Quinn, Kate. The Briar Club. Morrow. Jul. 2024. 400p. ISBN 9780063244740. $30. M

Quinn’s (The Diamond Eye) compelling story of women’s friendship, set against the frightening days of McCarthyism, combines personal stories with the news. In 1954, a Thanksgiving gathering at a Washington, DC, women’s boardinghouse is disrupted. The result is two dead bodies and 17 suspects. The boardinghouse residents and their guests worry about what the police will uncover, because Briarwood House has harbored secrets for at least four years. Mrs. Nilsson, the owner and landlady at Briarwood House, is disliked by all the residents. However, beginning in 1950, when a widow, Grace Marsh, moves in, the atmosphere slowly changes. Every Thursday, when Mrs. Nilsson is out, Grace invites everyone to dinner in her tiny room. Residents include a Hungarian refugee, a cop’s daughter dating the wrong man, a secretary to a senator. The women all have a chance to talk about their past, while still keeping secrets. The lives they made may come crashing down as friendships are tested by home invasion and murder. VERDICT This powerful, unforgettable historical mystery is for fans of Mary Anna Evans’s Justine Byrne series, and stories with strong women characters.