This three-book collection delivers laugh-out-loud moments, but at its core is deadly darkness Elle Harrison, a fourth-grade teacher, has had a life without adversity until her husband's infidelity—and other much worse catastrophes—disrupts her world. In The Trouble with Charlie , Elle's soon-to-be ex-husband has been stabbed to death; she wonders whether she could have done it in one of those "foggy" moments her friends call "pulling an Elle." When she goes off with her girlfriends to a cosmetic surgery retreat in Elective Procedures , she seems to be a magnet for unexplained deaths. And in Child's Play , on the first day of school, Elle finds the principle in her school murdered, and a second teacher dead not long after. Constant among these three separate, seemingly unrelated, yet intricately tied stories, is Elle's charm, her indomitable spirit, and the huge support she gets from her friends. As they all grapple with their problems, they come to believe that Elle has a dissociative disorder that obscures her reality. The Elle Harrison stories open some dark doors, each one darker than the other, as the vulnerable Elle challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she's forced to face her fears and apply all her skills in a deadly fight to save her sanity—and her life.