The Note by Alafair Burke

 

I enjoyed The Note by Alafair Burke. The story keeps you guessing and the pacing is just right. The Note tells the story of three female friends, May, Kelsey and Lauren, who spend a weekend together in the Hamptons.

The trio first met 15 years ago at a music camp called Wildwood. At the time, Lauren was a camp counselor, and May and Kelsey were college aged campers. Lauren had a secret relationship with the camp owner, Thomas, who was married. Later, a camper named Marnie drowned in what was ruled as an accident. Regardless, Lauren was fired due to the drowning. Lauren continues her relationship with Thomas.

May had a scandal of her own - as a powerful attorney, she has a reputation to uphold. However, a viral video appeared online where she had an altercation with a Black man at a subway station. Kelsey and Lauren supported May through the scandal.

Kelsey also had a scandal of her own. Five years prior to the current trip, Kelsey's husband Luke was shot and killed. Kelsey, who was going through a divorce with Luke at the time, had an ironclad alibi. She was at an award ceremony with her father. Kelsey's father Bill is rumored to have mafia ties. In the court of public opinion, Kelsey and her father perhaps hired a hitman to take Luke out. Their alibis were just too convenient.

The three friends are having a good time at the beach house Kelsey rented in the Hamptons. They go out to dinner, and were put out when a rude female driver snatches the last parking spot by cutting in front of them. There's a man in the passenger seat. The friends joke about leaving a note on the car as a prank. Unbeknownst to the other two, Kelsey actually does leave a note on the car - and it tells the woman her date is cheating on her.

The next day, the women see the missing person flyer of David Smith. They realize that's the man that was in the passenger seat of the car the day before. Kelsey tells the women she left the prank note, which freaks them out. Kelsey's stepbrother Nate comes to spend some time at the beach house as well, creating more tension among everyone. Nate's mother was briefly married to Kelsey's father. Nate is May's ex-boyfriend as well.

Detective Carter is investigating the missing person's case and finds the connection between the three women and David Smith - David was Marnie's boyfriend at Wildwood. Carter interviews the three women individually, when news break that David's body is found. May tells Kelsey to stop talking and lawyer up. Kelsey has a breakdown, as she doesn't want to be accused of killing someone, AGAIN.

May starts doing her own investigation and finds out that Kelsey has been using the name Callie Martin online. She confronts her with this information. Kelsey tells May she created Callie Martin as her online persona after being canceled for her own safety. She also admits to meeting David Smith on instagram and had a relationship with him. 

Lauren convinces May to be Kelsey's lawyer. May looks over both cases of Luke and David, and realizes they were pulled over by a fake cop right before being shot to death. She finds a police uniform at Nate's house and suspects Nate has something to do with the murders. May talks to Detective Carter, and sets up a wire when the three women talk to Nate, in hopes of him confessing. Kelsey goes off script and tells Nate he's ruining her life. Nate admits to the killings. The police comes to arrest him when he jumps from the 20th story balcony. Turns out, Nate has been in love with Kelsey since he first met her. He killed Marnie because Marnie had found out about Nate and Kelsey's relationship while at the camp. Nate felt like he had to kill her to save Kelsey's reputation because Marnie was known as a gossip queen. Later, he killed Luke because Kelsey wants to have babies from the frozen embryos the two made, which Luke was against. Luke had a right in that decision even in the case of divorce. The only way around it is if Luke is dead. Later, Nate killed David because he was jealous of Kelsey's feelings for David.

Nate is arrested. The three friends are close again. Kelsey is expecting twins with the frozen embryos she had with Luke. The END.

I thought this was pretty good. I kind of suspected Nate a little bit, but there was enough red herrings for me to be unsure. I loved the premise of writing a prank note and for it to go terribly wrong. I also like how the friends thought it was just a made-up note, when in reality, David WAS cheating on the female driver, with Kelsey. I wouldn't say this is going to make a lasting impression, but it was a pleasant read.