen years after their mother’s disappearance, she gets the call she’s been bracing for: Her mother’s remains have been found.

Jess returns to find Knife River—and her sister—frozen in time. The town is as claustrophobic and rundown as ever. Liz still lives in their childhood home and has become obsessed with unsolved missing persons cases. Jess plans to stay only until they get some answers, but their mother’s bones, exposed to the elements for so long, just leave them with more questions. As Jess gets caught up in the case and falls back into an entanglement with her high school girlfriend, her understanding of the past, of Liz, of their mother, and of herself become more complicated—and the list of theories more ominous.

Knife River is a tense, intimate, and heartrending portrayal of how deeply and imperfectly women love one another: in romantic relationships, in friendships, and especially as sisters.