Skyler Moore is a 38-year-old starving artist living deep in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. She has her first gallery event coming up where some of her collages will be featured. Her major goal in life is to get pregnant.

However, everything is turned upside down one morning when Skyler receives an unsolicited phone call from Bradley Kane, a lawyer in Westchester County. He informs her that he has news that will benefit her. Christopher Whaley recently succumbed to cancer and has left something for her in his will. The only problem is that Skyler does not know anyone by that name, and neither does her family. So she makes an appointment to meet with Kane for further details.

"This is a high-caliber thriller that satisfies on every level and is just begging to be adapted into a miniseries."

At the end of the meeting, which also includes Chris’ mother, it is revealed that Chris has left Skyler an inheritance in excess of three million dollars. She is overwhelmed and asks to see a photo of him from around a dozen years ago. At this point, she remembers that she had a one-night-stand with Chris in Boston, but she still cannot understand what she did to warrant such a life-changing gift.

Chris’ family members, especially his ex-wife, are not happy about this decision and make it very clear that they believe Skyler is his mistress. Her apartment and studio are broken into, and she finds a piece of paper in her purse with the word WHORE stamped on it. She is even confronted outside her apartment building by Chris’ son, who urges her to give the money to his mother. That conversation does not end well.

Meanwhile, we are treated to a second narrative set in the past while Skyler is a student at Boston University. Her half-sister, Chloe, accompanies her to a party well off campus at a private residence. Chloe disappears during the festivities, and Skyler spends a week trying to get a hold of her. The search ends with Chloe’s half-nude body found near a ravine behind the party house, an obvious murder victim.

It turns out that the current-day storyline will link back to Chloe’s untimely demise with some significance that will be mind-blowing. Kate White does such a great job of peeling back the layers of this story, bit by bit, to reveal a little more. Once Skyler finally realizes who Chris really was and why he remembered her so generously when he passed, there will be consequences that she may not be able to face.

I confess that I have not read any of Kate White’s prior books, but I was so taken by BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS that I will seek to remedy this oversight by exploring her extensive backlist. This is a high-caliber thriller that satisfies on every level and is just begging to be adapted into a miniseries.