Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. This book was too long for me. The amount of time it took to read it did not equal the quality of the book. I didn't like the characters much and thought that the story just didn't catch my attention.

I liked this book. I have had this book on my digital shelves for quite a while and I decided that it was finally time to give it a try. I was intrigued by the story from the start. Everything that I thought I knew at the start of the story was quickly put into doubt. I found this book to be hard to put aside at times and I am glad that I finally decided to fie it a go.

Catherine is found dead in her home having been savagely murdered while her small child is in the house. We then move back in time to Catherine and George’s life before the murder. It soon becomes evident who is most likely responsible for Catherine’s death. The home that they moved into was once the home of a local family, the Hale family. The mother and father of the Hale boys both died in the home so it was interesting to see the Hale children come to work for Catherine and George and create ties beyond that of the house. The book spans a broad period of time and touches on not just the Clare and Hale families but many other members of the community.

I felt like this book was not so much a mystery of who did it but of how it actually happened. I liked Catherine a lot and I hated knowing what would eventually happen to her. This was not a feel-good book. Terrible things happen to some pretty good people and there were times that it was hard to think about.

Kirsten Potter did an amazing job with the narration. It was easy to lose myself in this story because she really brought the story to life. I liked the different voices that she used for the cast of characters. There were some scenes of the book that were intense and others that were heartbreaking and I thought that she handled everything very well.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well-written story that kept me glued to my headphones. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

An intriguing crime story - albeit, one that appears at first glance to have quite a common premise. (In fact, I've read a few that seem to have similar premises in the last few months.)

Brundage does a good job of setting the scene, and fleshing out the various important characters. For me, I prefer a more "traditional" style, one that uses quotation marks (WHY is this so popular?), but despite some areas where I had to reorient myself to figure out who was saying something (and if they were saying it out loud), it wasn't so difficult to follow.

An interesting crime story about a mysterious and twisty murder investigation, the forces and dynamics that lie beneath the surface of a relationship, marriage and other connections. I'm interested in reading more by the author.