Dear Debbie

How it reads

Dear Debbie is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a suburban setting, in the present day, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are secrets, family and justice. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 327 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.