NOT OUR CROWD, DARLING

In Craft’s novel, a middle-aged woman loses her wealthy, elderly husband and finds herself unexpectedly embroiled in a political crime caper.

Meghan Auric learns that her 85-year-old husband, Eugene, has died. Closer in age to Eugene’s adult son from his first marriage than to Eugene, Meghan isn’t particularly torn up about the loss of her spouse. Eugene convinced Meghan to marry him years earlier when he learned she had been involved in a fraudulent scheme in her old insurance job; he promised he could make all traces of her criminal actions disappear and provide her with access to staggering wealth. In return, he’d enjoy having a young, beautiful woman on his arm (“I may not be the man of your dreams, Meghan, but marry me and I’ll make your problems go away. We’ll each be bound by our own dirty little secrets”). Everything worked out pretty well for the couple until Eugene’s death—now, the past is coming back to haunt Meghan in ways she never expected. First, their opulent apartment is robbed, but the only thing taken is Eugene’s computer hard drive. If that’s not suspicious enough, the architect of Meghan’s prior crimes suddenly reappears with a new name. She knows she has to figure out what’s really going on before the life she’s worked so hard to build comes crumbling down around her; the only problem is that she has no idea who she can really trust. Told in close third person from Meghan’s perspective throughout, the narrative follows her as she reevaluates her relationships with people in her life. This is largely a plot-driven novel; unfortunately, the narrative is bogged down by unnecessary detail that slows the momentum and does little to advance the narrative. Similarly, the dramatic tension in the novel takes too long to build, and readers may lose patience with the slow pacing. Even so, the tale deftly explores compelling themes of self-discovery, loss, and rebuilding self-respect in the wake of bad choices.

A slow-burning but ultimately uplifting novel of second chances.