The browser: A quick look at recent releases

How do people resume being a family when an important member dies? That is the problem facing Kate Cavanaugh and her two kids after her husband dies at 42. Kate, a high school counselor, finds herself in need of counsel. Her tattooed, tongue-studded freshman daughter, Charlotte, looks for reassurance online. Four-year-old Hunter clings to ketchup bottles for comfort. It's one messed up family barely holding life together with the help of neighbor Marge, who seems to be able to do anything. When Kate meets an interesting man, it upsets the already-teetering mess. How they learn to let go and trust in love again is an engrossing tale with lessons for us all. My favorite line from the book comes from Kate's consoling mother-in-law, Emily: "We're human. ... We make mistakes. We're kind of like bacon, pink and hopeful in the beginning, crusty and brittle in the end. Life'll do that to you." Indeed.

JUDY ROMANOWICH SMITH, NEWS DESIGNER

This short novel is a taut, moody mystery with an unlikely detective who almost gets himself killed chasing the surprise of his life. George Young is an insurance attorney who is asked by the widow of his late boss to investigate the mystery of her son, who was killed in an apparent accident on a New York City street. Young obliges her and quickly finds himself immersed in a world of lies, danger and tense, nonstop action. The story, first presented as a 15-part weekly serial last year in the New York Times, works better as a book because it's hard to put down.