The Day I Died

From the award-winning author of Little Pretty Things comes this gripping, unforgettable tale of a mother's desperate search for a lost boy.

Anna Winger can know people better than they know themselves with only a glance—at their handwriting. Hired out by companies wanting to land trustworthy employees and by the lovelorn hoping to find happiness, Anna likes to keep the real-life mess of other people at arm’s length and on paper. But when she is called to use her expertise on a note left behind at a murder scene in the small town she and her son have recently moved to, the crime gets under Anna’s skin and rips open her narrow life for all to see. To save her son—and herself—once and for all, Anna will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she'd rewritten.

Lori Rader-Day is the Edgar Award–nominated and Anthony, Agatha, and Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author of Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, The Day I Died, Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour. She lives in Chicago, where she is cochair of the mystery readers’ conference Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing at Northwestern University. She served as the national president of Sisters in Crime in 2020.

“A searing, psychological suspense novel about small-town dreams shattered by a deadly secret.” — Terry Shames, Macavity Award-winning author of A Killing at Cotton Hill

“An unusual protagonist, a timely crime, and outstanding writing make Lori Rader-Day’s The Black Hour a stand-out debut.” — Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author

“Secrets lie behind every loop, slant, and swirl of The Day I Died, Lori Rader-Day’s compelling story of a handwriting analyst searching for a lost boy. Richly written, complex, and imaginative…this is a perfect read for fans of Mary Higgins Clark.” — Susanna Calkins, Macavity Award-winning author of the Lucy Campion mysteries

“Lori Rader-Day is so ferociously talented that it kind of makes me mad. Not fair! The Day I Died is a terrific novel—gripping and twisty and beautifully layered. It kept me locked up and locked in from the very first word to the very last.” — Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone

“Mary Higgins Clark Award winner Rader-Day’s (Little Pretty Things) third novel will thrill readers who can’t get enough of the psychological suspense genre.” — Library Journal

“Beautiful prose and tack-sharp observations round out this slow-burning but thought-provoking meditation on the ravages of domestic violence.” — Publishers Weekly on THE DAY I DIED

“[T]he story is compelling, the characters interesting, and the theme of a mother’s love universal.” — Mystery Scene

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