The Women in White is another great dark, suspenseful Sarah Pekkanen novel. I love how this author always writes page-turners, full of gore-free suspense, so I almost didn’t care about the specifics. This is an unusual one because it’s a historical thriller.

Riley is desperate for a job and a place to stay after her ex ran up huge debts. I have to say this kind of character motivation always works for me  —  a character who’s willing to take a weird or risky job feels relatable, and I think readers need a relatable hook in a thriller, especially a thriller like this that also involves telepathy.

Riley’s lucky to be hired as the live-in caretaker for an elderly woman called Betty, although she finds that Betty’s pretty independent. Betty’s in a wheelchair, and her house seems to be frozen in the 1960s, but she doesn’t seem to need much help.  Betty’s more likely to fix dinner for Riley than the other way around, which leaves Riley wondering why she even needed to hire help.

Betty begins to chat about her past, her late husband, and a group of close girlfriends who she hasn’t seen in years.  This is a dual-timeline story, with one set in the current day with Riley and Betty, and one about Betty’s memories in the 1960s.  I don’t usually love dual-timeline, because dislike being led up to the shocking realization of a nickname fakeout, and dual-timeline thrillers are full of this. It works here,  I think because we’re curious about Betty’s story, and we discover it along with Riley.

Without too much of a spoiler, The Women in White explains how four young women with extra-sensory abilities were identified and tested in the 1960s. A university researcher is interested in their special abilities, but the work soon moves from guessing cards to amplifying and controlling their abilities. The young women share a bond first because of their abilities, and then because they’re spending all their time as research subjects, and their friendship grows. This also adds tension, because in the modern-day storyline, Betty hasn’t spoken to any of them for years, so there’s a feeling throughout the book that something will go very wrong with the experiments or their relationships.

I always like Sarah Pekkanen books for the twisty suspense, without gore. This one delivers that dark atmosphere of wondering who to trust, with twists and surprises, and nothing gross.