The sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents, Eliza Ramsey and her sister Bea share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the eleventh anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her pre-teen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza’s.

Eliza knows her sister would never leave her precious Piper behind, and fears the worst. But did Bea plan her own disappearance?

The Ramsey’s lives have already crashed and burned once. Now, Eliza discovers she's the only one who can protect her niece from the horrifying legacy of her family’s sinister history. Together, the two must prevent their lives from going up in flames once again.

A missing mother. Her frightened daughter. And a sister on a desperate search for a happy ending. But someone knows the deadly key to their shared past, and won’t stop until they’ve written a devastating final chapter. Mother, daughter, sister—stranger.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 thrillers, including The Murder List and One Wrong Word. Her newest is Mother Daughter Sister Stranger from Minotaur Books, which Lisa Scottoline calls “Riveting!” and Mary Kubica says, “readers will devour this in one sitting!” Her thriller All This Could Be Yours is an instant USA Today bestseller, the 2026 Mary Higgins Clark Award winner, and nominated for the 2026 Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best Novel. Hank has won every major award in the mystery genre, with her thrillers translated into multiple languages worldwide. Her fiction is inspired by a lifetime of investigating true crime during her storied career as an on-air reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, where she was awarded multiple honors for her groundbreaking journalism, including an unprecedented 37 Emmy Awards.

Her work has resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for victims. A TedX speaker and in-demand literary moderator, national reviewers call her a “a superb and gifted storyteller.” Hank was a founding teacher at Mystery Writers of America University, and the past president of national Sisters in Crime. She’s co-host of The Back Room, and host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze.

A Chicago native with roots in Indianapolis, Ryan lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally renowned civil rights and criminal defense attorney.