By Catherine O'Flynn
256 pages; Holt

The bravest and most appealing adolescent this side of The Lovely Bones, aspiring detective Kate Meaney vanishes partway through Catherine O'Flynn's mesmerizing debut novel, What Was Lost (Holt). Yet Kate's spirit remains, years after her disappearance, at the mall where she once tracked suspicious characters. Like Lisa and Kurt, two disaffected workers who can't get Kate out of their minds, you can't help looking for her in every lonely corridor. There are many ways to feel invisible, we learn from this gentle, sharp-sighted tale of love and loneliness. And there are many ways to be found.

— Cathleen Medwick