Books like The swimming pool by Holly LeCraw

Set on Cape Cod in the present day, the novel follows the aftershocks of an unsolved murder that shook a community seven years earlier. Marcella Atkinson was once entangled in a brief romance with Cecil McClatchey, who was married to a woman who would later be found dead. The case never reached a verdict and Cecil himself died after becoming an uncharged suspect. Now, years after a divorce and a fractured relationship with her daughter, Marcella lives in quiet isolation, haunted by the past. At the same time, Cecil’s son, Jed, returns to the Cape with his sister for the first time in years. A discovery in a closet—one person’s bathing suit—reveals a relic of his father’s affair. Confronting Marcella on this clue, they begin a new affair that temporarily masks old wounds but ultimately pushes them toward tragic crises and unexpected revelations. The story blends psychological depth with elements of crime, mystery, and forbidden love, depicting how unresolved grief and hidden truths can shape the course of new relationships in small communities.

First publish date: 2010