The Lake of Lost Girls

How it reads

The Lake of Lost Girls is mystery (small-town mystery, specifically), and its dominant mood is melancholy. It's quietly sad, wistful and reflective. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in a small town setting, in the recent past, told across two timelines. Its central concerns are loss and grief, secrets and family. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 320 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.