Publication Date: September 1, 2026
What if your own family history turns out to be a terrifying lie? Every family has its story, and this one’s deadly. Two sisters. One secret. And a race against time to find the explosive truth in this twisty and captivating thriller by USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan.
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 Ramseys’ 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.
The Ramsey sisters manage to survive a plane crash that killed their parents, but the tragedy alters their lives.
Relationships are called into question by author Hank Phillippi Ryan in Mother Daughter Sister Stranger. When Bea fails to pick up her 11-year-old daughter after an annual vacation with Eliza, the younger sister knows something is wrong.
What ensues is a hunt for clues that obviously point toward Bea’s disappearance. Eliza’s fascination with creating happy endings proves important in her professional life at a literary agency.
As information from the past is uncovered, the thriller unfolds with surprising twists. The truth about the Ramsey plane crash uncovers a sinister plot. Meanwhile, young Piper steals the action with a solid performance full of bravery.
Mother Daughter Sister Stranger delivers a captivating premise along with a desperate search for a happy ending.
USA Today bestselling author HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN has won five Agatha Awards (including for Truth Be Told and The Wrong Girl), five Anthony Awards, the Daphne, the Macavity, and the Mary Higgins Clark Awards. As on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, she’s won thirty-seven Emmy Awards and many more journalism honors. A past president of national Sisters in Crime, a founder of Mystery Writers of America University, and a board member of International Thriller Writers, Ryan lives in Boston.
