PRETTY GIRLS GET AWAY WITH MURDER

In Bradley’s mystery, a young, up-and-coming marketing professional is found murdered, and his ex-girlfriend is the prime suspect—but the investigating detective feels compelled to dig deeper.

Ethan Moll is the very definition of an eligible bachelor: He’s handsome and charming, hails from a wealthy family, and is a rising star as a digital-marketing recruiter at Integrated Business Solutions.When he’s found stabbed to death in the shower in his Kentucky home, some suspecthis ex-girlfriend, Gabbi Edwards, who was openly distraught when he left her. Jenna,the fiancée of Ethan’s best friend, Ross, is absolutely convinced that Gabbi is the killer. Gabbi does seem a bit flighty as an enthusiast of whatever is the most fashionable spiritual movement of the moment; she runs a fitness coaching website and diagnoses herself a “Highly Sensitive Person.” However, Det. Lindy D’Arnaud is not so sure, as she keeps uncovering other possibilities; Ethan, for example, has mounting money problems, and he works for a shady and possibly criminal boss. Meanwhile, Lindy and her wife, April, manage a queer relationship in Pleasant Springs, a small town in conservative Kentucky that’s “smack dab in the middle of nowhere.” Their lives become more complicated when Jeff, April’s former college friend, decides to return to town, as he may be interested in establishing a relationship with his biological child. Years ago, he’d donated sperm so that Lindy and April could have a daughter. Nothing in Bradley’s absorbing novel is simple; indeed, the plot is as complex and as unpredictable as life itself, though it never feels convoluted. Instead, the author renders the mystery, and the everyday lives that surround it, with admirable clarity. The book’s characterization is its strongest suit, with each detailed portrait as fully realized as the next: “I swear to God, all Gabbi ordered was a cup of hot water with a lemon, a fruit cup and one—count it, one—scrambled egg white. I mean, who eats like that?” Overall, this is a captivating story on multiple levels.

A compelling tale of murder and small-town life with keen psychological insight.