AUTHOR Karen Katchur launches her new Northampton County series with a darkly rich family drama about a young woman reconciling her childhood with the adult she has become. River Bodies (Thomas & Mercer; 2018) centers on veterinarian Becca Kingsley, who is forced to return to her hometown because her estranged father is dying.

Becca has built a life in Columbia, New Jersey, where she loves her career as a surgeon in a successful veterinary clinic. She lives with Matt Goode, a litigator who, like her father, is charming and handsome. He also cheats on her and sometimes does not come home, just like her father, who flaunted his infidelities in front of her and her mother. Becca and Matt live in a gated condo community where she often feels trapped.