The Waters & The Wild by DeSales Harrison

When Father Spurlock is approached in his church by the young woman, he suspects that she might be one of the street people who come there for help.  She has come for help but he cannot provide what she needs.  The woman seems to think that he has something for her, some papers she needs.  When he states that he has no knowledge of any papers, she disappears with no way to contact her again.

Several days later, Spurlock does receive papers.  It is the papers of a psychoanalyst named Daniel Abend and it is a confession of his life and that of his daughter.  Abend has recently had a patient commit suicide; one that he thought he had helped.  Father Spurlock had performed the eulogy at the young woman's funeral and that is where Abend meets him and decides that he is the person who can help him in his time of need.

For it turns out that Abend's patient had not committed suicide but been murdered, and worse, that the person responsible may have Abend's daughter who left home as a young woman.  The story is revealed slowly, over months, to Abend, and as he gets a clearer picture, it becomes evident that he has an enemy.  This enemy has harbored hate for Abend for many years and is determined to get revenge.  In order to protect his child, Abend is forced to relive his own youth and the mistakes that were made in it and to understand how those mistakes are coming back to impact his life.  Can he resolve the issues in time to save his daughter?

DeSales Harrison has written a debut novel that will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.  The mystery is slowly revealed, ratcheting up the suspense with each new revelation.  Harrison himself studied psychoanalysis as a student and is currently a professor of poetry and the director of the creative writing program at Oberlin College.  He has written a novel that readers will not soon forget.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and psychological suspense.