LOCUST LANE

Amazon Editors' Pick.
Best Mystery / Thriller / Suspense of January.  
​Pre order now.

For fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town. Can anyone be trusted?
On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history. Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak. Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in. Their parents, each with motivations of their own, only complicate the picture: they will do anything to protect their children, even at the others’ expense.
With a brilliantly woven, intricately crafted plot that gathers momentum on every page, this is superb storytelling told in terse prose—a dynamic read that is both intensely gripping and deeply affecting.

Praise for Locust Lane

"Over the past three decades, Stephen Amidon has produced a series of novels as compulsively readable as they are hard-edge about such uncomfortable facts of American life as race, class and money. His latest, “Locust Lane,” adheres to this bracing tradition with the story of a young woman killed in the affluent Boston suburb of Emerson and the ugly truths about several of its elite denizens that come to light in the murder’s wake."
WENDY SMITH
The Washington Post

"Stephen Amidon has spent considerable time in London, so perhaps that’s why he’s so good at conjuring the nasty wittiness of a mid-century British novel (which is exactly the tone I want to find in a book about wealthy people behaving very, very badly). The characters of Locust Lane bicker snidely, make harsh judgements about those they despise, and willfully ignore the faults of those they love. When a girl is found murdered, the parents of the three teenagers who were partying with her will do anything to protect their own, prepared for victory by a lifetime of privilege yet vulnerable to the consequences of a lifetime of secrets."
MOLLIE ODINTZ
CrimeReads. The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of 2023

"Told in the voice of an omniscient narrator, who moves from character to character, Amidon’s compulsively readable, richly plotted crime novel is a tour de force that grabs readers’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final page. Read and enjoy." 
MICHAEL CART
​Booklist STARRED REVIEW

"Locust Lane is a thrilling, immersive read that will keep you guessing right until the end."
PHILIP WOMACK
The Spectator, world edition.

A "taut domestic thriller... Everyone has a story, everyone has secrets, and all that enthusiastic page-turning created a refreshing breeze. Amidon’s very good at twisting in and out of his different characters’ consciousness; you keep wondering who to root for, right up to the end."
MOIRA MACDONALD Seattle Times

"Menacing mystery."
IYANA JONES
Pop Sugar: Best Thriller and Mystery Books 2023

"Psychological thriller that will keep you up at night." 
TIERNEY BRICKER
E! Online: 15 Books to Check Out ASAP.

"A cool-headed, red-blooded novel of such ice-pick intelligence that you might find yourself wondering, as I did, when you last read a thriller this sophisticated. Like Lehane and Landay — like Harlan Coben, too, and Laura Dave in The Last Thing He Told Me, he detonates surprises with perfect timing."
A.J. FINN
#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

MORE PRESS