The Body Below

From USA Today bestselling author Daniel Hecht, The Body Below takes the reader on an uneasy quest for the nature of truth and who gets to tell it. Perfect for fans of In the Woods by Tana French and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.

Conn Whitman's long-distance swims keep him centered and sane-until a terrifying underwater encounter in a woodland lake plunges him into the middle of a murder investigation.

Once a superstar investigative reporter, disgraced by misconduct, Conn returned to his Vermont hometown to put his life back together. Now, after ten years on the job, he knows his community like nobody else. When he kicks a submerged object while swimming-something with the density and resilience of human flesh-he immediately wonders if it's connected to an unsolved murder in a nearby town.

Detective Marlene Selanski is the lead on the State Police investigation and soon locks horns with Conn. It's clear she considers him a suspect and believes his “vigilante research” is interfering with her investigation. Defying Selanski, Conn and his fiancée Celine Gabrielli combine their talents-her PhD in psychology, his skills at journalistic research and wealth of knowledge about Vermont's old villages-to seek answers on their own.

As layers of deception peel away, Conn and Celine realize too late the dangers of amateur sleuthing: Murder disrupts lives in unexpected ways, sending out ripples and bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface.

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The Body Below

From USA Today bestselling author Daniel Hecht, The Body Below takes the reader on an uneasy quest for the nature of truth and who gets to tell it. Perfect for fans of In the Woods by Tana French and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.

Conn Whitman's long-distance swims keep him centered and sane-until a terrifying underwater encounter in a woodland lake plunges him into the middle of a murder investigation.

Once a superstar investigative reporter, disgraced by misconduct, Conn returned to his Vermont hometown to put his life back together. Now, after ten years on the job, he knows his community like nobody else. When he kicks a submerged object while swimming-something with the density and resilience of human flesh-he immediately wonders if it's connected to an unsolved murder in a nearby town.

Detective Marlene Selanski is the lead on the State Police investigation and soon locks horns with Conn. It's clear she considers him a suspect and believes his “vigilante research” is interfering with her investigation. Defying Selanski, Conn and his fiancée Celine Gabrielli combine their talents-her PhD in psychology, his skills at journalistic research and wealth of knowledge about Vermont's old villages-to seek answers on their own.

As layers of deception peel away, Conn and Celine realize too late the dangers of amateur sleuthing: Murder disrupts lives in unexpected ways, sending out ripples and bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface.

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The Body Below

The Body Below

by Daniel Hecht

Narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers, Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged — 16 hours, 2 minutes

The Body Below

The Body Below

by Daniel Hecht

Narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers, Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged — 16 hours, 2 minutes

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Overview

From USA Today bestselling author Daniel Hecht, The Body Below takes the reader on an uneasy quest for the nature of truth and who gets to tell it. Perfect for fans of In the Woods by Tana French and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.

Conn Whitman's long-distance swims keep him centered and sane-until a terrifying underwater encounter in a woodland lake plunges him into the middle of a murder investigation.

Once a superstar investigative reporter, disgraced by misconduct, Conn returned to his Vermont hometown to put his life back together. Now, after ten years on the job, he knows his community like nobody else. When he kicks a submerged object while swimming-something with the density and resilience of human flesh-he immediately wonders if it's connected to an unsolved murder in a nearby town.

Detective Marlene Selanski is the lead on the State Police investigation and soon locks horns with Conn. It's clear she considers him a suspect and believes his “vigilante research” is interfering with her investigation. Defying Selanski, Conn and his fiancée Celine Gabrielli combine their talents-her PhD in psychology, his skills at journalistic research and wealth of knowledge about Vermont's old villages-to seek answers on their own.

As layers of deception peel away, Conn and Celine realize too late the dangers of amateur sleuthing: Murder disrupts lives in unexpected ways, sending out ripples and bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface.


Editorial Reviews

Montpelier (VT) Bridge

By the second page, I was horrified and hooked…Hecht explores the complications of love, concepts of justice, the many layers of motivation, betrayal and loss, healing and forgiveness. How well do you really know someone you love? Who can you trust?”

bestselling author of Do I Know You? Sarah Strohmeyer

The Body Below instantly ensnares you with a frightening premise, small-town intrigue, family drama, and traps galore. Daniel Hecht writes with unflinching honesty and authenticity. Here are the real Vermont and real people you’ll remember long after you’ve stayed up late flipping to the last page.”

award-winning and bestselling author of Pignon Sco Rick Bleiweiss

With The Body Below, Daniel Hecht returns to what he does best: crafting a terrific mystery novel. Gripping, complex, literate, it’s a compelling story that builds to an explosive climax. Based on true events, this superb psychological thriller will have you turning pages as quickly as you can read them. Don’t miss The Body Below!”

New York Times bestselling author Glenn Stout

Damn. Good. Book. Daniel Hecht’s The Body Below plunges deep beneath the placid waters of the present to confront the murkier water below the surface…This finely wrought murder mystery shows the reader the wisdom that comes when a search for the truth takes aim at a distant shore. Get ready to dive in!”

author of The Headmaster’s Wife Thomas Christopher Greene

The Body Below is a first-rate mystery—beautifully written, compelling, and suspenseful—that grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn’t let go!”

Kirkus Reviews

2023-06-21
A brief, unnerving encounter in a beloved swimming spot sends a disgraced but still employed reporter on a quest to find his sister’s killer.

Years after his attempt to take down a corrupt senator turned on him and got him fired from the Washington Post, Connor Whitman is working for the Richfield Herald, the paper in his Vermont hometown, which was willing to overlook his checkered past. During one of his daily long-distance swims in the Richfield Reservoir, he bumps into a squishy, partially submerged object he quickly loses sight of. When his memory is jogged later, he realizes that it might have been the bagged body of Gertrude “Trudy” Carlson, a single mom who’s gone missing. What he can’t have imagined is that Trudy was born Laurel Whitman, the sister from whom he’s long been estranged. Even that’s not the only tie the missing woman has to his past, for her first husband was Mason King, Conn’s childhood friend and present-day sheriff’s deputy. Alternating perspectives between Conn and his girlfriend, Celine Gabrielli, the guidance counselor at the school Trudy’s two children attend, Hecht follows Conn’s quest to ascertain the fate of the sister he’d never really known. Two subplots that erupt along the way—one concerning David Laughlin, a serial abuser who hits on every female employee in a local shop, the other involving the affairs of Anthony Shapiro, the latest of Trudy’s many ex-boyfriends—are so explosive that they threaten to take the limelight off Trudy, except of course for Conn and Celine.

A soulful, improbable, and ultimately cathartic plunge into the depths.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940192696057
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 08/29/2023
Edition description: Unabridged
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