The Dangers of an Ordinary Night: A Novel (Hardcover)

Description

---

Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Megan Abbott, Lynne Reeves' The Dangers of an Ordinary Night is an exploration of the explosive family secrets that are often hidden in plain sight.

On a chilly fall evening at the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Boston, best friends Tali Carrington and June Danforth go missing after auditioning for a play. They're last seen in grainy, out-of-focus surveillance footage that shows them walking away from the school. Two days later in a town south of Boston, Tali is found disoriented and traumatized by the ocean's edge, while June is pronounced dead at the scene.

Tali's mother, Nell, is so bent on protecting her daughter from further emotional harm that she ignores rumors of her husband’s involvement and enlists the help of Cynthia Rawlins, a reunification therapist with personal insight into the riptide that hides below the surface of every unsuspecting family. Meanwhile, Detective Fitz Jameson uncovers a criminal undertow involving the high school’s overachieving students, and finally sees an opportunity for personal redemption from a secret that’s haunted him for years.

As Nell, Cynthia, and Fitz confront their own contributions to the scandals that beleaguer them, their lives turn out to be more deeply intertwined than they'd ever imagined. In the end, they must decide what lengths they're willing to go to protect the people they love while also saving themselves.

About the Author

---

Lynne Reeves is an internationally recognized family counselor and novelist. Her short fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in Parents, Psychology Today, Solstice Literary Magazine, Chautauqua Journal, Craft Literary, Fiction Writers Review, Brain, Child and more. Lynne regularly appears as a media guest expert to discuss contemporary family life and preventive mental health. This is her first novel of domestic suspense.

Praise For…

---

Praise for The Dangers of An Ordinary Night:
“The shock of the opening gradually recedes into something else — a sensitive examination of a dysfunctional family and a full-of-secrets community that claims to be seeking the truth.”
—The New York Times

“Peers beneath every parent's worst nightmare . . . Reeves’ uncommonly assured novel is by turns sensitive and scarifying.”
—Kirkus Reviews

"A true nail-bitter."
—New York Journal of Books

“...A hummer of a mystery-thriller. This smoothly told mystery is enough to frighten any parent trying to let go of the strings in a world filled with threatening unknowns.”
—Worcester Telegram & Gazette

“Original, clever, entertainingly memorable . . . highly recommended, especially for community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Lynne Reeves writes from the heart. Her experience as a renowned counselor informs her writing to create a gripping story of the consequences of family secrets.” 
—Authorlink

“An extraordinary mystery.”
—Gumshoe Review

“Shatteringly original, intensely suspenseful, and written with a tender eloquence that will break your heart. The talented Lynne Reeves—a master of subtext—weaves her brilliant insight into a riveting story of best intentions, unintended consequences, and devastated families.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life 

“In her suspenseful new novel, The Dangers of an Ordinary Night, Lynne Reeves brilliantly demonstrates that, in the theater of life, it is so often the people we're closest to who are the most convincing actors of all. Lies, deception, a marriage in disarray, and the ruinous consequences of long kept secrets propel this novel to its tragic and startling end.”
—Elizabeth Brundage, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Vanishing Point

“Both tender and tense, this novel trembles with the secrets lying under its many perfect facades. Lynne Reeves writes a thriller like no other: informed, nuanced, and forever keeping you at the edge of your seat. Grab this one!”
—Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

“The Dangers of an Ordinary Night is a riveting page turner that explores the many masks we wear. It's a mystery, a marriage story—a great read on many levels. You won't put it down.”
—Erica Ferencik, author of The River at Night 

"In The Dangers of an Ordinary Night, Lynne Reeves pulls at your heartstrings, and she leaves you at the edge of your seat, turning the pages. In this thriller that explores the dark underpinnings of family, Reeves captures the nuance and fear we feel as we look deeply at the ones we let into our lives.”
—Elizabeth L. Silver, author of The Execution of Noa P. Singleton