Scenes of the Crime : A Novel

An ambitious screenwriter tries to solve her friend’s disappearance by re-creating their fateful final girls’ trip in this riveting locked-room mystery from the author of All Dressed Up. “Twisty and utterly bingeable . . . Each page will leave you gasping for more.”—Disha Bose, author of Dirty Laundry It should have been the perfect spring break: Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center—beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales—vanished without a trace. Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa’s doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that’s been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessa’s story. But first, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a brilliant scheme into motion. She gets the girls together for a reunion weekend at the scene of the crime under the guise of reconnecting. There’s Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group. One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And how much can Emily trust anything she learns from them . . . or even her own memories of Vanessa’s last days? Suspenseful, propulsive, and interspersed with scenes from Emily’s blockbuster screenplay, Scenes of the Crime is an unforgettable mystery that examines culpability, the shiny rearview mirror of Hollywood storytelling, and the pitfalls of female friendship. An ambitious screenwriter tries to solve her friend's disappearance by recreating their fateful final girls trip in this riveting locked-room mystery from the author of All Dressed Up. A remote winery. A missing friend. And a bunch of sour grapes. It should have been the perfect spring break. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their centerbeautiful, magnetic Vanessa Moralesvanished without a trace. Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessas doppelganger at a local caf. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story thats been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessas story. But first, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a brilliant scheme into motion. She gets the girls together for a reunion weekend at the scene of the crime under the guise of reconnecting. There's Brittany, Vanessas cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group. One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And how much can Emily trust anything she learns from them or even her own memories of Vanessas last days? Suspenseful, propulsive, and interspersed with scenes from Emilys blockbuster screenplay, Scenes of the Crime is an unforgettable mystery that examines culpability, the shiny rearview mirror of Hollywood storytelling, and the pitfalls of female friendship. "A remote winery. A missing friend. And they all had sour grapes. It should have been the perfect getaway. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center-beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales-vanished, never to be seen again. Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily has caught a glimpse of her again at her local café. Or so she thinks. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that's been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessa's story. But to do that, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a devious plan into motion. She gets the girls together again under the guise of reconnecting and they return to the scene of the crime. There's Brittany, Vanessa's cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group. One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And has Emily, the narrator of her own story, failed to acknowledge her involvement in the yarn she's been spinning? Suspenseful, entertaining, and interspersed with scenes from Emily's blockbuster screenplay, Scenes of the Crime is an unforgettable mystery that examines culpability, the shiny rearview mirror of Hollywood storytelling, and the pitfalls of female friendship"-- Provided by publisher