The Dangers of an Ordinary Night

Two teens go missing from an elite Boston boarding school—days later one is dead.

Told through multiple points of view, this dark unfolding of explosive family secrets offers surprising twists—perfect for fans of Megan Abbott and Celeste Ng

“A sensitive examination of a dysfunctional family and a full-of-secrets community that claims to be seeking the truth.”—The New York Times

On a chilly fall evening at the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Boston, best friends Tali Carrington and June Danforth disappear after an audition. They're last seen in grainy surveillance footage walking away from the school. Tali is found two days later in a town south of Boston, disoriented and traumatized by the ocean's edge, while June is pronounced dead at the scene.

Tali's mother, Nell, is so bent on protecting her daughter that she ignores rumors of her husband’s involvement and enlists the help of Cynthia Rawlins, a reunification therapist with personal insight into the riptide that hides below the surface of every unsuspecting family. Meanwhile, Detective Fitz Jameson uncovers a criminal undertow involving the high school’s overachieving students, and finally sees an opportunity for personal redemption from a secret that’s haunted him for years.

As Nell, Cynthia, and Fitz confront their own contributions to the scandals that beleaguer them, their lives turn out to be more deeply intertwined than they'd ever imagined. In the end, they must decide what lengths they're willing to go to protect the people they love while also saving themselves.