87. Don't I Know You by Karen Shepard

Set in Manhattan’s Upper West Side in 1976, this mystery follows what happens when 12-year-old Steven Engel finds his mother stabbed to death in their apartment. Coming home from being with friends, Steven catches a glimpse of a man leaving their apartment through a window after murdering his mother, Gina Engel. The first section of the book is young Steven’s reaction to the murder, especially since now he has to make the decision if he should live with his father, who has not been in his life much. The second section of the book focuses on schoolteacher Lily Chin, who is engaged to be married to a rich Russian man. When a woman shows up and tells Lily that Nickolai may have been involved with Gina Engel, and he has Gina’s missing journal hidden, Lily is drawn into the mystery. The third section of the book tells the story of Louise Carpanetti, who received a phone call from the dying Gina. Dying of cancer, she is worried that her 55-year-old son, Michael, may have had something to do with the murder of Gina years ago.

Having the story told in the three different parts is very effective and pulls readers into the mystery surround Gina’s death. It is also realistic in the way that her death is never solved. The Manhattan setting in the 1970’s adds to the development of the story, and the second section is set a year later, with the final section takes place over ten years after the crime. While it may not be clear at first how everyone is connected to the story, everything fits nicely together by the end of this psychological thriller from Shepard.