'Tap on the Window' is worth answering

Private detective Cal Weaver makes a simple mistake and destroys everything he holds dear in Linwood Barclay's new thriller, “A Tap on the Window.”

Weaver and his wife are estranged after the death of their son, Scott. Evidence shows that he took drugs and jumped off a roof while trying to fly. Weaver wants answers, but his wife just wants to move on.

Then one evening a young woman named Claire knocks on Weaver's car window and asks for a ride. He's about to turn her down when she mentions that she knew Scott. He lets her inside the car — and the mystery starts. Soon there is another young woman pretending to be Claire, and the real Claire has vanished. Police have video surveillance showing her getting into Weaver's car, and because he was the last person to see her, the situation appears grim.

When Weaver digs for answers to uncomfortable questions, he just might expose the terrifying underbelly of corruption and murder that exists in the town. The tension slowly builds until the novel's shocking climax.

Barclay has established himself alongside the masters of suburban fiction, and he has the skill to tell a complex and surprising mystery with compelling characters.

This tap on the window is worth answering.