Emily Parker needs to run to the store to pick up a few items. She and her three young children have been spending their vacation with Emily’s mother on Cape Cod, and Emily wants to replenish her mom’s pantry before they leave. She talks to her husband, Will, on her cell phone from the grocery store parking lot as she’s loading up the car, promising they will be home in time for dinner. Hours pass, and Will gets a call from his mother-in-law -- Emily never returned from the store.

Will quickly travels to Cape Cod to see what the police have discovered about his missing wife. He encounters a seemingly incompetent Detective Snow, who is convinced Emily has run off just as his own wife did. But retired FBI agent John Geary, now living in the area doing research for a book on cold cases, has a funny feeling that something isn’t quite right. When John and Will find Emily’s car, full of spoiled groceries and abandoned in the store parking lot, they know she has met with foul play. John’s research then leads to a discovery that the person responsible for the disappearance has struck before -- and may also be after Will and Emily’s son.

Five Days in Summer is a thrilling ride from start to finish. This novel is so full of twists and turns that I defy readers to figure out the solution before the book tumbles to its dizzying conclusion. Emily is a sympathetic character from the first page, and readers will root for her survival even when things seem completely hopeless. Each character, no matter how minor, plays an important role in the overall plot of the story.

Debut author Kate Pepper is off to a wonderful beginning with Five Days in Summer. Fans of Mary Higgins Clark and Lisa Gardner will definitely want to pick this one up, as the suspense and thrills permeate each page. The pacing varies from scene to scene, which gives you the illusion of being able to relax and catch your breath. But don’t let down your guard! For a taut, edge-of-the seat mystery, look no further than Five Days in Summer.