The CrimeReads editors make their picks for the best debut novels in crime, mystery, and thrillers.Article continues after advertisement
Sara van Os, Decomposition Book
(Hanover Square)
What a gorgeous and disgusting novel! In Decomposition Book, Savannah is taking a semester off after an incident that left her emotionally bereft and without friends, hiding at her parents’ lake house in upstate New York, when she stumbles upon a corpse in a secret clearing. And not just any corpse—from the notebook in the dead woman’s bag, she appears to be Savannah’s soul mate. Her new friend has been missing for months after a camping trip gone awry, and Savannah just wants to finish reading the notebook before she notifies the authorities. It’s just so hard to say goodbye to the one person who listens, even if that person is a rotting corpse….Emotional, beautiful, and horrifying, this book is for all the body farm girlies, worm girlfriends, and anyone whose ever let their former bestie live rent-free in their head. –Molly Odintz
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