Multilayered characters headline this gripping and profound whodunit.
In this thriller, a German woman reunites with her American ex on Ibiza, where the two investigate mysteries surrounding their loved ones.
Philine “Phil” Mann’s financial trouble leads to a heartbreaking choice. She must sell her beloved Ibiza home and property, which her aunt left her. But once she arrives on the Spanish island, she faces a series of alarming events, including the disappearance of her friend Dorothea Bartholdy, who had been staying at Phil’s house, and an unexplained fire at the dwelling. Just as surprising, her former lover Adam Ryan flies in from Dallas. He’s there for older sister Amanda’s funeral, though he immediately suspects her cyanide-poisoning suicide was actually a murder. He and Phil had an ugly split years ago—a heated argument ended with a drunk Adam striking her. Still, as their respective probes into Doro and Amanda intersect, the two begin working together. It seems as if everyone involved with these women have ties to either a local feminist group or an unsavory, scandal-ridden male organization. Questions give rise to more questions, as Phil and Adam inch dangerously close to the island’s sinister side. German-born Mahlow’s first English-language novel delivers copious plot turns. Although readers will predict some, others are genuine shocks, giving this continually deepening mystery—soon entailing multiple murders—an unrelenting edginess. The story’s two apparently opposing groups stir up serious gender issues, such as equality and male violence against women. While characters do (or have done) horrible things, the author deftly portrays a cast of flawed individuals rather than outright villains. That said, the final act is exceptionally dark, and the resolution will likely disturb readers as much as it satisfies their curiosity. Still, Mahlow’s writing paints beautiful scenery, regardless of what’s unfolding, from Phil’s run-down but cozy home to the island’s “stunning landscape” of orange groves, pine woods, and a donkey cart that slows traffic.
Multilayered characters headline this gripping and profound whodunit.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63752-867-9
Page Count: 414
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.
On the isle of Capri, Helen Lingate seeks revenge on the people responsible for her mother’s death 30 years earlier—her own family.
When Sarah Lingate fell to her death on Capri in 1992, she left behind a 3-year-old daughter, Helen, and a legacy as a gifted playwright; her favorite necklace of golden snakes was lost to the sea. Thirty years later, Helen, chafing at the restrictions she’s grown up under as a member of the old-money Lingate family, hatches a plan with her uncle Marcus’ assistant, Lorna Moreno, to blackmail her uncle and her father with that same necklace, which mysteriously entered her possession a few months before. The novel begins on Capri just after Lorna disappears, and then traces her steps from 36 hours earlier. Interweaving chapters from the points of view of Helen, Lorna, and Sarah—as well as, later, a few others—we learn how Sarah gradually became stifled by the constant pressure of keeping up appearances until she became inspired to write a play, Saltwater, that was a not-so-thinly veiled tell-all revealing dark Lingate family secrets. It was shortly after this that she fell to her death. The loss of her mother has come to define Helen’s life, and if she can use the necklace as leverage to escape her family, and maybe learn the truth along the way, she’ll take the risk. Lorna’s motives are both murkier and more straightforward—she’s never had money, and she’s got a chip on her shoulder about it, so splitting 10 million euros with Helen sounds like a way to discard her past and start fresh. These strong, conniving women drive the drama and the narrative, and they are captivating enough that as twist after twist begins to unfurl, the novel still feels character-driven. The end—well, the end shocks. And it’s well earned. By the time the sun sets on the gorgeous excess and rugged coast of Capri, lives will have been destroyed.
A feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593875551
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.
A frustrated advice columnist takes matters into her own hands.
Before dropping out of MIT during the second semester of her sophomore year, Debbie Mullen had designs on becoming the next Bill Gates. Now, almost 30 years later, the stay-at-home wife and mother of two uses her considerable genius to keep the Mullens’ Hingham, Massachusetts, household functioning “like a well-oiled machine.” In her spare time, Debbie also gardens and shares “the fruits of [her] wisdom” with neighbors via the weekly advice column she writes for Hingham Household, a local “family-oriented” newspaper. Though Debbie is proud of her husband and teen daughters’ accomplishments, her own life sometimes feels a bit empty. As such, she’s both honored and excited when Home Gardening magazine selects her backyard to feature in their next issue. Then, at the last minute, the publication decides to go in a different direction and instead spotlights the roses of her arch rival. Later that day, the editor-in-chief of Hingham Household axes her column because she’d counseled a reader to get a divorce. That evening, Debbie learns that her hard-working husband’s miserly boss refused his promotion request, her brilliant older daughter’s sketchy boyfriend broke her heart, and her athletically gifted younger daughter’s chauvinistic coach cut her from the soccer team for being “chubby.” Enough is enough. Debbie has always given great advice—everybody says so. If certain individuals don’t know what’s best for themselves, maybe it’s her obligation to help them see the light. Increasingly unhinged entries from a “Dear Debbie” drafts folder pepper the briskly paced, meticulously crafted tale, which unfolds courtesy of a pinwheeling first-person narrative. Some of the plot’s myriad twists are more impressive than others, but plucky, puckish Debbie is a nontraditional antihero for the ages.
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249624
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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