Release date: August 6, 2024
Publisher: St. Martins
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis:
On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?
Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.
From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.
As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?
Review:
This one was quite the page turner for me, I was immediately sucked into the world the author created and was especially intrigued by Rose, who saw her nanny fall to her death. This had so many creepy and unsettling vibes, there was something off about the Barclays house and I was desperate to know what exactly was wrong. Stella was the kind of heroine I could root for in a thriller, she was actually pretty sensible and didn’t make too many crazy decisions that had me shaking my head. This was a very straightforward thriller that didn’t rely on a series of wild twists, I didn’t mind that though because the story was engaging enough on its own and it still kept me on my toes without a bunch of major reveals. Overall another solid read from the author for me.
Overall rating: 4/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
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