The Look-Alike

October 21, 2019
In this serviceable romantic thriller from bestseller Spindler (The Other Girl), 29-year-old chef Sienna Scott comes to believe returning to her hometown of Tranquility Bluffs, Wis., might just be the worst move she ever made. Though Sienna has matured immensely during the decade since her now-deceased father packed her off to London to protect her from the toxic combination of her mother Viv’s paranoid delusions and the probe into the murder of a fellow student, Madison Robie, whose body Sienna discovered, nothing could properly prepare her for the nightmare that awaits her in Tranquility Bluffs. Not only has Viv’s mental illness worsened significantly but the Robie investigation has just been reopened—and Sienna starts getting menacing calls that rekindle her fears that she might have been the killer’s original target. Unexpected passion with the hunky house-flipper who recently moved in across the street from Sienna’s family home adds romantic heat en route to the contrived conclusion. Spindler smoothly blends all the plot ingredients, but she leaves the reader hungry for something more satisfying. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group.

Starred review from January 1, 2020

Spindler's latest (after Fallen Five) opens with Sienna Scott hustling to her dorm room after a late-night study group when she trips over a body in the snow. The victim is another college student who worked at the library. Police arrive quietly on the scene but any leads turn as cold as the Wisconsin winter. Sienna worries that she might have been the intended target. She was wearing a white coat like the victim's and took the same path on a regular basis. Ten years later, and Sienna moves back to her hometown to take care of her mother, who suffers from paranoid personality disorder. Once home she finds the cold case has been recently reopened. Her mother has always believed that the killer meant to murder Sienna. Could her mother have been right all along, or is Sienna suffering from the same mental illness as her mother? VERDICT Spindler keeps the pages turning with a taut plot and multiple suspects who appear suspicious right up to the end. Highly recommended for fans of romantic suspense authors Nora Roberts and Linda Howard. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]--Susan Moritz, Silver Spring, MD

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