What We’ll Burn Last

Chavez (Before She Finds Me) blends simmering suspense and domestic drama in this slow-burning thriller. Sixteen years ago, when waitress Leyna Clarke was 12, her 16-year-old sister, Grace, disappeared from their home with her boyfriend, Adam Duran. The mothers of the missing pair blamed one another, and soon launched into a feud that took over their lives. Leyna ditched that toxic atmosphere for Reno, while continuing to hold out hope that she’d eventually find Grace alive. One sweltering July afternoon, a woman who looks like Grace walks into the café where Leyna works. When a stunned Leyna starts asking her questions, the woman flees; a few days later, Adam’s brother, Dominic, calls Leyna to say a stranger has been poking around their old neighborhood, asking questions about Grace and Adam. Leyna returns home to investigate, reuniting with her mother, Meredith, and encountering Adam and Dominic’s mother, Olivia, who still blames Leyna’s family for the disappearance. As a dangerous forest fire crackles nearby, Leyna uncovers family secrets that shed new light on what happened to her sister. Chavez keeps the pace slack, building perhaps a touch too sluggishly to a resolution that nevertheless satisfies. Patient readers will be rewarded. Agent: Peter Steinberg, UTA. (July)