Summer reading just got a whole lot spicier. May Cobb’s deliciously juicy and wickedly entertaining THE HUNTING WIVES might just be the most gossip-worthy suspense novel of Summer 2021. Centering around an elite clique of wealthy housewives with secrets as big as their home state of Texas, THE HUNTING WIVES invites readers into an exclusive and glamorous world with a dark side. When Sophie relocates her family from Chicago to a small East Texas town, she hopes to give them the kind of peaceful, stable upbringing that was missing from her own childhood. But Sophie’s world is turned upside down when she meets charismatic and mysterious Margot, the ringleader of a group of local affluent housewives who call themselves “The Hunting Wives.” As Sophie falls under Margot’s spell, she is drawn into a dark and dangerous world of parties and hookups. And when someone close to the group turns up dead, and suspicion falls on Sophie, her world threatens to be destroyed forever. THE HUNTING WIVES is dripping with glamour and excess, a razor-sharp thriller about the complexity of female relationships wrapped up in an irresistible, reality-TV-worthy package. Fans of Desperate Housewives and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies will relish this irresistible story of wealthy women behaving very badly, and the (maybe not-so-) innocent woman caught in their crosshairs.
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Book Review: THE GIRL WHO DIED by Ragnar Jonasson
Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson has been a staple of Crime by the Book ever since I started this blog, and this coming week, Ragnar’s first-ever standalone novel will be published here in the US. THE GIRL WHO DIED is a significant departure for an author who has built an international brand on his classic-crime-inspired detective novels; now, in his newest release, Ragnar sets his sights on a story of psychological suspense that dabbles in the possibly-supernatural. In THE GIRL WHO DIED, readers follow a young woman who accepts a teaching position in a very remote Icelandic village, only to discover that she has unwittingly moved into a community that is even more insular and sinister than she could ever have imagined. Fans of Ragnar’s previous releases will recognize in his newest novel his elegant and subtle writing, and his masterful ability to paint a vivid picture of Iceland’s landscape and atmosphere; readers of Ragnar’s work both new and old will fall under the hypnotic spell of his most chilling story yet in THE GIRL WHO DIED. Though not a traditional Nordic Noir novel, THE GIRL WHO DIED nevertheless holds significant appeal for fans of the Scandinavian crime tradition, and will also appeal to readers who love suspense tinged with the supernatural, and crime stories set in small towns. Pick up THE GIRL WHO DIED for a brooding, slow-burning, haunting tale of suspense.
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Book Review: HER THREE LIVES by Cate Holahan
Cate Holahan is one of my personal must-read, hidden gem suspense writers—an author I can always count on to deliver unique, cleverly-plotted, deliciously entertaining suspense stories. Whether exploring the world of a writer whose new novel begins to blur the lines between fact and fiction in Lies She Told, or taking readers on a luxurious vacation to a summer house where a murder is about to occur in One Little Secret, the books of Cate Holahan’s that I have read have delivered wholly unique and highly entertaining reading experiences. The same can also be said of Cate Holahan’s newest psychological thriller HER THREE LIVES, which will be published this coming Tuesday. In HER THREE LIVES, Holahan weaves a domestic suspense tale of distrust and manipulation. When Jade and Greg’s home is subject to a home invasion, their house isn’t the only thing shattered. Trust between the couple quickly erodes, as both Jade and Greg begin to suspect that their partner may have had something to do with this violent attack. Whose suspicions are correct, and who is to blame? HER THREE LIVES tells a paranoia-inducing tale that will keep readers on their toes until the book’s final pages. Pick this one up for an engrossing vacation (or staycation!) read this spring.
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Book Review: THE DROWNING KIND by Jennifer McMahon
What do you get when you cross a dual-timeline mystery with a tale of supernatural suspense? Enter Jennifer McMahon’s haunting, immersive new novel THE DROWNING KIND, available today, April 6. In this chilling supernatural mystery, it’s not any old house that’s haunted—it’s a body of water, specifically, a pool fed by a natural spring that is said to have special powers. Jax and her sister Lexie grew up swimming in this pool most summers, their grandmother owning the land upon which the pool is set. Fast forward a couple decades, and one day, Jax gets an unthinkable call: her sister Lexie has been found dead, drowned in the very same pool that she loved so much as a child. As Jax returns to her grandmother’s house, she is confronted by the pool’s dark history. Lexie wasn’t the pool’s first victim, and she might not be its last. THE DROWNING KIND weaves an atmospheric and sinister tale of supernatural suspense and heartbreaking family tragedy. This immersive and often quite poignant novel balance supernatural scares with authentic human drama and tragedy that keeps the story grounded in reality, even while exploring forces that are anything but. Expertly balanced dual timelines enhance the chill factor in this book, ratcheting up the tension bit by bit until the full horrors of the pool are revealed by the book’s conclusion. THE DROWNING KIND may be a slow-burning story, but it’s a slow-burn that will captivate fans of spine-tingling supernatural suspense. THE DROWNING KIND was the first book I’ve ever read by bestselling author Jennifer McMahon, and it certainly won’t be my last.
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Book Review: EVERY VOW YOU BREAK by Peter Swanson
Peter Swanson, author of acclaimed thrillers including The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders, returns this spring with his newest story of Hitchcockian suspense: EVERY VOW YOU BREAK. Following a bride whose honeymoon with her beloved new husband takes a dark and sinister turn, EVERY VOW YOU BREAK asks the age-old question that has fueled so many domestic and psychological thrillers: how well do we really know the people who we allow into our lives? In this book, it’s no spoiler to say that the answer to that question is not very well at all—and the things they are hiding just might be deadly. EVERY VOW YOU BREAK is dripping in sinister atmosphere and built to be devoured in one or two sittings. Unfortunately, the book’s finale leaves something to be desired, managing to be both fairly predictable and over-the-top all at once. If you are a newcomer to Peter Swanson’s work, you may be better served trying one of his previous releases: check out his books Eight Perfect Murders (perfect for fans of classic mysteries and crime fiction!) or Her Every Fear (perfect for readers looking for top-notch suspense with shades of Hitchcock).
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