LOCUST LANE

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.