The Charming Widower

In the bereavement group Lila Neary runs out of a church basement in Wrenmoor, Peter Sayles is the kindest man in the room. His wife Beth went for a walk two years ago and never came back, and Peter has been grieving beautifully ever since. So when Peter starts courting newly widowed Corinne, Lila tells herself it's loneliness. Then a woman from Peter's previous county joins the group, looking for her sister, who also married a quiet man and also disappeared. Lila starts a spreadsheet. Three brief marriages. Three towns. Three women last seen walking. The police won't move. Corinne won't listen. And the only piece of physical evidence — a dashcam card from the night Beth walked out — is sitting in a tow-truck driver's glovebox, for sale. Lila has six weeks and one Thursday night to convince the women Peter left behind to sit in the same room. A dark psychological thriller of courtly cruelty, small-town ignorance, and the grief counselor who finally asked the right question.