Release date: April 7, 2026
Publisher: Severn House
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis:
A woman’s life is upended when her past comes back to mess with her mind in this psychological thriller full of twists and turns.
There’s no such thing as perfect.
It’s been fifteen years since Carly Bennett’s mother was brutally murdered during a home robbery. Since then, she’s worked hard to build a normal life with a stellar career as an English professor—far away from the picture-perfect stepfamily that abandoned her at boarding school.
When a male colleague is found dead in Carly’s office—her name scrawled next to his body—everything she’s strived for starts to fall apart. There are eerie similarities to her mother’s attack, and Carly determines to find the truth.
Yet things take a bizarre turn when she suddenly experiences lost time, waking up in strange places, and flashes of dormant memories . . . memories that can’t possibly be real. Because, if they are, then she was there the night her mother was killed.
Could Carly have been responsible? Or is something more sinister at play in her stepfamily’s perfect world . . .?
This eerie domestic suspense is perfect for fans of Frieda McFadden and Lisa Jewell.
Review:
Everyone Is Perfect Here by Jane Haseldine is an engaging, twisty domestic suspense that leans heavily into family drama, buried trauma, and the lingering impact of the past. Told across dual timelines, the story follows Carly Bennett as she’s pulled back into the mystery of her mother’s murder, an event that shattered her childhood and continues to echo into her present. The past and present structure keeps the narrative moving at a steady, compelling pace, gradually revealing secrets that reshape everything Carly thought she knew.
Carly herself is an intriguing and layered protagonist, especially as her grip on reality begins to blur with unsettling memory gaps and flashes of something darker beneath the surface. The story thrives on that eerie uncertainty—what really happened, what can be trusted, and how much of the past has been buried for a reason. The pacing is quick and the twists keep things entertaining, making it an easy book to fly through, especially for fans of family centered thrillers with psychological elements.
While this one didn’t fully land as a standout for me, it was still a solid and enjoyable read. The exploration of trauma and complicated family dynamics adds depth, even as the story leans into more dramatic, twist driven moments. Overall, it’s a fast paced, intriguing suspense that will appeal to readers who enjoy unraveling messy family secrets with a touch of unreliability and tension.
Overall rating: 3.5/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
Novelgossip 