Raising kids in the city can be difficult. Kate and her husband Ben were trying to do so when Kate was robbed while taking her young children out for a stroll. The thief even stole the stroller. So that was that. Goodbye, NYC. Hello, Upchurch.
Now a suburban mom, Kate is feeling alienated from the other women of her new community. They seem so much more put together, more organized, more in control. Kate has casual acquaintances among the Upchurch moms but no real friends. So when one of the moms calls and asks Kate to stop by, it's unusual and unexpected. Even more unexpected is the woman's dead body laying on the floor with a knife in her back.
Since she is the one who found the victim, Kitty Cavanaugh, Kate feels more than a little involved. The cops seem to have given up on the investigation and so Kate dives into the perfect life of perfect mom, perfect wife, perfect hostess, perfect everything, Kitty Cavanaugh. Doesn't take her long to understand that no one in Upchurch has the perfect lives they all work so hard to present to the world.
This was an OK read. Much of the story is about Kate's relationship with her husband and an old crush from before her marriage who broke her heart. As Kate's investigation proceeds, her relationship with Ben becomes rockier and rockier and the old crush showing up doesn't make it any easier. Kate doesn't make a real decision about Ben vs the crush, Evan:
I waved, then flipped onto my back and floated in the pale green ocean water, looking up at the sky. Come home to me, said Ben. Come back to me, said Evan. I closed my eyes, listening for my answer. My hair trembled in the water. My body rose and fell. The waves rolled in and out, saying nothing at all.The Kate and Ben story feels unfinished and the murder motive is more than a little weak and disappointing.
Review by Publishers Weekly.
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