Book #4: Find Me, Alafair Burke

The disappearance of a young woman leaves her best friend reeling and an NYPD homicide detective digging into her own past in this twisty mystery about the power of female friendships. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister and The Wife.

Some pasts won’t stay forgotten . . . 

She calls herself Hope Miller, but she has no idea who she actually is. Fifteen years ago, she was found in a small New Jersey town thrown from an overturned vehicle, with no clue to her identity. Doctors assumed her amnesia was a temporary side effect of her injuries, but she never regained her memory. Hope eventually started a new life with a new name in a new town that welcomed her, yet always wondered what she may have left behind—or been running from. Now, she’s leaving New Jersey to start over once again.

Manhattan defense lawyer Lindsay Kelly, Hope’s best friend and the one who found her after the accident, understands why Hope wants a new beginning. But she worries how her friend will fare in her new East Hampton home, far away from everything familiar. Lindsay’s worst fears are confirmed when she discovers Hope has vanished without a trace—the only lead a drop of blood found where she was last seen. Even more ominously, the blood matches a DNA sample with a connection to a notorious Kansas murderer.

With nowhere else to turn, Lindsay calls NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher, the daughter of the cop who dedicated his life to hunting the Kansas killer. Ellie has always believed there was more to the story of her father’s death twenty years earlier—and she now fears that Hope’s recent disappearance could be related.

In pursuit of answers, the women search for the truth beneath long-buried secrets. And when their searches converge, what they find will upend everything they’ve ever known. 

Discussion Questions 

1. After her car accident, Hope Miller is welcomed and protected by a town and its residents. Given the opportunity, would you take in someone who has no memory of their past?

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2. We are often protective of our friends, especially those who are “chosen family.” When Hope moves away, Lindsay Kelly has a hard time letting her go. Should she have been more willing to let Hope move on?

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3. Lindsay muses at one point that female friendships are simply different. Do you think that’s true?

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4. If you found yourself with amnesia and had to choose a new name to move forward, what name would you choose?

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5. Ellie Hatcher’s personal history also plays an important role in this story. How does the search for answers to questions in her family’s past influence her decisions in the present? Do you think she is acting more like a police officer or a daughter?

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6. There are multiple twists throughout this story. Did you see them coming? Which most surprised you?

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7. What was your initial impression of Hope? Were you suspicious of her? Sympathetic to her?

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8. Lindsay’s boyfriend Scott has his own feelings about Lindsay and Hope’s friendship.How would you describe his feelings, and do you agree with them?How do you think Hope might feel about Scott?

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9. Ellie is understandably obsessed with a particular serial killer case. Is there a true-crime case you find especially fascinating? If you could solve one true-crime case, which would it be and why?

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10. Sometimes a piece of past might reappear in the present in unexpected ways. What is the most surprising “the past appears in the present” occurrence you’ve experienced?

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11. If you were casting a TV or movie adaptations of FIND ME, who would you cast as the various characters?