Friday, January 10, 2020

The Other Mrs.

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica
Park Row Books: 2/18/20
eBook review copy; 368 pages
ISBN-13: 9780778369110 


The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica is a highly recommended twisty psychological thriller.

Sadie and Will Foust and their two boys, 14-year-old Otto and seven-year-old Tate, moved from Chicago to a small town on an island in Maine. Will inherited the house from his sister after her death by suicide and is now the guardian of his disturbed teenage niece, Imogen. Sadie is trying to view the move as a new start after Will's affair and a troubling incident Otto had at school in Chicago. Sadie was an emergency room doctor in Chicago, but now she will work at the clinic on the island; Will, a human ecology professor, accepted a teaching position on the mainland.

Their lives should be on track to get better, but Imogen's behavior is becoming increasingly threatening and the old house is creepy. When their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is found dead in her home, the murder rocks their tiny coastal island. Sadie believes Will might have started an affair with the neighbor and is even more shocked to find that she is a suspect, so she begins looking into the murder herself.  What she begins to uncover just increases the underlying tension.

The narrative is told through several different points-of-view. Sadie is the main voice. Camille is a former roommate of Sadie who had an affair with Will and is stalking them. Mouse is a six-year-old girl who is just trying to survive life with a cruel stepmother. It is apparent that all is not as it seems for all three points-of-view, but what is actually the truth is elusive. The setting weighs in creating a heavy atmospheric tension and a sense of isolation.

Kubica has created one tension-filled-throat-grabbing psychological thriller here. It appears everyone is guilty of something and the list of suspects is numerous because no one seems to be completely trustworthy. I enjoyed this thriller from start to finish and it held my attention throughout. The suspense and tension just keeps rising along with questions about what is really the truth. I will admit I was a little disappointed with the ultimate denouement, but the journey there was entertaining. 4.5 stars rounded down. 

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books.


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