I am a big fan of Megan Abbot's books. She creates these amazing mysteries, but what's perhaps even more impressive is the story she tells around the mystery.
In The Fever, a group of girls begin to exhibit mysterious symptoms, that seem to have no rhyme or reason to them. While various theories are frantically bandied around, and public health services are called in, a small town becomes terrified, searching for anyone and anything to blame for what is happening to their children.
Abbot really gets at the psychological underpinnings of what makes us human. She explores how much the unknown frightens us, and how the desire to turn the unknown to known, and to protect our families, drives us to do things we never would do otherwise. Abbot also unpicks the heart of female friendships, their complexities and depths, and the way the world views women.
When you read an Abbot book, you are getting not only a great mystery full of surprises, but psychological suspense that delves deep into the heart of humanity.
Sounds really interesting.
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