At Wyatt College, the howl of the wind sends chills down the spines of those who know the local traditions. The school’s insidious hazing ritual — the Howling — has long plagued the small Virginia town of Wyatt Valley, and on one particularly disastrous night, it turned several people’s lives upside-down.

Undergrad Beckett Bowery was one of them, and she’s spent the past 20 years fleeing the fallout. After her senior-year roommate was accused of killing two local men on the evening of the Howling and subsequently disappeared without a trace, Beckett was considered a person of interest in the case. With suspicious eyes everywhere, she left Wyatt Valley — her hometown — because she no longer felt welcome:

“The town has a long memory. Not everyone has forgiven.”

But when, two decades later, her daughter, Delilah, lands a scholarship to Wyatt but soon vanishes from campus, Beckett is dragged back to a place she thought she’d left behind forever. Now, Beckett is forced to examine the events from that long-ago deadly Howling to uncover who might be haunting her family today.

You Belong Here is Megan Miranda’s ninth thriller, and the author clearly knows how to let fear seep slowly into a reader’s bones, building the tension until you find yourself turning on an extra light, just in case. With a fresh and propulsive dual-timeline narrative, the novel resists familiar tropes. Instead, Miranda devises a tangled web of secrets past and present, teasing out the delicious details with immaculate pacing.

A strong cast of supporting characters amps up the volume. Among others, there’s Beckett’s parents (both Wyatt College professors), still devoted to the town that spurned their only daughter; Trevor, Delilah’s father, separated from Beckett but ready to leap to her aid at a moment’s notice; and Cliff, Beckett’s old flame, who’s evolved from mischievous townie to university dean. Miranda gives readers just enough of each character to make them feel real, providing ample room for us to question their motives or doubt their sincerity.

Wyatt Valley is a character, too, its stunning blue mountains and green forests irresistible to Beckett, even as the place torments her. Miranda expertly recreates the claustrophobic atmosphere of a charming small town hiding big, dark secrets. Readers will feel just as alarmed as Beckett does at the idea of returning:

“I heard the distant chime of the bell tower marking the hour, and thought, like I had long ago: Run.”

Fans of Freida McFadden and Agatha Christie will appreciate Miranda’s keen attention to detail and clever plotting. In this stellar example of the genre, the puzzle pieces of a decades-old mystery slide together in unexpected and satisfying ways. Some questions are resolved quickly, others unfurl more slowly. The story races forward over a few tense days, leading to an explosive climax. This is a book meant to be swallowed whole. No spoilers here, but the ending will haunt you for a long time to come. 

Haley Huchler is a writer from Virginia. She has written for publications including Northern Virginia Magazine and DC Theater Arts. She has a B.A. in English and journalism from James Madison University, where she was editor-in-chief of Iris, an undergraduate literary magazine.