The nanny died, and no one knows exactly what happened to her: was it an accident? Was it murder?
She "fell" through the attic window to her death on the concrete below, the police don't have enough information or evidence to decide if someone was responsible, or if it was a terrible accident and she jus tripped and fell.
Now the parents are divorcing and both are seeking sole custody of their only child, Rose. So along comes Best Interest Attorney Stella Hudson, to interview the family and the child, to report to the court who she feels should get custody of the child. There is Rose, the father Ian, the mother Beth, and the live in Grandmother, Harriet. Given the fact that Ian (the father) had been having an affair with Tina (the nanny), it seems that any one of them could have pushed her out that window to get rid of her - especially since she was pregnant!
As Stella spends time with the whole family, she learns more about their lives and the dynamics in the household, and she inches closer and closer to the truth, until it all comes out in a dramatic showdown at the end.
Quite a riveting story, it kept me on my toes and kept me guessing. A well crafted psychological thriller!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
Excellent book, full of twists and turns as well as a claustrophobic sense of evil.
Rose, a little traumatized girl struck mute, might have killed her nanny - but it also could have been her mother, father or grandmother. Stella Hudson, the welfare attorney for Rose, is supposed to spend time with the family, especially Rose, to determine whether Rose should live with her mother or father, as the couple is in the midst of a divorce. The family is difficult to work with, but Stella, who had a disastrous childhood and was mute for a while as well, is determined to do her best for Rose.
The ending was unexpected and very satisfying.

I stayed up til 2am reading this because I just HAD to know who was responsible for Tina's murder. Sarah Pekkanen spins the most intricate and twisted story around the Barclay family that you have no idea who or what or how it all happened. Coupled with Stella's own childhood history and you become so incredibly wrapped up that you can't make heads nor tails of what is real or not. An amazing novel through and through, one hundred out of ten stars!!

4,5⭐ rounded down
This is the first book I have read by Sarah Pekkanen, but I can assure you this won't be my last. I loved this book. The story gripped me right from the start, who can resist a twisty thriller where everyone is a suspect even a nine year old girl!
Stella Hudson is an appointed counsel for nine year old Rose Barclay. The Barclay's are going through a bitter divorce, and Rose is suffering from traumatic mutism after witnessing her nanny plunge to her death from an upstairs window. As Stella spends time with the family to determine what will be best for Rose, she notices there is no glass in the whole house, all replaced, even the mirrors. There is more going on to this family than what anyone is sharing. Did the nanny commit suicide? Was she pushed? As Stella will seemingly stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it.
. This shocking thriller will give you the ride of your life as you try to put the pieces of this story together. I loved her writing, it was creepy and engrossing, I couldn't put it down

This one was a good one . The author draws you in at the beginning and keeps you engaged till the end . It has enough hooks to keep you guessing and is just a good propulsive read

I’ve read every collaboration with Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks but this is my first stand alone just by Pekkanen. I have always come to their collaborations knowing it’ll be a solid thriller that I can depend on for twists and turns, fast paced writing, and interesting plot lines.

This book is no different and I can see the strong voice from an authour that I’m used to seeing in a duo. The actual plot line here wasn’t my favourite and didn’t grab me as thoroughly but frankly because it felt a bit too familiar. It was a solid storyline but perhaps I’ve been reading too many thrillers lately that they’re tending to blend together. Still a solid book and I’d recommend to any lovers of the genre.

summary: this book is a who-dun-it mystery, wrapped up in a small town with gossip, a girl who seems violent, and a family with tons of secrets.

footnotes: this book id definitely one i think about after reading it. the scariness isn't so scary to where you can't sleep, but you will walk faster at night. i think it's the perfect balance for someone who wants a scare, but not out of their mind.

thoughts: firstly i thought the plot itself was perfect, there were so many twists and turns i enjoyed so much! the last sentence of every. single, chapter. is like a bomb, with a mini- plot twist concealed inside. the characters all seemed so real to me, every one of the characters were well thought out, and had intentions behind everything they did. the layered writing surrounding rose was so perfect. the parallels drawn between characters are also so shocking, yet they make sense, this book had so many raw moments where the murder was stripped away, and you could see the young child the character was trapping inside. the author masterfully combines raw, emotional moments with harrowing, pulse-reaching ones. the final plot twist scared the living daylights out of me, but looking back i can see all the clues left like crumbs throughout the story.

a masterpiece everyone should read.

Wow! Kudos to the author for a truly amazing book. This was so well written and the character development was spot on. The writing style of this author is almost like poetry, no matter how difficult the content, it just flows so nicely. The book, to me wasn't a edge of your seat thriller, more like a slow burn, and you find yourself saying yes, that makes sense. I'm very much looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to netgalley, the author and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Stella is a newly divorced attorney who makes her living representing the best interests of children caught in the maws of a nasty divorce system. The court has appointed Stella to represent Rose, a precocious child of monied parents who are divorcing. Rose cannot speak. She has become mute due to circumstances arising from the ghastly death of her nanny, Tina. In order to adequately represent Rose's interests, Stella must find the answers to some hard questions about the circumstances surrounding Tina's death lest Rose be made to make her home with a murderer.

Stella has a special insight into Rose's problem. She too became mute after the deaths of first her father and then her mother. She lives with panic and stress as a result of her history. The only support she has is her long time mentor and friend Charles, once an attorney, now a judge.

This was a great story with interesting characters and a great mystery. If I could have, I would have read it in one sitting. My heart was pounding through a denouement I did not see coming. I highly recommend it.

Ms. Pekkanen does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged. I was about half-way through the book beffore it hit me that Charles was involved somehow with Stella's childhood.
There's a lot going on with this story, but it never gets so intricate that you can't keep up with details. It's just the right balance of intricate to hold one's interest.
Could I put it down and easily pick up again? Yes, definitely. Did I want to do that? No, but if life got in the way it was easy to pick right up again. That's a good thing as many of us do have other things to deal with.
I actually liked Rose's parents, Beth and Ian. They were concerned and loving parents even with Ian's lapse in judgement. Beth never questioned Ian's devotion to Rose.
I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of House of Glass.
#NetGalley#St.Martin'sPress#SarahPekkanen#HouseofGlass

Wealthy parents, dead nanny, lots of secrets. I have to say I couldn't figure out where this was going and I could not put it down.
I have read a lot of thrillers so when I come across one where I haven't seen some variation of common tropes I am excited! This fits the bill and I will recommend it!

Nelophobia: fear of glass. That’s how the divorcing Barclays, Beth and Ian, describe the reason why their old home is becoming all plastic and plexiglass and soft rounded curves. Mom Beth is terrified that glass, mirrors, picture frames, and measuring cups will shatter and cut her. Except “best interest attorney” (appointed by the court) Stella isn’t so sure about that, especially since their daughter, nine year old Rose, the subject of a heated custody dispute, seems to be surreptitiously collecting broken glass and other sharp objects.

That’s not all that’s unusual about Rose: she totally stopped speaking the day her nanny mysteriously and fatally fell from a third floor room. The police have not closed the case — it’s possible it was an accident or it’s possible one of the parents killed her (they had motives). Stella’s challenge is to determine who will get custody of Rose — and if she makes the wrong determination, Rose might go live with a killer. But since Rose won’t speak or communicate and has transformed from talented, quiet and intelligent to angry, secretive, and vindictive, maybe there’s a different suspect in the nanny’s demise.

Author Pekkanen creates a main character in Stella who is also smart and likeable, but who also has a past that’s similarly traumatic. As a guardian ad litem, she normally avoids cases with younger children, but her mentor asks her to look at the Barclay case as a favor. He also knows her own experience with traumatic mutism as a child might give her an advantage. This is very much a thriller and not a drawn out legal case — strange things happen and Stella contemplates whether there is such a natural born evil. The tension only keeps building and the ending is surprising. I loved it! 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Blue, brown and amber, but no green.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Stella is surprised at the choice of weeping willow wallpaper in the plastic house since those trees are a symbol of loss, sorrow, and death.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Our heroine, Stella Hudson, had a very rough childhood including witnessing her mother's death. While working at a fast food place, she meets Charles who offers her a job. With his support and nudging she completes law school and becomes a BIA. Best Interest Attorneys are called in on divorce cases to assess who is the best parent to raise the child or children. In this case Rose is 9 years old and has seen her nanny fall to her death.

I was enthralled by the job Stella did, how she spent time with Rose, each of her parents, her grandmother, her piano teacher and other people in her life. Stella was very clever with her tactics, and often tied them to her own childhood experiences. Rose has experienced traumatic mutism as Stella did as a child. Stella takes her cues from Rose's body language and what she does with her eyes.

I could hardly put this book down and had a couple of nights where I read until 2 am. That's how good the read was. Definitely, get this book when it's published in August.

What a book! From the get go I was hooked. Stella was easy to relate too from the beginning and you are quickly captivated by her and Rose's dynamic. The twists and turns as the evidence is pilling up as to what really happened to Tina will keep you at the edge of your seat! It's a book I was unable to out down and it kept me guessing til the very end.

Great domestic thriller. Is the child the problem? Hard to tell when she doesn't speak. Don't throw stones if you live in a glass house.

House of Glass was a page turning read. This thriller had me guessing the whole way through. The twists and turns were great. I really enjoyed how all the storylines had their own chapters at the end of the book to tie up loose ends. I walked away from the book feeling complete, all my questions were answered. Definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sarah Pekkanen for this fabulous eARC in exchange for an honest review!

House of Glass was more a 3.5 ⭐️ for me. I enjoyed the story and writing. It was a little slow for me at times and other times I was flying through the pages.

Really enjoyed this book! The suspense was palpable! It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I'm always amazed by the character development in Sarah's books. Usually we mystery/thriller readers don't expect a lot on that front, so her books are always a pleasure.

Another great book by Sarah Pekkanen!

I have read all of Sarah’s books and this is another great thriller!! I loved that this had two stories going on at the same time that provided a few twists. I think I thought every family member was guilty of killing the nanny at one point. This one truly had me guessing until the end!

I have read multiple books by Sarah Pekkanen and really enjoyed them. This one kept me intrigued and kept me guessing until the end.