#1 New York Times bestselling author E. Lockhart returns to the world of her TikTok sensation We Were Liars in a standalone novel that crackles with beachy gothic atmosphere, family intrigue, and high-stakes romance.

A missing father. A mansion in neglect. And three teenage boys whose dark secrets might hold the answers.

Matilda Klein has been through an ugly breakup, and her mom has run off to Mexico.

So when her long-lost father, the famous and reclusive painter Kingsley Cello, invites Matilda to visit him on Hidden Beach, she gets on a plane. But when she arrives, she finds a monstrous seaside home in a state of disrepair, filled with mysterious paintings and locked towers. Her father isn’t even there.

Instead, there are three teenage boys: Open-hearted, tattoo-obsessed Meer embraces Matilda as a sister, but he’s still hiding something. Damaged, professionally charming former child star Brock is dealing with more than just the demons of his past. And sullen, wild, hardworking Tatum wants to get Matilda to leave Hidden Beach as soon as possible.

In a game of cat-and-mouse that begins with a midnight adventure to nearby Beechwood Island, recently decimated by fire, Matilda must guard her vulnerable heart and solve the puzzles of Hidden Beach — or lose herself in the process.