Jawbone Lake

Ray Robinson's fifth novel, Jawbone Lake is a thought-provoking and beautifully written yet taut thriller. Named after the imaginary Peak District town where the action is set, Jawbone Lake is a moving, lyrical and gripping novel taking as its focus the mysterious disappearance of CJ, a local businessman. The story is told in alternating by Joe, CJ's son, a young, successful entrepreneur, who returns home from London to take care of his distraught mother, and seek clues to his father's whereabouts; and by Rabbit, a local girl struggling to come to terms with the death of her son, and who witnessed CJ's Land Rover crash into the lake on New Year's Eve. The story moves from the north of England back to London and to Spain, as Joe learns more than he'd like to about his father's dubious business dealings -- and returns to Jawbone Lake for a shocking finale, where Joe and Rabbit's strands eventually intertwine. It's a taut thriller, but also thought-provoking and beautifully written -- addressing questions of family secrets, generational divide, the burden of grief, small-town claustrophobia.