During the last year and a half of COVID-19 lockdown, I imagine many people fantasized about the kind of vacation that Kate White describes at the beginning of her new novel, THE FIANCÉE: a quiet week at a beautiful, sprawling country estate, with lots of swimming, tennis, badminton, gorgeous gardens and great food, surrounded by a loving extended family and a private cottage that you can retreat to at a moment’s notice. Sounds pretty idyllic, right?

That’s what Summer is anticipating when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son from his first marriage, Henry, leave the rat race of Manhattan for a week at Gabe’s parents’ elegant and welcoming home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Summer is an actor, though lately she's been doing voiceover work for commercials rather than taking on serious roles. She loves Gabe’s family, especially his mother, Claire, who always has been unfailingly kind and generous, welcoming her with open arms.

"THE FIANCÉE is at its heart a classic whodunit. You certainly will want to tuck it in your overnight bag whenever you’re able to take that perfect vacation you’ve been dreaming about."

But Summer gets quite a surprise when Gabe’s youngest brother, Nick, arrives on the first night of vacation with a new girlfriend, Hannah, in tow. Hannah is an actor, too; in fact, she and Summer once appeared in the same showcase performance in New York. Much to Summer’s confusion, Hannah claims not to remember the event, or Summer for that matter. Immediately, Summer begins to distrust Hannah, especially when another acting friend of hers mentions that there had been allegations of theft and a cover-up against Hannah. Claire, too, seems less than impressed by Nick’s new girlfriend, especially when the couple announces that not only are they dating, they’re actually engaged to be married.

Distrustful and maybe a bit bored, Summer starts to do some digging into Hannah’s past. Her suspicions only grow when a member of Gabe’s family dies unexpectedly under circumstances that seem like natural causes --- but Summer is not so sure. Soon her investigations begin to generate rifts in the family and allegations of jealousy from Gabe, but they also may be putting Summer herself in danger.

Those who are accustomed to reading the numerous recent psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators may spend much of THE FIANCÉE waiting for the inevitable “gotcha” moment when Summer is revealed to be the one who is unhinged. However, White doesn’t ever really seem to be gesturing in that direction; sure, Gabe’s family might question Summer’s motives, but the author (and, by extension, the reader) doesn’t. Instead, the novel shares much more with country house murder mysteries, where all of the guests are revealed to have their own motives for committing the crime --- and when the culprit is revealed, all the carefully planted clues do indeed add up.

Although it includes plenty of contemporary elements, THE FIANCÉE is at its heart a classic whodunit. You certainly will want to tuck it in your overnight bag whenever you’re able to take that perfect vacation you’ve been dreaming about.