A wealthy wife/mother, a cheating husband/father, a doting grandmother, a traumatized child, and a dead nanny – all ingredients of a suspense-filled mystery.

After nine-year-old Rose witnesses the death of her nanny, she stops speaking. This tragedy occurs in the midst of her parents’ messy divorce, and best interest attorney Stella Hudson is called in to investigate and determine Rose’s custody arrangement. Rose’s family is overly protective of her and begrudgingly allow Stella to see her because of the court order. As Stella delves into the circumstances surrounding the nanny’s death and learns more about the family, she uncovers some disturbing and unsettling facts. Just a couple – Rose is stashing weapons without her family’s knowledge, and there are no windows or anything else made of glass in the house. Before long Stella questions if a child can be born bad.

As with most mysteries, nothing is exactly what it seems from the initial chapters, and the author tosses in plenty of red herrings to throw the reader off track. Several people had motives to murder the nanny, and I suspected nearly all of them.

After experiencing a tragedy of her own as a child and being nonverbal for a time as a result, Stella understands what Rose is going through and attempts to bond with the child and gain her trust. While her backstory is interesting, I felt like it slowed the pacing and distracted me from the mystery. It could really have been a separate book.

Recommended for readers who enjoy psychological thrillers, messy family dynamics, and plenty of red herrings.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had high hopes for this one but…I ended up figuring out the culprit quite early on, which made the whole thing very predictable and quite boring.

The second storyline was kind of unnecessary and the story could’ve done without.

Not my favourite book by this author!

I really enjoyed this. I love a creepy kid story and this gave me all the creeps. Being around my grands, I just can't imagine being around a kid that doesn't talk. Throw in a creepy house that has zero glass and I'm in. This book came through with the surprises until the end..

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced readers copy of House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen.

I am of a big fan of Sarah Pekkanen and her writing. This book was a 5 star read for me. She kept the story twists coming. She's really becoming quite the thriller author. The family dynamics in this one are chilling and creepy. You can't quite figure out who to trust.

I live in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area and it's pretty fun to be able to really envision the locations described in the novel since that's where it takes place.

If you enjoy suspenseful novels with complex family dynamics and unexpected twists, this book is definitely worth a read.

This one was quite the page turner for me, I was immediately sucked into the world the author created and was especially intrigued by Rose, who saw her nanny fall to her death. This had so many creepy and unsettling vibes, there was something off about the Barclays house and I was desperate to know what exactly was wrong. ​Stella was the kind of heroine I could root for in a thriller, she was actually pretty sensible and didn’t make too many crazy decisions that had me shaking my head. This was a very straightforward thriller that didn’t rely on a series of wild twists, I didn’t mind that though because the story was engaging enough on its own and it still kept me on my toes without a bunch of major reveals. Overall another solid read from the author for me.

A bitter divorce, a nanny who died under mysterious circumstances and a child rendered mute by the stress of it all. This is the case Stella Hudson, a best interest attorney, takes on, committed to being the voice for a child the way no one was her voice when traumatic childhood events left her temporarily mute.

This is a very standard, middle-of-the-road mystery/thriller. Most chapters felt like they were crafted from a mad lib-like template; insert creepy action there, end on sinister cliffhanger sentence here. The main mystery was interesting enough, but the subplot about Stella’s childhood left me cold.

It was fine, perfect for half-paying attention to on an airplane or at the pool. I’m sure in a week I’ll remember nothing about it.

Solid thriller! This was fast paced and a quick read. Creepy kids for the win! The twist at the end wasn’t jaw dropping but it all came together nicely. This is a Book Of The Month pick for July so you might be seeing it on booksta but it doesn’t officially come outs until August. If you’re a fan of female driven thrillers are dysfunctional families, pre-order or put on hold asap!

Psychological thriller with lots of twists, suspense in a creepy, dark house. Stella Hudson is an attorney assigned the responsibility of determining the best custodial arrangements for children in divorces. Normally she focuses on teenagers, but as a favor to her mentor, she takes the case of a 9 year old girl, Rose Barclay. Trauma caused Rose to stop talking when she witnessed the death of her nanny. The nanny’s death is an unsolved case as everyone in the household seems to have an alibi. As her investigation continues, it seems everyone is hiding something. Was it a murder or an accident? Why are there so many secrets and what actually happened? Who should Stella trust, if anyone? The tone of the book is very dark and chilling.

Wow wow wow. This was crazy good. I have loved a lot of her books but this is now my favorite. It was unputdownable! I read it so fast. So many twists and turns and just wow. I can’t say enough good things about this book!!!

Fun! I found this much more propulsive and satisfying, overall, than Pekkanen's last book, and it stands on its own as a really well-paced and well-written entry in the "evil child" subgenre of thrillers a la The Bad Seed, The Good Son, etc. The protagonist's occupation was unique and interesting, the characters were all fully realized and complex, and I found myself invested in the outcome.

I found the ending a tad predictable (but maybe that's just because I read too many of these books) and the details a little too... well, detailed, at times (I really don't care what kind of juice Stella makes her smoothies from or what kind of appetizers Charles serves her with wine), as that abundance of exposition and detail did occasionally stall the flow.

An attorney with her own difficult past must determine the custodial parent for a child after her nanny fell to her death from a window in the family home. The child suffers from traumatic mutism. And she is odd. She collects macabre objects and is secretive. Is she hiding something? Fans of domestic suspense might enjoy this.

Stella is a best interest lawyer who’s been asked by her good friend, almost like a father, Charles to take on a special case. Stella only takes cases where the child is over the age of thirteen but Rose is different. Rose is a nine year old that is suffering from traumatic mutism after witnessing her nanny fall through the window into their backyard. Stella knows all to well about mutism because at one point in her life, she also suffered the same. Stella needs to decide which parent will have full custody of Rose but the further she spends time with the family and Rose’s closest circle, Stella realizes she’s may not be getting the full story about Rose nor the family.

I was completely immersed into the story from the beginning. It had my heart pounding as I was trying to figure out what really happened to the nanny, what the heck was going on with the family and who was lying! There were parts that had me so frightened. The author created so many surprises that left me with jaw on the ground! She had me questioning whether the character I thought was the killer, truly had done it. There’s also a sub plot that touches on Stella’s earlier life. Personally I really enjoyed learning about Stella and her life before she became a lawyer. It gave Stella more depth. Here’s where the book lost me: about seventyish percent into the book Stella starts a romantic relationship and I feel like it completely took away from the story. I still don’t understand why the book needed another plot.

This was such a good mystery. From the first page your sucked into this story trying to figure out what actually happened to the nanny. Who is innocent, whose guilty, who is flat out lying or who is a psychopath. You don’t know until the very end. I also appreciated the added mystery surrounding our main character. These characters are layered and I was really interested in learning about Rose. A complex mystery shrouded in family drama. Highly recommend.

House of Glass follows attorney Stella as she determines Rose's custody arrangement in the wake of a divorce that may be the result of the death of Rose's nanny (whew, run on sentence!). It's a twisty, turny thriller and a great vacation read.

A solid thriller with an added-in mysterious backstory for the main character. I didn't love it as much as the author's last novel (Gone Tonight) but it was pretty good. I was satisfied with the reveal and ending.

The things I liked about this book: strong twisty plot, escapist thriller, propulsive read, fast-paced; the DC setting. Things I did not love about this books: the audio narrator is frenetic, Stella's obsession with the case is over the top, too many inconsequential details, the Stella sub-plots don't flow, and found the ending cheesy. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this book!

3.5 stars - rounded up! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s been a minute since I’ve read anything by Sarah Pekkanen - with the exception of The Wife Between Us - her collaboration with Greer Hendricks. I think it’s been a decade.

This one grabbed me from the beginning and quickly picked up steam through the 50 - 60% mark. This could’ve been a 5 star read for me up until this point. It was fast paced with cliffhanger chapters. I was furiously turning the pages. There were some good twists that kept me guessing, and the unlikable characters added to the entertainment value. They were all just super shady.

I felt like most of this story was too focused on Stella‘s background. Her failed marriage, death of her mother, traumatic childhood - it became front and center and I kinda got lost in the focus of the plot of the book. I was really hoping for more of a creepy, dead nanny murder mystery. The subplots just took over.

The ending took a bit of the 5 stars away as well. It just didn’t “wow” me and could’ve been better.

Even though I didn’t LOVE it - I would still recommend it and look forward to more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy to read and review.

I have been a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen since I read her and her co-author years ago. House Of Glass is the perfect quick read thriller! I have been in a reading slump for a few months and this one brought me right back. The parallels between the main character and the little girl are too good. I love that even when I finally put the pieces together it came as a surprise. I enjoyed this thriller. Perfect for beach reading!

House of Glass was my first book by Sarah Pakkanen. While I really enjoyed the ending, it seemed like pulling teeth getting to there. Just seemed like it dragged and wasn’t much going on throughout the book. The ending really did make up for it though if you can make it there.

I had read a couple of Pekkanen's other efforts when she was writing with a partner (The Wife Between Us and The Getaway) and while they were decent efforts, I enjoyed myself so much more with House of Glass.

When 9-year old Rose witnesses the death of her nanny, she stops talking. Amid divorce proceedings, our main character Stella is sent in to investigate the mysterious death, while also determine the best path forward for custody of Rose.

Pekkanen has done a great job creating a creepy atmospheric thriller, with lots of twists. Overall I really enjoyed this one.