The Note, a brand new suspense thriller from New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, will be available in bookstores everywhere on January 14, 2025.
Burke, a law professor and respected legal commentator, is also the author of more than twenty novels. The daughter of #1 New York Times bestseller James Lee Burke, Alafair first took the mystery & thriller genre by storm back in 2003 with her acclaimed debut novel, Judgement Calls. A decade later and ten books later, Burke’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced that she would collaborate with famed author Mary Higgins Clark as part of her “Under Suspicion series.” The duo published The Cinderella Murder in 2014 and went on to pen six books together before Clark passed away in 2020. Burke’s seventh book in that series (and eighth book overall), It Had To Be You, will hit bookstores on April 16th, 2024.
Check out the official plot details and cover art for The Note below.
A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history.
“I absolutley loved The Note. Trust no one in this irresistible page-turner.” —Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times best-selling author of First Lie Wins
It was meant to be a harmless prank.
Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn’t call her the Little Sheriff for nothing.
But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she’s had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just twelve years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry.
When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.
What had they gone and done?
The Note is a page-turner of the highest order from one of our greatest contemporary suspense writers.
ALAFAIR BURKE is the Edgar-nominated, New York Times best-selling author of fourteen novels of suspense, including The Ex, The Wife, The Better Sister, and Find Me, and coauthor of the best-selling Under Suspicion series. A former prosecutor, she is now a professor of criminal law. She recently served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and was the first woman of color to be elected to that position. She lives in New York.
Readers excited to get their hands on The Note can pre-order Alafair Burke’s forthcoming standalone novel anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. His second novel, LETHAL RANGE, is also in bookstores, and his third book, OUT FOR BLOOD, comes out on June 4th. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.