Type: Psychological Thriller, Mystery
Date of Publication: March 14, 2023
Links: Goodreads / Bookshop / Amazon / Storygraph
Content Warnings: Infidelity
This domestic thriller is a quick read with emotional tension right from the start. Told from multiple perspectives, this story is full of drama and intrigue. Despite the layers of deception and number of characters, the plot unfolds in a pretty straightforward way that is easy to follow. Personally, I would have liked a slightly more tangled web to navigate, but there was still plenty to keep me interested. It is well written but occasionally focuses too much on the emotional experience of a given moment and causes the story to drag a little despite the tension being expressed. Overall, this is an enjoyable read for those who are looking for a light psychological thriller.
Before the email, Cass had it all; a partnership at a successful ad agency and a beautiful home with a loving family. Now, a woman named Emma claims to be her husband’s mistress and the life Cass has so carefully built begins to crumble under the pressure of mounting secrets. Just when things couldn’t get worse, Emma disappears and everything Cass has left is put at risk.
I was really interested in the premise of this story and excited to dig into all of the characters’ dirt. Though it certainly delivers on the promise made by the title and there are plenty of secrets to uncover, they didn’t feel as juicy to me as I had hoped. None of the ‘revelations’ really shifted my perception of the characters and most did not feel like they had ‘weight’ in the overall story. There is just a certain amount of predictability that undermines the impact some moments were supposed to have. There are plenty of readers that probably feel differently about this point and I will say that a lot rests on personal reading preference. No matter its level of impact, this story is well written and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
All of the characters in this story are unlikable, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed I was expecting that going in. However, readers who need a character to ‘root’ for in order to get into a story might want to skip this one. Despite all of the drama, I don’t feel like there are any moments of ‘growth’ or lessons learned that make a character feel redeemable. On a surface level, they are well realized and Still does a good job walking us through their various mental/emotional states. I particularly love Alice, Cass’s personal assistant who is creepily obsessed with Cass. However, despite their strengths, the characters don’t really feel dynamic or deeply complex. For me, there was a lack of connection not because the characters were unlikable, but because I lost interest in them after a time. Overall, I was interested in where the story was going, but found I wasn’t entirely invested in where the characters would end up in the end.
Special thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Rowan Hill 