Murder, They Wrote

I know it’s summertime and some of you may be looking for foofy beach reads to accompany your all-day rosé on the chaise longue. Not to be unkind, but this column is not for you. All four of these books stir up strong emotions and should be read sitting upright while drinking double espressos. Consider trigger warnings issued.

The most challenging is Joyce Carol Oates’s Babysitter, which explores a place where dread and fascination converge in late-70s America. As we’re introduced to the outwardly serene but privately suffocating life of Hannah Jarrett, a wealthy housewife in suburban Detroit, news is spreading about a serial killer of young boys nearby known as “Babysitter.”