A special thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Hachette Book Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.Claire Westcott tries to be the perfect wife to her husband, Byron, but fears she will never measure up to his first wife, Colleen. After all, it's hard to compete with the dead, especially when you are living in her house, surrounded by her artworks.
Colleen, the starter wife, went missing eight years ago. Even though her body was never found, the local authorities deemed it a suicide. So when Claire receives a phone call from a woman she believes is Colleen, it sparks a million terrifying questions.
Claire discovers the couple weren't as happy as they would have people believe. And now she's worried Byron has been lying to her. There are secrets in every marriage, but sometimes those secrets are deadly.
Laurin ratchets up the suspense in this incredible thriller by setting the table for her reader—it's all there in the well-placed clues and subtle nuances. Her writing is consuming, expressive, and filled with deception.
The difference between 3 and 4 stars was due to a gaping plot hole. Why didn't Claire investigate Byron before marrying him? A simple search would have uncovered that he was a suspect in his wife's death—the husband is always a suspect. Are we to credit this to her naiveté because she's young?
Although the ending comes to a screeching halt, it is incredibly explosive and makes suffering with yet another unreliable female lead worth it.
NINA LAURIN is a bilingual (English/French) author of suspenseful stories for both adults and young adults. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Concordia University.
She lives in Montreal, Canada.
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