Heather

A Novel

By Caitlin Mullen
Book cover for "Heather" by Caitlin Mullen, featuring tall trees and sunlight streaming through a forest.
Title: Heather
Author: Caitlin Mullen
ISBN: 9781250400574
ON SALE: 06/09/2026

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ISBN: 9781250400581
ISBN: 9781250446749

A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar award-winning author of Please See Us.

1994. In the myth-riddled In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley’s twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what’s going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she’s always called home. A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman’s life is often complicated and unknowable—to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself.

Woman with long brown hair in a white blouse stands by a wooden fence with green ivy, outdoors.
Caitlin Mullen is the author of Please See Us, which won the 2021 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named a New York Times Best Crime Novel in 2020. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and children.

Praise for Caitlin Mullen

“It’s one of those novels where the more people that have it in their hands and read it and pass it on to a friend, it’s gonna spread like wildfire.”
 

The New York Times

“I’ve found my favorite crime novel of the year so far, one I’m already recommending to people who love Tana French and Liz Moore….I read Heather in a single sitting”

The New York Times

Heather isn’t your average summer thriller…In Caitlin Mullen’s long-awaited follow-up to the Edgar Award–winning Please See Us, Callie Hauser returns to her hometown in the New Jersey Pine Barrens as the new police chief and quickly comes closer to cracking an infamous cold case than she ever expected.” 

Women

“In a small-town detective reopens an unsolved case — sending shockwaves through multiple generations. It’s not your typical quick-turn mystery…”

Katie Couric Media
(Picked up by Yahoo! Life)

“Packs an undeniable punch”

Publishers Weekly

“A challenging read, but worth it, especially for the haunting theme of the presentness of the past.”

Booklist