Exciting and unpredictable, this is a thriller fans of the genre will enjoy.
Cain delivers a tense crime thriller with a large cast of characters that will keep readers guessing.
Molly Chrysler’s husband’s career as a prominent judge was ended when he was murdered, and his legacy was tainted by the allegations of sexual abuse of juvenile offenders. The judge’s wife gives the appearance of a rich widow who only wants to use her money to improve the world; she funds the renovation of the Juvenile Justice Center in her late husband’s name. But those who really know Molly Chrysler understand the truth of her character and the darkness of her wicked soul. When Hattie Jennings lost her son, Johnny, she was told his death was by suicide, but she knows it was murder: He went to jail after failing to stop his friends from beating a man to death, then fell victim to Judge Chrysler and planned to publicly accuse him (“He expected to be disbelieved by many people and smeared as a murderer seeking to defame the judge who had sentenced him. Nonetheless, he was ready to announce to the world what had happened to him and take the consequences as they came”). John Abel, defending the judge’s accused killer, has known the Chryslers for a long time and is a great lawyer, but his experience may not be enough against the underhanded dealings and manipulations of Molly. These characters make up only a part of a large cast that, at times, is difficult to keep track of, despite each having their own individual personality and depth. Molly Chrysler is a dynamic villain who will do anything to get what she wants. Hattie Jennings is a grieving mother who has nothing left to lose and is determined find justice for her son. John Abel is an experienced lawyer committed to order, fairness, and the law. These characters come together to make up a plot rich in complexity and deep social issues, with a fast pace and thrilling turns. With a satisfying and remarkable ending, Cain displays his mastery for complex stories.
Exciting and unpredictable, this is a thriller fans of the genre will enjoy.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798375336718
Page Count: 339
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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