Perfect mothers. Perfect daughters. Perfect lies.

After her husband's death, Dahlia Kincaid and her 14-year-old daughter Mia move to the exclusive lakefront community of Blackthorn Shores, Michigan, hoping for a fresh start.

It feels like a miracle. Lakefront views. Immaculate homes. And a coveted spot in the elite circle of neighborhood mothers. Even Mia is welcomed by the popular girls. For the first time, Dahlia dares to believe they've finally found belonging.

Then one of the girls is found dead after a neighborhood slumber party.

The police suspect murder. All eyes turn to Mia. Blood stains her clothes, fresh scratches mark her arms, and her story keeps changing. Every lie Mia tells makes Dahlia wonder what else her daughter is hiding.

As rumors swirl and suspicion mounts, the mothers who once embraced Dahlia turn wary and watchful. Mia withdraws, shutting Dahlia out. Desperate to protect her, Dahlia begins her own hunt for the truth, digging into the secrets buried beneath the community's polished façade. But every answer she uncovers brings her closer to losing both her daughter and the life she's fought to build here.

One thing is certain: someone in Blackthorn Shores is a killer. But as Dahlia closes in on the truth, her worst fear isn't that the killer will escape-it's that she already knows who it is.

Kyla Stone is the USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels with over two million books sold in several languages. The Guilty Ones is a propulsive domestic thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena, and Frieda McFadden.