Dead to Her

December 9, 2019
This soapy domestic suspense novel from Pinborough (Cross Her Heart) roils with passion, rancor, and greed wrapped in Southern politesse. As the second wife of Savannah, Ga., attorney Jason Maddox, 34-year-old Marcie is the youngest, most attractive woman in the couple’s wealthy social circle—until Jason’s widowed boss, William Radford, returns from London with a gorgeous bride, 22-year-old Keisha, a former cocktail waitress. Marcie loathes the way her husband ogles Keisha, but agrees to befriend the young woman—ostensibly to manipulate Keisha into encouraging William’s retirement, thus rendering Jason senior partner, but also to monitor her competition. The relationship between Marcie and Keisha takes an unexpected turn as their respective stories unfold via an alternating third-person narrative. Tension increases in tandem with Marcie’s suspicion and paranoia; meanwhile, Keisha’s sanity shreds as William’s domineering nature emerges. Pinbrough’s intricately woven mystery will please fans of B.A. Paris and Paula Hawkins. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Co.

January 17, 2020

Marcie Maddox comes from the other side of the tracks, so she knows a good thing when she sees it. Stealing Jason from his first wife and becoming his second wife places Marcie in a rich Savannah social circle. She revels in her role of "sexy young wife," so when Keisha arrives on the scene as the new spouse of widowed William Radford, the entire social circle is jolted and Marcie is concerned about her status. Directed by Jason to befriend Keisha, Marcie begins to realize that all is not what it seems--and the sparks between Keisha and Jason are hard to miss. The story is well written and, though none of the characters are especially likable, the twists are surprising. VERDICT A mix of steamy sex, lies, secrets, betrayals, murder, and a dash of voodoo, Pinborough's latest novel (after Cross Her Heart) will keep readers guessing until the very last chapter. A twisty thriller for fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. [See Prepub Alert, 7/29/19.]--Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
Two trophy wives in Savannah, Georgia, learn that wealth and status can't protect them when their secrets and lies catch up to them. Marcie thinks she has finally escaped her bleak past in Idaho. She broke up Jason Maddox's first marriage and is now Mrs. Maddox, with all the trappings of mansions, country clubs, and the right social set. But when Jason's 65-year-old boss, William Radford IV, a recent widower--having buried the saintly and never-forgotten Eleanor--returns from London with 22-year-old Keisha, a stunning bride, Marcie's status as the alpha wife seems uncertain. And is Jason flirting with Keisha? As the novel unfolds, alternating between each woman's perspective, we learn that the husbands may not be the prizes they seem, either. (Though did they ever seem like prizes?) And everyone in Savannah, it seems, has secrets, some more dangerous than others. The author's ability to build suspense is hampered by overwriting ("Splinters of her heart broke off and she wanted to stab him with them") and tedious passages; editing would have made the book tighter and moved the plot along better. It's also a struggle to spend so much time with, or care much about, characters a police officer deems "such truly atrocious people." If you do manage to stick with this crowd until the end, you may at least be surprised by a few late-breaking twists and turns.

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Starred review from November 1, 2019
Pinborough's third domestic thriller (after Cross Her Heart, 2018) is set in the enticing world of the �berrich denizens of picturesque Savannah. Marcie became Jason's second wife after a torrid affair, and despite their age difference, has settled in as a member of their old money world of parties, charity work, and gossip?but she has a past that will never allow her to truly belong. Their predictable world is upended when William, Jason's partner and the group's de facto patriarch, brings home an even younger wife, Keisha, from his trip to England, shaking loose a web of secrets and putting a plan of well-calculated destruction into motion. Narrated in turns by Keisha and Marcie, who are equally seductive and untrustworthy, this tightly wound thriller just keeps constricting. Readers shouldn't let Pinborough lull them into complacency with soapy drama, illicit love affairs, tension as stifling as the Georgia summer heat, and an unsettling touch of the supernatural. Every character and every detail will matter when the inevitable twist comes crashing down. With Dead to Her, Pinborough plants her flag as the master of seductively sinister suspense. This absorbing tale will satisfy and even surprise fans of Jennifer McMahon and Gillian Flynn.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)