I'll be honest. I'm not normally a huge thriller fan, but this smart, fast-paced novel kept me entertained throughout.

Bodie Kane is a professor and podcaster who is invited to go back to her high-school boarding school to teach a class. While there, she starts seeing an old murder case in a new light. In the spring of Bodie's senior year, popular theater star Thalia Keith was murdered--and Omar, the Black athletic director was accused and convicted of the crime. In present day, one of Bodie's boarding school students starts reexamining the case and questions emerge. Did the wrong person get convicted? And, if so, who did kill Thalia?

This novel is not only a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but it also touches on weighty subjects like racism, sexual assault, and the allure and problematic nature of true crime when it comes to women as victims. Why do so many women love true-crime stories, when many (many) women are the victims of violence by men? Makkai doesn't shy away from exploring this subject--and the execution is engaging, enlightening, and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed this one and recommend it for thriller fans and those who don't usually gravitate toward the genre.