The others /

Israeli author Blau makes her English-language debut with a brashly original if plot-challenged psychological thriller. Provocative, passionate, and stubborn Israeli feminist scholar Dina Kaminer has inflamed more than her share of haters, especially as an advocate for the childfree lifestyle. But who loathed her enough to murder her, then turn the corpse into a macabre tableau, the word Mother printed across her forehead and a baby doll glued to her hand? Micha Yarden, a young police detective, questions Sheila Heller, Dina's academic rival, who, back in college as part of Dina's flamboyant posse, pledged to defy conventional female roles--particularly the notion of motherhood as civic duty--but during the two decades since turned acid-tongued frenemy. Overwrought and at times outright lying, Sheila seems a slam dunk person of interest--or maybe she's simply terrified of becoming the next victim. The twisty, often sardonic narrative shifts neatly between the ongoing investigation and secrets of the women's emotionally fraught past. Blau offers a revealing glimpse into a world not often seen outside her homeland. Agent: Cathryn Summerhayes, Curtis Brown (U.K.) (Apr.)

Women without children fear for their lives. In college, Sheila and her three best friends make a pact to never have children. They call themselves the "Others," after the childless women in the Bible, and for the most part keep to the pact. But now a few decades have passed, and Sheila's friends start showing up dead: first Dina, the intimidating leader of the group, and then the others. Blau's novel makes an earnest attempt at suspense and occasionally achieves it. Sheila is a difficult character to empathize with, though, or even to fully believe in: She's focused more on flirting with the handsome young detective than on the idea that she might be his primary suspect--or the next murder victim. Her inner monologues often strain credulity. Then, too, Blau's dialogue frequently feels canned ("I'd watch it if I were you," Sheila says), and Sheila's realizations are unoriginal, to say the least: "I guess it's true what they say," she thinks at one point, "love really does screw with your head." Blau certainly has the makings of an interesting idea here: The story is deeply rooted in, and frequently references, childless Biblical women like Lilith or Miriam the prophetess. And Blau's depictions of the envy that festers between the friends are darkly engaging. But because the threat at the center of the novel--the ritualized murders that first brought the detective calling--never feels real, the story itself never gets off the ground. Likewise, the moral conundrum that each of the women faces--whether or not to have children--is never fully explored, though Blau frequently mentions it. She seems to prefer to skate across the surface. An occasionally suspenseful story gets bogged down. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.