Domestic

Nancy Thayer meets Liane Moriarty in this mystery starring Emma, Gray, and Lizzie, three friends who must pick up the pieces when one is tragically widowed. Well….two friends and a frenemy. And OK, it’s not that tragic either, as the dead husband is an abuser who dies when he drunk-accelerates into his own garage wall. In fact, nothing is as it seemed when Emma’s now-dead husband, James, was making megabucks with Gray’s husband at their sports-star PR firm. After James meets his boozy end, the sports world and the family’s Hamptons-in-Jersey town is shocked, and so are Emma and her children. But as the days pass, the fear and shock recede, only to reveal mysteries that Emma can’t ignore. The stronger-than-she-knew mother starts by following a clue that the crash may not have been an accident; investigating, she finds out more about her husband and his sordid life, but mostly allows Scott (the True Love and Non-Blond Cheerleader series; and writing as Kate Brian, the Shadowlands trilogy) to reveal that life after toxic secrets is always better. Come for the friendship story, stay for the startling twists.

Former Cambridge students Helen and Daniel are a few months from the birth of their first child, after numerous pregnancy losses. Helen is understandably nervous, and it doesn’t help when her husband misses their first prenatal class. All she needs is brash, foul-mouthed mother-to-be Rachel sitting next to her and drawing attention. When the woman pours them both a large glass of wine and then drinks both glasses, Helen is horrified but too polite to say anything. Soon pushy, manipulative Rachel insinuates herself into every aspect of the expectant couple’s life, and Helen’s efforts to distance her new “friend” are about as useful as Lamaze breathing. Alongside that accelerating mayhem, to which Faulkner effectively adds urgency by showing the pregnancy weeks ticking by, is the story of Helen and Daniel’s friend Katie, who is a journalist reporting on a rape trial, and a look back at the group’s college days, when they faced a life-altering decision that still haunts. Faulkner gets right into the head of a troubled woman, also excelling at portrayals of more than one imbalanced friendship. This debut features some gasp-inducing twists, and is only slightly less astonishing all the way through. And that last line!