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The fourth novel from Hawkins, of The Girl on the Train fame, following A Slow Fire Burning (2021), begins when a sculpture on display at the Tate Gallery by the late artist Vanessa Chapman is found to contain a human bone. This is the same Vanessa Chapman whose notoriously unfaithful husband went missing without a trace 20 years ago. James Becker, curator at the Fairburn Foundation, the recipient of Chapman’s artwork, sets off to isolated Eris Island in Scotland, where the reclusive artist lived, to meet with her companion, Grace. All the while plagued by issues at the Fairburn, Becker comes and goes, and the narrative unfolds in multiple forms, including diary entries, phone texts, and perplexing conversations. Grace is evasive and releases Vanessa’s story erratically through time. It is a very complex story and very sad. Unfolding slowly, it is fraught with angst and full of foreboding and comes to a frightening end. Though some readers may find the pace and plethora of unlikable characters frustrating, Hawkins has created a perfectly formed gothic tale that admirers of Daphne du Maurier will adore.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: There's no stopping Hawkins' fans.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The discovery that a revered artist’s sculpture contains a human bone sets off scandal and violence. Art historian James Becker has what seems like a sweet deal. He’s the curator of the collection of the Fairburn Foundation, housed at a stately home owned by the Lennox family: Sebastian, Becker’s best friend, and his bitter mother, Lady Emmeline. Becker’s wife, Helena, was Sebastian’s fiancee first, but they’re all very civilized about it and happily awaiting the birth of her baby. The centerpiece of the Fairburn collection is works by the late Vanessa Chapman, an artist about whom Becker wrote his thesis, and with whom he is somewhat obsessed. Partly, it’s because of her great talent, but she was also a glamorous figure, a beauty who, as she became successful, sequestered herself on an isolated Scottish tidal island called Eris. She had a dark side—lots of stormy relationships, plus a philandering mooch of a husband who vanished without a trace a few decades ago. Her reputation, though, has risen after her death—so much so that the Fairburn has loaned some of her works to the Tate Modern. That’s where a forensic anthropologist sees one of her sculptures, made of found objects that include what’s described as an animal bone. The scientist is sure the bone is human, and soon Becker finds himself scrambling to prevent scandal. Vanessa willed her works and papers to the foundation, but some of them are still on Eris, guarded by her longtime friend Grace Haswell. A retired doctor, Grace lived with Vanessa off and on over the years and nursed her through her fatal cancer. It was a surprise when Vanessa left her estate not to Grace but to Douglas Lennox, Emmeline’s husband and Sebastian’s father. Douglas was Vanessa’s gallerist and lover, but the two had a nasty falling-out. Sebastian is so frustrated by Grace’s refusal to turn over all of the bequest that he’s ready to sue her, but Becker believes he can negotiate, so off to the the island he goes. He finds far more treachery and shocking secrets than he expected, past and present alike. Hawkins keeps her cast tight, her wild setting ominous, and her plot moving fast. This propulsive thriller twists into the dark and bloody underbelly of the world of fine art. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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This predictable offering from bestseller Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) centers on an enigmatic artist, her socially awkward companion, and a lifelong fan of her work. In the present, a Tate Modern retrospective of late painter Vanessa Chapman is cut short when a forensics expert notices that an apparent animal bone in one of her sculptures is actually a human rib bone. James Becker, an employee at the foundation that manages her estate, tries to settle the matter by heading to Eris Island, where Chapman lived for the last decade of her life, and interviewing her companion there, Grace Haswell. Hanging in the air is the 20-year-old disappearance of Vanessa’s husband, Julian, whose body was never found; rumors swirl in the press that the rib bone may have belonged to him. As James and Grace bond over their love for Vanessa, flashbacks illuminate Julian’s fate and the precise nature of Vanessa and Grace’s relationship. Hawkins manages few surprises and fewer insights into her characters, resulting in a narrative that’s curiously uninvolving even as her skills as a stylist are on full display. This fails to add up to more than the sum of its parts. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Oct.)