From the author of Looker comes this razor-sharp suspense about two librarians whose lives become dangerously intertwined.
No one knows Margo's real name. Her colleagues and patrons at a small-town public library only know her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of countless premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges.
That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo's subtly sinister edge and watches her carefully. When a patron's death in the library bathroom offers a hint of Margo's mysterious past, Patricia can't resist digging deeper — even as this new fixation becomes all-consuming.
Taut and compelling, How Can I Help You explores the dark side of human nature and the dangerous pull of artistic obsession.
PRAISE FOR HOW CAN I HELP YOU
‘A dark and spellbinding descent into jolly madness’ — MONA AWAD
‘A gripping and dark psychological thriller… Delicious… I read it one sitting’ — HARLAN COBEN
‘A sly meditation on art and identity and the depths we'll go to protect our constructs. I couldn't have loved this book more’ — PAUL TREMBLAY
‘With transfixing dual female narrators and an artful, innovative structure, How Can I Help You is both a riveting commentary on false pretenses and an utterly beguiling cat and mouse thriller’ — KIMBERLY McCREIGHT
‘A delicious mystery begging to be enjoyed beachside… Sure to satisfy just about any thriller craving’ — ROLLING STONE
‘Unnerving… reads like a homage to Shirley Jackson’s work’ — NEW YORK TIMES
‘Sims plumbs the depths of obsession and madness… deftly building the tension until the explosive ending’ — WASHINGTON POST
‘Fresh and funny… A quick read that is reminiscent of Laura Lippman's Sunburn and Christine Mangan's Tangerine’ — BOOKLIST
** A Publishers Weekly Book of the Week **
** A CrimeReads Book of the Month **
** A Town & Country Must-Read Book of the Summer **