"The Glass House" by Sarah Pekkanen is a captivating mystery that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Thanks to Netgalley, I had the chance to read an advanced copy, and I must say, you won't be disappointed.

The story revolves around Stella, a child custody evaluator appointed to determine the fate of a 9-year-old caught in the middle of a divorce. The suspense heightens when the nanny dies under mysterious circumstances, adding layers of complexity to the investigation. The author skillfully weaves in facts about the child custody evaluation process, making it both informative and engaging.

What sets this mystery apart is its exploration of Stella's own traumatic past, adding depth to her character. The connection between Stella and a mute child she encounters after the traumatic event adds a unique dimension to the story, shedding light on the effects of trauma.

While the plot initially seems predictable, Pekkanen takes unexpected turns, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The story unfolds through interviews, clues, and shifting perspectives, creating an immersive experience. The glass house, replaced with plastic windows due to nelophobia (fear of glass), adds a chilling element to the narrative.

However, the love story feels somewhat forced and out of place. It appears as if it was inserted merely to complete Stella's character arc, rather than contributing meaningfully to the main mystery. This element feels random and unnecessary, distracting from the otherwise well-crafted plot.

In conclusion, "The Glass House" is a must-read for mystery enthusiasts. With its well-researched content, unexpected twists, and a complex protagonist, it delivers a satisfying and intriguing experience. Despite the minor detraction of the love story , the overall narrative quality makes this book a compelling page-turner.

This book really kept me guessing until the end. I knew that maybe she had a part in it, but definitely not the whole thing! Great writing. Great story telling!

This is a fun one and very palatable. I love this author! I did find the premise to be a little far fetched and also couldn’t understand the motivation of the main character. Some of the storyline was not very plausible but I liked some of the heavy handed aspects. This feels
Very cinematic and maybe would better translated to the screen?

For fans of the old movie The Good Son, this is a thriller for you!!!

When Stella is assigned as Guardian ad Litem for a young girl named Rose she could never suspect how this case will change her forever! After the nanny dies suspiciously in the family home and the parents file for divorce, the courts need help to determine where the best placement is for Rose. Could one of her parents have murdered the nanny? Was it an accident? Is there something more sinister going on here?

There were numerous twists that kept me intrigued throughout the story. I will recommend this to all of my friends!! If you are even a little intrigued by the story line then READ IT!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to receive and arc for an honest review!!

Wow! I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. A wonderful mystery full of great characters that kept you guessing up to the end .

The beginning of House of Glass was fantastic. It grabbed my attention instantly and I was hooked. However, the storyline SLOWED way down. It just felt like it was crawling along and would never end. The author is great but this book wasn’t my favorite.

This was such a great thriller! I was on the edge of my seat the entire novel. Sarah Pekkanen is a must read author for me after reading this book!

Stella, the main character, is sent to see what home, Rose, a young girl who has suffered some trauma should live with. Her wealthy parents are getting divorced and Stella needs to determine who would be the better home. The problem is that Rose is mute due to the trauma she suffered. She witnessed the death of her Nanny. Stella, herself went through trauma as a child so she can relate to Rose's case. As the novel unfolds the reader finds out that things are not quite what they seem. The reader is left guessing what really happened.

This was a stay up all night book. I absolutely had to know the truth of what happened. I also really enjoyed Stella's story. I felt very connected to her and wanted her to be ok. This was a read in one day book for me. I highly recommend this fast-paced thriller!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Rating: 3.5⭐️

I feel very conflicted in writing this book review. On one hand, I liked the story and it was interesting enough to keep reading, but on the other hand, the story was really slow, predictable, and I just didn’t LOVE it.

As someone who’s read close to 100 mystery/thriller books, I found this book extremely predictable. There were quite a few twists, but I saw almost every one of them coming. The problem may be me- that I’ve just read too many books of this genre, where there just aren’t too many situations I haven’t already read before and easily recognize. I will say, though, that I really appreciated the surprise at the end when Charles admitted to being involved in the death of Stella’s father. I did not predict that.

From very early on in this book, I suspected that the grandmother was the culprit behind / reason for Tina’s fall and resulting death. The author’s writing and diversion tactics gave it away immediately. I’ve read enough of these books to recognize that the author was laser focused on keeping our attention on Rose, Ian, or Beth-while keeping grandma in the background, but very still much present. The culprit is usually (but not always) the most unsuspecting of people. In this case, it took form of a 60 year old seemingly caring, but frail grandmother with a limp (I KNEW she was faking it!). Beth, Ian, or Rose especially would have been too obvious of an answer to who the killer is. The piano teacher and Chinese teacher just felt like purposeful distractions thrown in. So I deduced early on that I didn’t trust the grandmother and suspected she was the culprit. Again, I’ve probably read TOO much of this genre, and I put the puzzle pieces together too quickly. I liked the story, but it didn’t stump me, and that’s what I look for.

The ending was lovely. Justice was served and redemption was sought. Who doesn’t love a happy ending? Especially when it involves a sweet child. Rose’s mutism was frustrating at points but that’s what made the two words she uttered in the very end so special.

I would definitely read a sequel exploring rose’s future and the new relationship between Stella and Detective Garcia 🔥

In summary, I believe this book is better geared towards beginner-intermediate mystery/thriller readers. I think this book would be incredibly suspenseful and exciting to lesser seasoned readers and I highly recommend this to them!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy of this book! I already own a few others books written by Sarah Pekkanen and look forward to reading them.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen was a mystery/ thriller that kept my attention. Stella a lawyer is given a case in which she had to give her recommendations on a custody battle. Ian and Beth Barclay the parents and Rose their daughter are the main characters, including the Grandmother, Harriet. But there is a twist. Rose's Nanny, Tina, just died at the Barclay's residence. The main impetus of this story was figuring out if Rose's Nanny was killed by accident or was it homicide. Stella needs to find out to make sure that she recommends the best parent for custody. Stella is also drawn to this case as she see's herself in Rose. However, nothing is as it seems.
I enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend to anyone that likes mysteries and thrillers.

I went into this story with high expectations. If intrigued me and I love a good mystery/suspense story with twists and turns. I don’t want to give much away. For me I had mixed feelings about characters and directions the story took. It held my attention while there were times I just wanted to skim over sections. I would recommend this one because while I may not have loved all of it, I know it may be the best read of others.

Great thriller with fantastic character development. Twists kept me engaged created a story that I couldn’t put down! The author intertwined experiences from past and present, allowing readers to empathize and trust characters to guide them through the story.

This book was long but I kept getting sucked in to find out what happened. The writing is vivid and the storyline built on itself. A solid read.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

This is a solid mystery by an author with a good track record. This is about the death of a nanny, perhaps a murder, who is killed falling through an upper floor window (or was she pushed?) at the home where she worked. The main suspects are the married couple, their very young daughter and a grandmother who also lived at the home.

The narrator is a lawyer (Stella) who was appointed by the court to represent the best interests of the young girl. Her parents are going though divorce proceedings and can't agree on custody arrangements. While doing her job, Stella is trying to figure out how the nanny's death occurred. The investigation is challenging because the young girl cannot speak because of the traumatic event.

The book grabs the reader right away and the pace is quick with short chapters. The strength of this book is the well-crafted plot, not the characters.

Another winner for this author.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

So very much to unpack from this one. This was a unique thriller loaded with family drama (x2) and unreliability. It was written so well and had me at the edge of my seat, reading through the night. I loved the legal aspect of this book - it was easy to understand, not the standard legalese.

The house was an interesting setting and full of surprises just like the plot! If you love domestic suspense full of twists and turns, this is absolutely for you!

I loved The Wife Between us and this is probably by favorite stand alone by Sarah Pekkanen!

I LOVED this book! I read it in 3 days. I have read Pekkanens duo books, but this is the first solo book I read by her. I thought the book had lots of little twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I was originally more interested in the Barclays story than Stella’s personal story, but by the end I was equally invested. Throughout the course of the book I could not decide who I trusted, and typically I am very good at predicting twists. I highly recommend picking this up once it is released!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6153408898?book_show_action=false

Wow!! What an exceptional story that will have you holding on from the first chapter! When a nanny plunges to her death, everyone in the family is a suspect. Stella, a best interest attorney, advocates for Rose, trying to get to the bottom of the mystery! And just watch out for what comes next!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have read other books by this author, and I was excited to see where this book would go. There were some new topics and focus explained in this book that I have not read in a thriller book before. The text kept me guessing and continued to make me wonder “who did this?“ towards the end of the book there was an additional twist that I did not see coming, but I loved how the author dropped little Easter eggs along the way so thinking back about the text I had already read it made so much sense to have that twist. I think the title of this story was perfect! I could see the story being made into a movie it would be fantastic.

Wow, was I excited to read this latest thriller from Sarah Pekkanen-- after her last solo debut, I was hooked!

This one started with an intriguing premise and, whereas thrillers typically vacillate between detectives, or multi-POV and overuse of the-child-is-creepy trope, this one was a breath of fresh air.

First of all, it stays first-person POV throughout, which I love (if pacing is on point)-- which it was the majority of the time.

Secondly, I like that the protagonist is an attorney hired by the court system for the best interest of the child-- not the parents. It gives us a unique perspective that isn't the same old tired detective routine.

Thirdly, the MC's traumatic past serves as both a hindrance and a help when it comes to serving this particularly troubled child.

The author did a wonderful job weaving in the character's flaws, and paralleling not only her childhood trauma with the child client's, but also her current mysterious happenings in the present with very things the nanny experienced before she died (which, throughout the novel was still undetermined if she had been murdered or not).

*SEMI-SPOILER ALERT*

I was very near to giving this one a solid five stars. Where it slipped off the pedestal for me, however, was the unnecessary de-railing of the story line to check a diversity/inclusion box. I say this, because throughout the novel the character was reeling from a divorce of the love of her life and then towards the end, is suddenly attracted to a female detective that she interacted with on her case. It came out of nowhere and felt contrived, unnecessary, and distracting. It pulled me out of the story and made me question why. That is not what you want your readers to do.

I also felt it was a tad too much to have Stella's closest friend (the judge) get tangled up in her self-inflicted trauma-fest and make him appear to be a bad guy. She's a grown adult woman who avoided dealing with her past, quit therapy, and wants to cry about being the victim the entirety of the novel. After awhile I grew tired of her panic attacks and blame game.

So those are the two main reasons I deducted a full star. Other than that, it was excellent as usual!

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book for the most part. The characters were believable, the storyline moved along without stalling, and I genuinely could not tell who the culprit was until the reveal. You knew it had to be one of the family members, but the author did a good job keeping you guessing. The only part that felt random was the main character suddenly having an attraction to a woman, it was just kind of thrown in there. But overall a great story. Thank you Net Galley for the preview!

I ha such high hopes for this book, but I just didn’t love it. I enjoyed the main storyline about the death of the nanny, Tina. Everyone is a suspect: the father, Ian, mother, Beth, mother in law, Harriet, and even 9 year old, Rose. Unfortunately I was able to figure it out pretty early on, and it just didn’t hold my excitement.

I did not care for the subplot regarding Stella and her traumatic childhood. It felt almost like an afterthought to me.

3.5 rounded down.