A stunning novel that examines the price of loyalty, the burden of regret, the meaning of salvation, and the sacrifices we make for those we love, told in the voices of two unforgettable women linked by a decades-old family mystery at a picturesque lake house. In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family's vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family - her father takes his own life, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child. Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine. For Justine, the lake house offers freedom and stability - a way to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the home she never had. But the long Minnesota winter is just beginning. The house is cold and dilapidated. The dark, silent lake is isolated and eerie. Her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more about the summer of 1935 than he's telling. Soon Justine's troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily's disappearance, her mother arrives to steal her inheritance, and the man she left launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house haunted by the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children. 'The delicacy of [Young's] writing elevates the drama and gives her two central characters depth and backbone… For all the beauty of Young's writing, her novel is a dark one... and the murder mystery that drives it is as shocking as anything you're likely to read for a good long while' - New York Times Book Review 'Suspenseful and finely wrought, Young's tale is not easily forgotten' - Booklist 'This book has it all — intrigue, complicated relationships, and a thrilling plotline — and it will appeal to fans of longspanning ‘90s stories like Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias' - Bustle 'A novel of quiet intensity that builds to a terrifying climax. The Lost Girls contains echoes of Kate Atkinson's Case Histories and is just as haunting' - Minneapolis Star Tribune

NOMINATED FOR THE 2021 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL A body burns in the desert... Does the boy who found it know more than it seems? Sal Prentiss, orphaned and burdened with a terrible secret, just wants a place to belong. Sal lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills, and finds himself at the centre of a brutal murder mystery when he discovers the body of his maths teacher, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles' compound. In the seven months he worked at Lovelock's middle school, the quiet and seemingly unremarkable Adam Merkel had formed a bond with Sal and was one of the few people to look out for the boy. Nora Wheaton, the school's social studies teacher, sensed a kindred spirit in Adam - another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After his death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him. For Sal's grief seems shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he's telling about his teacher's death. 'Stunning... an ideal recommendation for fans of Kate Atkinson and Jodi Picoult' - Booklist (starred review) 'Powerful and poignant' - People 'Bright, flawless writing, wonderful characters, and a sense of pacing that ratchets up the tension... I loved this book. I bet you will too' - Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Butterfly Girl '[The Distant Dead] is at heart about the timelessness of human curiosity, the eternal possibility of forgiveness, and the everyday miracle of survival. Electrifying, ambitious, and crushingly beautiful' - Kirkus (starred review) 'With her usual blend of inventive storytelling and gorgeous prose, Heather Young delivers big themes and a poignant coming of age story in this complex, page-turning mystery/thriller. The Distant Dead is not to be missed' - James McLaughlin, author of Bearskin