Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie.
But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. And as the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.
**Potential Trigger Warning: child abuse and suicide repeatedly mentioned throughout this novel; detailed descriptions of hanging death
★★☆☆☆
After getting news of the death of his sister, Will Foust and wife Sadie, along with their two sons, trade big city Chicago life for small-town island residency in Maine. The Fousts not only take over the care of Will's sister's house, but also her teenage daughter, Imogen. Sadie is less than enthusiastic about the move, but tries to be empathetic (or so she claims), given the tragic circumstances of her SIL's death. Unfortunately, she and Imogen, who is currently rocking something of a Wednesday Addams vibe, just cannot seem to get their relationship off on the right foot. It also doesn't help that Sadie and Will's marriage is in a rocky place after his affair and this move was his idea at a fresh start for everyone. To complicate matters further, the family is barely settled in when word gets out that their neighbor a few houses down, Mrs. Morgan Baines, has been murdered. It doesn't take long for suspicions to turn toward the new folks in town.
Well, for me this was one of those stories that certainly had potential but ended up being a big fat bore for the most part. And when I wasn't bored I was getting annoyed at the messy plot and thoroughly unlikeable main character, Sadie, who came off as a pretty big snob who could reason her way out of taking responsibility for anything. In fact, she's likely the type to try to convince you she's always the victim. Sadie takes a job as the new doctor in town, how does she find her new community? "I've found the minds of the people are as small as the island itself." Her son struggled with bullying in Chicago, but is she overly worried about him? Maybe a little concerned, but his problems have nothing to do with her, he apparently just "makes poor life choices." Towards the end of the book, Imogen shares her darkest secret that's been plaguing her soul, and mom-of-the-year can't help but judge her for it. Yeah, I was over Sadie pretty early on. Meanwhile, Will presents himself as the optimistic, confrontation-phobic type... but you hang in there reader, he's got a story he wants to share later. (Sidenote: if you're confrontation-phobic, probably not in your best interest to carry on with an affair... just sayin').
There's some pretty big plot holes I'm still pondering on that unfortunately I can't really get into without veering into Spoilers! country...but the big one still on my mind is what about the house? My interest in this story was initially stirred at a potential paranormal twist. The plot synopsis mentions the "eerie house"... the first sentence of the book is even, "There was something off about the house." But this angle is never really pursued that much, unless you argue that the house inspired all the anger that seemed to boil up in the house shortly after the Fousts moved in, but it's not really laid out that that's the case. I mean, I gotta sit through pages of plot detailing the fibromyalgia battle of someone who is not even a main character, but I can't get a little paranormal activity to spice things up? Boo.
The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Sadie, mysterious former roommate Camille, "Mouse"(young stepdaughter of the murder victim), and, towards the very end, a few chapters where Will gets his say. Thank goodness for these other POV chapters, otherwise I might not have bothered to make it to the end solely on Sadie's story. Will has some interesting twists he throws into the mix towards the end, so I'm mildly glad I stuck around. Mostly I was reading to see if Kubica was going to take the thriller aspect down the road of DID.... or would it be gaslighting? A little of both? I'll just say I guessed it pretty early on. Not a lot of shockers here plot-wise.
FTC DISCLAIMER: Park Row Books / Harper Collins Publishers kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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