Girl, 11

By the author of Lay Your Body Down:“Propulsive . . . difficult to put down . . . an adroit exploration of the ethical quandaries of true-crime storytelling.” —The New York Times Book Review Elle Castillo once trained as a social worker, supporting young victims of violent crime. Now she hosts a popular true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases of missing and abducted children. After four seasons of successfully solving these cases in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Elle decides to tackle her white whale: The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago, TCK was terrorizing the community, kidnapping and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. Then, after he took his eleven-year-old victim, the pattern—and the murders—abruptly stopped. No one has ever known why. When Elle follows up on a listener tip only to discover the man’s dead body, she feels at fault. Then, within days, a child is abducted—a young girl who seems to fit suspiciously into the sequence halted decades before. While media and law enforcement long ago concluded that TCK had suicided, Elle has never believed that. She’d hoped her investigation would lay that suspicion to rest—but instead, her podcast seems to be creating new victims . . . “A dazzlingly twisted and dark thriller with complex characters, a neo-Gothic atmosphere and a killer that ranks with some of the most disturbing in the genre.” —S.A. Cosby, New York Times-bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed “Heart-pounding suspense . . . an astonishing new voice in crime fiction.” —Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today–bestselling author of A Friend in the Dark“A masterful narrative . . . Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Meg Gardiner.” —Booklist“An author to be excited about.” —Mystery & Suspense