This story was a mess for me. I am over regular average characters being amateur sleuths. Her whole side story felt unnecessary to the plot of the entire book. I also didn't care about the person who was the "murderer" or whatever. I wish I could get these 10+ hours back it took me to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This thriller had an intriguing plot line with a nanny plunged to her death and a nine year old who has suddenly gone mute after her death!

Synopsis:
On the outside they looked liked the perfect couple but on the inside they had built the perfect lie. Rose Barclay is a nine year old who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny and her trauma has rendered her mute. Her parents are going through a bitter divorce but are living together until the proceedings are finished. Stella Hudon, a best interest attorney, is called in to see which parent is best for Rose. Stella suffered her own childhood trauma that also left her mute for awhile. Inside the Barclay house it’s clear that someon is lying and doesn’t have Rose’s best interest at heart, are they guilty or are they protecting Rose?

My thoughts:
I was able to figure out the guilty party pretty quickly. I found the mutism interesting because I studied about selective mutism while in school. That’s when a person is mute in certain environments, say school. I had a student like that a long time ago that was only mute at school.

Overall this was a fine thriller but I didn’t enjoy it as much as her last one , Gone Tonight.

DNF
This was SO boring and SO slow and i felt like nothing was happening. It was a drag to read this, every sitting I could only get through a handful of pages. I made it to about 60% and just absolutely nothing was happening, the main character kept referring to the Barclays as "master illusionists" but there weren't examples of this in the text. The main character is also extremely unlikable, I wasn't rooting for her at all. Very disappointing as I've read quite a few books in the past by this author and have quite liked them.

While reading HOUSE OF GLASS, I experienced the same imminent danger ahead vibes that I associate with the old Alfred Hitchcock Hour Show with its sinister music by Bernard Herrmann overtook me, raising goosebumps on my arms. Hitchcock was an expert at creating scream-worthy fear from the ordinary be it a normal person, object or situation and now, in my opinion, so is Author Sarah Pekkanen. There's a sense of foreboding, of fear brought on by the unknown, a hidden danger you know is coming - just not from where, when or how in HOUSE OF GLASS.

Recently divorced, Best Interest Attorney Stella Hudson reluctantly accepts a child custody case at the urgent request of her dearest old friend and mentor Charlie after he convinces her she's the best lawyer to help a young girl suffering from Traumatic Mutism - a condition that rendered Stella unable to speak for a period of time as a young child following the trauma of finding her own mother dead. Young Rose Barclay hasn't spoken since she witnessed the mysterious death of her nanny Tina who either fell or was pushed from an upper floor window in the Barclay mansion. Rose's parents, Ian and Beth, are amid a bitter custody battle, and Stella must determine which one of them will provide the most stable, safe home for Rose. From her first arrival at the Barclay's large, sterile, historic home, warning bells sound in Stella's head. Something is very wrong in this gilded house and her first instinct is to run screaming, but she made a promise to see this assignment through and she will. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that every person in the household is lying, and each has a motive for wanting Tina dead . . . including young Rose with the dark, haunting eyes who's been hiding sharp objects in her room. Why? Is she afraid of someone? Or is she planning on harming someone? Stella needs to uncover the truth quickly as threats warning her to leave and stay away escalate even as her own secret past comes calling.

Pekkanen has brilliantly mastered the art of creating a menacing tone that resonates throughout a story with highly atmospheric settings, hard to read characters and eerie, complex plot lines. A sense of unease and a strong undercurrent of danger increases page by page as you read HOUSE OF GLASS. The author offers up several red herrings with strong motive and challenges Stella and readers with figuring out which one of them is a killer. I had a strong feeling about the identity of the villain, and my intuition proved to be right, but the evil tone that permeates each page of this book kept me riveted in my seat, burning through pages until the end - with every light in the room on. The cast is outstanding with well-defined characters harboring dark, disturbing secrets. A second story line involving Stella's past intertwines throughout, adding another dimension and intriguing backstory into Stella's life.

HOUSE OF GLASS is a creepy, well-written, multi-layered psychological thriller that's sure to entertain fans who enjoy books that leave them with a sense of unease and armchair sleuths who love solving a good murder mystery. Lies, deception, fraud and secrets abound in the face of innocence in this story. Highly recommended to fans of psychological thrillers.

I love Sarah’s writing and her previous books (especially loved GONE TONIGHT last year), so it pains me to say this was just “meh.” 🥲

Unnecessary subplot coupled with an already slow main plot definitely took away a few stars.

Not every book needs an amateur/everyday person sleuthing and solving crimes. It just didn’t really work for me here.

I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the whodunnit, so there ya go. 😕

Definitely a quick read, and a fun one for those who may be newer to domestic thrillers! Just not my fav.

It is a tantalizing mystery involving family dynamics and the death of a nanny who plunged to her death through one of the many large glass windows. Was she pushed, or was it suicide or an accident? It was witnessed by the grandmother and nine-year-old Rose Barclay while outside in the garden. Her mother and father were inside in separate offices and became aware of the tragedy when they heard screams from the witnesses. They are in the midst of a bitter divorce.

Stella is an advocate whose role is to interview families during custody cases and recommend the most appropriate placement in the child's best interest. She has only worked for teenage clients, but her mentor and father figure, a revered judge, urged her to take this case. Once Stella enters the Barclay mansion, she gets an eerie feeling. Everything in the home has been replaced by plastic or plexiglass, including the towering floor-to-ceiling windows, household dishes, and drinking utensils.

She is determined to learn the best placement for Rose but has difficulty engaging with the girl. Rose has gone mute and barely acknowledges Stella's presence. Stella has observed Rose collecting jagged pieces of glass and other sharp objects and hiding them in her room. Is the purpose to defend herself from harm or to attack others? Rose has been reading a book with an Anne of Green Gables cover, but concealed inside is the non-fiction account of a serial killer. Stella successfully conducts in-depth interviews with both parents and the grandmother, but are they telling the truth? All family members and the nanny's boyfriend are suspects and have motives for the crime. Stella becomes uneasy, thinking Rose may have killed the nanny.

There are signs that Stella is now in danger, similar to the nanny. The suspense concerning Stella's attempt to connect with Rose and her interaction with the family was gripping. This reached a crescendo with a desperate chase with Stella and Rose running for their lives, and the tension was unbearable.

This would have received a 5-star rating from me, but I felt too much attention was placed on Stella. It was enough to know that, as a child, she suffered from a condition of muteness after the death of her parents, but this did not seem to be of much help in connecting with Rose. Her ongoing search for answers regarding her parent's deaths added an additional mystery to the story.

I recommend House of Glass to readers who enjoy compelling mysteries based on twisted family dynamics and deceit. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this entertaining and exciting ARC. The book will be published on August 6th, 2024.

Stella has been assigned to be a guardian ad litem for a young girl, Rose, whose parents are getting divorced after her father had an affair with the young nanny, and got her pregnant - the same nanny who suspiciously fell to her death from her attic room. While Stella's role is to determine what the best living situation is for 9 year old Rose, she is immediately plunged into the mystery of the super eerie house and the bizarre death of the nanny; how can she figure out what the best post-divorce custody situation is for Rose if she cannot figure out who killed the nanny (you don't want to give full custody to a murderer). Was it one of the parents, the grandmother or even Rose herself? While digging into this mystery Stella's own life is being threatened and secrets from her dark childhood are coming to light.

Sometimes going in blind to these novels is the way to go and for this one I am so glad I did! This was what I would call a light thriller; it hit all the right notes while keeping me totally entertained. I had both the audio and the book but since I was reading something else at the time I started with the audio and with the first chapter I was hooked. While this novel wasn't the most twisty turny unpredictable book, it had enough that I needed to know what happened and put down my other book so I could quickly finish this one. It's fast, it's fun and totally bingeable (a popcorn thriller) with a dose of family drama thrown in to make it more interesting. I think this is a good August book because if you are sitting by the pool or beach you can throw in your bag and ignore your kids for a few hours (so I guess I would call it a Spindrift and chip thriller rather than popcorn one because that's what I generally eat at the beach).

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC to review

This story had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next!! The book felt a little longer than necessary but the story was still a great read. I honestly was not expecting some of the twists that came towards the end especially about Charles! If you like mysteries, drama, jealousy, suspense and a good whodunit? Then this one is for you!! I’m excited to read other books by this author now because this kept be interested the whole time!

Stella is a best interest lawyer appointed to give a recommendation for a custody arrangement for Rose, a little girl whose nanny may have been murdered, whose home life is chaos and who has apparently stopped speaking due to the trauma of it all. Everyone is a suspect, including Rose, and Stella struggles to figure out what really happened and where to go from here. At the same time, Stella is digging into her own past and struggling to balance it all.

This book was really good. I thought it was very well written and you really get to know all of the characters. It wasn't entirely predictable and there were a lot of layers to the story. It was a tad bit long feeling at times and I think some of it could have been cut out to give it more of a fast paced thriller feel, but maybe that's not what the author intended? I still really enjoyed it.

There’s a creepy aura to this one that grabs you and doesn’t let go. When Stella is assigned to evaluate 9-year-old Rose Barclay after she witnessed the potential murder of her nanny to recommend which parent she should reside with in an impending divorce, the entire family, including Rose, become suspects. I spent this entire book truly going back and forth on who did what, and the creepy (maybe) murder house gave me all the scary vibes. For example, one night I couldn’t sleep and started reading this and had to switch books because I was so creeped out. But that’s what really scares me: that sinister vibe that is lurking, not the in your face horror. Overall this is a quick read that will have you turning the pages quickly, and I highly recommend it for the thriller lovers!

Rose, a nine year old who maybe a psychopath that murdered her nanny, Tina. Stella is the attorney hired to decide who should get custody of Rose when her parent’s finalize their divorce. Parents, Ian and Beth, seem to only agree on protecting their daughter. They have very different views on how to do that. Then there is the grandmother, Harriet, who lives with the family. Harriet is Ian’s mother, but she seems to side with her daughter in law the most.

From the first time you are introduced to Rose you don’t quite know how to feel about this child. She collects sharp objects. She seems more like an adult than a child. Does she like animals or does she just want to see them suffer?!? I wanted to feel for her because she was a child. However, I stayed pretty creeped out by her.

Stella has so much going on at one time. Her childhood wasn’t a good one. She went through a lot. Her mentor has secrets. She has just ended her marriage. She is an attorney who wants to do the best by Rose, but also isn’t sure she can trust Rose. Her character seems more like a detective than a lawyer. I would tend to forget her profession until she mentioned it.

Did the nanny jump out the window? Did the nanny trip and fall out the window? Was the nanny pushed out the window? If she was pushed who did it? Was it Rose, Ian, Beth, or Tina’s boyfriend? Stella feels she must find out the answers to know who should take care of Rose.

I was intrigued by the book in the beginning. I do feel like some of the thoughts were repeated too often and slowed the book way down. A few little twists some you could see coming and some were a surprise. Overall all the mysteries keep you searching for answers and you will want to keep reading.

This book has a little bit of everything. I recommend it if you like a little detective work!

Thank you for the ARC from St Martin’s Press through NetGalley!

This is such a good book! Sarah Pekkanen is a must read author for me. I have read most of her fiction (including excellent collaborations with Greer Hendricks). In this latest book, Stella Hudson is called to mediate a custody case involving 9 year old Rose Barclay, as a Best Interest Attorney, in the Potomac, Maryland/DC area. We are privy to Stella’s investigation involving the family, and the story unfolds.
Pekkanen is such a keen observer. This book is so well written and compelling. Highly recommend this book and all of Sarah Pekkanen’s books.

I fully expected House of Glass to be amazing, because everything Sarah Pekkanen writes is amazing, but I did not expect to be on the edge of my seat, looking over my shoulder, frantically turning pages because I couldn’t settle on who to trust, who was telling the truth – who did it?? The characters in House of Glass are like dice in a cup: shake it up, toss them out, and it’s different every time. Everybody has a motive, everybody has an ironclad alibi – until they don’t – and everybody clams up whenever 9-year-old Rose is mentioned.

Best interest attorney Stella Hudson serves as counsel for children in custody cases, and Rose’s parents’ divorce is a doozy. Bitter, confrontational, each parent afraid to leave the house in case Rose is swayed to the “other side.” Stella’s own life is kind of a mess, though. Still trying to adjust to her divorce and deal with the effects of her own traumatic childhood, some of which likely contributed to her divorce. Rose is younger than the clients Stella usually accepts but Stella’s mentor believes Stella is the only one who can help Rose, so she reluctantly shows up at the fancy, elegant Barclay family home. The fancy, elegant, cold Barclay family home. The fancy, elegant, cold, scary home, where Stella soon realizes everything is plastic, including the windows, and that Rose likes to steal away sharp objects.

Actually, everybody and everything in this story is scary. Rose stopped speaking after witnessing her nanny’s horrible death, and therefore Stella can’t talk to her about which parent she would be most comfortable with. Her parents distrust each other, have nothing good to say and are suspicious of every action the other takes. They are, though, united in their determination to protect Rose. But protect from who or what? Is Rose the one who really needs protecting? Why is her mother so wary around her? Rose seems more at ease with her father, but did he have a relationship with the nanny? Was her death accidental or not? And let’s not forget the kindly grandmother, who is fierce in her protection of Rose. Who favors her daughter-in-law as guardian because her son “didn’t behave well.”

There is a lot going on right in front of Stella and a lot behind the scenes. She also wants to protect Rose, even if the one Rose needs protection from is Rose herself. But as she becomes more involved with the Barclays the more danger seems to lurk around every corner, the more it seems everyone is lying and hiding something. And the more her personal life and past traumas pop up and affect her handling of this case.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of House of Glass via NetGalley. It was superb: smoothly well-plotted, a thrill a minute and a satisfying conclusion that was a surprise/not surprise. I can’t recommend it enough. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

House of Glass
by Sarah Pekkanen
Pub Date: Aug 06 2024

House of Glass is a psychological thriller about an attorney who must determine the best living situation for a nine-year-old child named Rose who is caught in the middle of her parent's divorce, it's also thought that Rose might have murdered her nanny. Rose is a strange child whose behavior is quite alarming to say the least.

The book held my attention immediately, I loved the characters and couldn't wait to find out who did what, who was responsible for the nanny's death...or was it an accident? I highly recommend this thriller!

Many thanks to #Netgalley, #Houseofglass, #Stmartinspress, for an E-ARC of this novel.

This is a good thriller, but in my personal opinion, there are parts of this book that should have been left out of the story. Those parts seem unnecessary and made the story too slow seeming. All in all it is a good thriller with some unexpected twists

Readers who like psychological fiction will enjoy this book. A little slow at times, but readers will forge on to find out the what will happen to Rose. Stella as a child advocate for the court was uniquely able to help Rose or would her own childhood overwhelm her.? Everyone has a secret in this house of glass. Readers will enjoy this tangled web. Stella’s new love interest at the end did not add anything!
.

I've enjoyed Sarah Pekkanen's books with Greer Hendricks, but I actually think I enjoy the books she's written by herself more. House of Glass is no exception!

I was very intrigued by the idea of someone falling three stories to their death, but no one knowing if it was an accident or if one of the four people in the house did it. The way the book is written, you can't trust any of the characters and you begin to wonder if a child is actually capable of murder.

I had a hunch I knew what happened to Tina, the nanny who died. But that ending?!? That was crazy good!

There's also a secondary story about Stella's (the MC) mother. My mind immediately went to a dark place when it came to her mother's death. I was so relieved I had that wrong.

I definitely recommend this book. There were a couple of parts that were slower, so I'm giving four and a half stars. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange exchange for my honest review.

Get your copy of House of Glass August 6, 2024!

The horse whinnied in the field, showing its excitement upon seeing her approach. She stepped forward, rubbing its nose, savoring the feel of the velvety coat. It was soothing, grounding, reminding her there is peace to be found… even while dealing with the horrors in that house.

House of Glass is a thriller following Stella, an attorney who deals with the best interests of kids, and her newest client, Rose. Rose’s nanny has plunged to her death and a lot of secrets float around the house. Was it an accident? Murder? Who did it?

This was a very entertaining thriller and the short chapters kept me reading quickly. An unreliably narrated story that keeps the reader guessing. I loved the shade being thrown on each character; painting motives for everyone involved. Great twists!

If you’re a thriller fan who loves thrillers dealing with children… I definitely recommend this one!

3.5 stars

Stella Hudson is a BIA (best interest attorney) assigned to the case of Rose Barclay, a nine-year-old who has gone mute after a traumatic experience. While considering the best placement for Rose as her parents go through a divorce, Stella begins suspecting everyone of the murder of the family's nanny. It was ruled an accidental death, but could someone have pushed the nanny through a top-floor window? Rose has some evil tendencies, and her parents and live-in grandmother are also quite suspicious. Stella feels compelled to protect Rose at all costs, yet she can't help but feel that Rose may be responsible for some evil acts - especially since she's been hoarding weapons and won't tell anyone what she knows about her nanny's death.

This was a fun thriller! I got some Baby Teeth vibes from Rose, and the Barclay mansion was creepy. Stella seemed to have some superb sleuthing tendencies, yet her past trauma influenced her observations about the Barclay family. The short chapters and whodunnit focus made me fly through this book. The ending was a bit unsatisfying and it seemed that Rose's parents' personas were never fully fleshed out. Although it wasn't one of the top thrillers I've read, I enjoyed the ride.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book hits shelves on August 6, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Sarah Pekkanen for the arc!

Wow, this one will keep those slow burn fires stoked on every page with plenty of suspense, atmospheric chill, tension & twistiness! It’s a thriller full of secrets, lies, deception … all set in a claustrophobic & strange house that gives off the perfect “not quite right” vibes ! The characters are so well written and fluid … I was trying to solve the “whodunnit” all the way through … and probably changed my mind a dozen times! A solid & intense ride that kept me completely gripped right to the very end!