The searing mind-numbing high heat of an exceptionally dry summer is a central character in French’s novel. Fifteen-year-old Trey has just come to terms with her father’s absence and not coping with her brother’s mysterious death in small-town Ireland, when Johnny Reddy, her father, returns with yet another scam to perpetrate on the villagers. Cal, a mentor to Trey and California import, is one of many who smell something fishy in the goings-on. The novel moves more languorously than French’s earlier work, but her signature fingerprint is here too. A first-rate mystery layered over a nuanced portrayal of teen angst.
