The setting is the present in Crosby, Maine. A number of Strout’s characters from previous novels come and go in Tell Me Everything. Olive Kitteridge is in assisted living, Lucy Barton is still living with her ex husband, William, and Bob Burgess is married to Margaret, the minister. These characters and others form the loose plot of the novel as well as a mysterious murder.

Elizabeth Strout is not for everyone, but I enjoy her seemingly effortless writing style, and her ordinary, mostly goodhearted characters. If you enjoyed most of Strout’s other novels, you will want to read Tell Me Everything.