Wendy James’s third novel is an intriguing suburban suspense story, with a question of identity at its core. In 1975, 18-year-old Karen leaves for a high school formal; her mother and stepsister, Susan, wave from the front verandah. It’s the last time they see her. Twenty years later, following her mother’s death, Karen – now known as Carly – reappears to claim her half of their inheritance, and quickly insinuates herself into the comfortable North Shore life of Susan, husband Ed, and her two children.

Susan is thrilled to finally have a sister again; Ed is unexpectedly charmed by his free-spirited new sister-in-law. But, though she knows crucial details that no one else could, something is not quite right about Carly. Is she who she says she is? If not, who is she? If so, where has she been – and why did she leave? And what effect will this hard-bitten former prostitute and drug addict have on the lives of her new family?

This absorbing novel is infused with a palpable sense of disquiet underlying this recognisably ordinary suburban family.