"A cool-headed, red-blooded novel of such ice-pick intelligence that you might find yourself wondering, as I did, when you last read a thriller this sophisticated. Like Lehane and Landay — like Harlan Coben, too, and Laura Dave in The Last Thing He Told Me, he detonates surprises with perfect timing.
—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
"Amidon’s compulsively readable, richly plotted crime novel is a tour de force that grabs readers’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final page."
—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"Locust Lane is a thrilling, immersive read that will keep you guessing right until the end."
—The Spectator World
"Stephen Amidon's menacing mystery Locust Lane follows the moneyed families of a suburban town closing ranks when a murder threatens their futures.... Only one child has to go down for the crime, and each parent will do anything to ensure it's not theirs."
—PopSugar, "12 New Mystery Books That'll Have You on the Edge of Your Seat in 2023"
"[A] taut, twist-filled thriller."
—ENews
"Stephen Amidon’s taut domestic thriller Locust Lane... Everyone has a story, everyone has secrets, and all that enthusiastic page-turning created a refreshing breeze. Very satisfactory...."
—The Seattle Times
"Locust Lane is as perceptive as it is compulsively readable."
—The Washington Post
"Stephen Amidon has spent considerable time in London, so perhaps that’s why he’s so good at conjuring the nasty wittiness of a mid-century British novel (which is exactly the tone I want to find in a book about wealthy people behaving very, very badly)."
—CrimeReads, "The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of 2023"
"This truly gripping novel, both a convoluted family drama and a suspenseful murder investigation, delivers intrigue and moral depth."
—Shelf Awareness
"As a bald faced examination of affluenza and the privileges wealth affords, Locust Lane is a highly realistic read, with an ending that will have readers ruefully wishing that we all lived in a better world."
—Criminal Element
"Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a suburban noir thriller that packs a gut punch."
—Deadly Pleasures Magazine
"A sharp portrait of class divisions and high-end dysfunction."
—New York Times Book Review
2022-11-16
Amidon’s latest suburban thriller explores the nature of class privilege and equal justice under the law.
The tranquility of the wealthy Boston suburb of Emerson is shattered when the body of Eden Perry is found in a home on tony Locust Lane, where the 20-year-old had been staying as a caretaker and dog walker. Police tell her estranged mother, Danielle, they believe she was murdered. The teenagers partying with Eden on the night of her death—golden-boy-with-a-dark-streak Jack Parrish, his sweet but troubled girlfriend, Hannah Holt, and shy outsider Christopher Mahoun, who had a crush on Eden—lie to their parents and the police about where they were that evening. But when scratches are found on Christopher’s neck, he becomes the prime suspect. As a grieving but tough Danielle seeks answers, the other parents take steps to protect their children, even if it comes at the expense of others. The shifting points of view alternate among Celia Parrish, who ignores troubling aspects of her son’s personality while relying on her husband to fix the problems Jack causes; successful restaurateur Michel Mahoun, whose ethnicity (Lebanese Maronite Catholic) marks him as a foreigner in the WASPy community; unhappily married Alice Holt, who is convinced her lover Michel’s son is innocent and who plies Hannah, her stepdaughter, with wine to get at the truth; local man Patrick Noone, on a downward spiral from his daughter Gabi’s fatal overdose, who may have seen the killer on Locust Lane during a late-night drive; and Danielle. Amidon writes smoothly but relies on clichés for his observations on class differences. With her dyed black hair and tattoos, Danielle is a working-class representative, while the socially prominent Parrishes are stereotypes of class entitlement. It’s easy to identify the villains early on. The flipping among perspectives slows the narrative and makes it difficult at times to keep track of the mostly unlikable characters in this plodding thriller.
The ambiguous ending may frustrate some readers who like their thrillers neatly wrapped up.
