Mariah Dunning’s obsession over the disappearance of her mother, Beth, has driven the 22-year-old to take some unhealthy risks—like carrying an arsenal of weapons in the trunk of her car (you know, in case she has to rescue her mother), allowing her hair-trigger temper to rule her emotions, and initiating a car chase with a frightened woman she’s mistaken for her mother that ends in a collision with a police car.

Mariah turns to a former high school friend who calls himself Revaal and writes a crime blog. He throws out a new theory: another woman named Beth—Bethany Curtis—also disappeared from their hometown of Lakehaven, Texas, about the same time as Mariah’s mother. Mariah’s sleuthing uncovers yet another woman named Beth—in this case a stranger, Lizbeth—who may also be linked to the other two Beths.

While the police detective on her mother’s case sympathizes with Mariah’s fixation, he also believes that she is protecting the prime suspect, her father, Craig. Mariah’s faith in her father is unshakable—and believable. But her relationship with Bethany Curtis’ husband—a tech millionaire who is also the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance—puts herself, and her father, in danger.

Jeff Abbott has proven to be an expert at plotting, and the standard continues in The Three Beths. The author’s energetic plot is enhanced by his depiction of Mariah, who is both sympathetic and out of control, and a passionate central character who drives this entertaining thriller home.