The Truants

One of the New York Times Book Review's Top Ten Best Crime Novels of 2020
One of USA Today's Best Books of 2020

"[A] hypnotic debut. . . .[An] uncommonly clever whodunit." --The New York Times Book Review

A thrilling debut novel perfect for lovers of Agatha Christie and The Secret History, exploring deceit, first love, and the depths to which obsession can drive us.

People disappear when they most want to be seen.

Jess Walker has come to a concrete campus under the flat gray skies of East Anglia for one reason: to be taught by the mesmerizing and rebellious Dr. Lorna Clay, whose seminars soon transform Jess's thinking on life, love, and Agatha Christie. Swept up in Lorna's thrall, Jess falls in with a tightly knit group of rule-breakers--until the dynamic among the friends begins to darken. When a tragedy shatters their friendships and love affairs and reveals a terrible secret, Jess must face the question she fears most: What is the true cost of an extraordinary life?