September Staff Selection from PatHayden, Wyoming, is such an insignificant, isolated community that the arrival of a new person in town is a cause either for celebration or concern. When Kate Colter's widowed mother-in-law introduces her new beau, Tom Baxter, Kate, a native New Englander, is overjoyed. Despite her satisfying marriage and the rewards and concerns of motherhood, Kate has never felt totally at home in the West, and she finds in Tom a kindred spirit, due to their mutual East Coast roots as well as their love for more stimulating, intellectual conversations than the locals can provide. But when elements of Tom's story fail to add up, Kate unwittingly puts herself and her family at risk. The daughter of historian David McCullough, Lawson's accomplished debut novel is an agile blend of keenly perceptive domestic drama and sharply escalating suspense. -Excerpt from Booklist
