Nora Glasser has fantasies of killing her ex-husband Hugh, who is a famous author, since Hugh has married Helene who became pregnant during the time when Hugh and Nora were married. Moreover, it was Nora who was yearning for a child. To top it all, after the divorce, Hugh and his wife moved into the town of Pequod where Nora had settled with a job in the local newspaper, to escape from the gossip and the notoriety of the divorce that the press created.

Nora is shocked when Helene walks into her Pilates class one day as if stalking Nora, but the real trouble starts when Hugh and Helene are found murdered in their fancy home. Is someone setting up Nora to make her look like the killer? Even Nora isn’t very sure of that, as she has a sleepwalking problem in her past. Then, in the picture is Nora’s boss Ben. How will this story unfold?

The character development is only good enough for a murder/mystery plot. Frankly speaking, I couldn't relate to and didn’t care for Nora’s annoying character at all. She makes herself into a slaving secretary for Hugh while helping him with his work and looks the other way when Hugh fools around. Then, after she finds out about Hugh and Helene’s move to Pequod, she turns herself into a peeping Tom with binoculars hiding in the woods and checking out, from the opposite shore, their every move and what happens on their estate. Then comes the events at the end that twist and turn, taking their time.

Where the dialogue is concerned, especially among Nora’s women friends, there was too much of it as empty talk but too little to show where the story was going. In addition, too many supporting characters muddled up the plot.

On the positive side, hooks were inserted quite often to make the reader read on, and several psychological insights were added positively to the story.

who Nora was, which made me feel I wasn't on her side.

curious for the ending even if the main character got on my nerves.

is Renee Shafransky, who is a psychotherapist and writer. She has a background in the film industry. This is her first book.

is Renee Shafransky, who is a psychotherapist and writer. She has a background in the film industry. This is her first book.

The author's movie-script writing background is evident in the sudden twists and sharp turns of the plot and the narrow focus that made this story into something of a B movie, while the novel had earlier implied a possibility of becoming something literary.

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Created Jun 23, 2018 at 6:50pm • Submit your own review...