I really enjoyed Sarah Pinborough’s last book – Behind Her Eyes – so when I saw her new book on NetGalley I immediately put in a request for a review copy.

Here’s the blurb:

“Something old…
When Marcie met Jason Maddox, she couldn’t believe her luck. Becoming Jason’s second wife catapulted her into the elite world of high society. But underneath the polite, old money manners, she knows she’ll always be an outsider, and her hard-won life hangs by a thread.
Something new…
Then Jason’s widowed boss brings back a new wife from his trip to London. Young, beautiful, reckless – nobody can take their eyes off Keisha. Including Jason.
Something you can never, ever undo…
Marcie refuses to be replaced so easily. People would kill for her life of luxury. What will Marcie do to keep it?”

The book is set in Savannah in Georgia in the US – where a group of wealthy individuals have intertwined lives.  Marcie is a second wife – and seen as the new girl on the block, until an even newer younger model arrives in the shape of another second wife, Keisha,  a Londoner in this strange world of tradition and history.

Marcie is convinced Keisha is after her husband (I guess when you move from mistress to wife you leave a vacancy based on past behaviour?!) but it’s not as simple as that (and I have to say I guessed that twist very early on).

The book then follows Marcie and Keisha and their husbands – who work and socialise together – and how their story develops as part of this close knit community.

There is a bizarre black magic theme interwoven in the book which all feels a bit odd and forced – it definitely wasn’t a part of the storyline I liked.

The tension in the book builds, and I wanted to know what happened and who would potentially frame whom for the ‘crime’ – but I just didn’t love this  book as much as I’d hoped.  I’m not sure if it was the American setting, or the seemingly stereotypical cliches of characters – but it just didn’t feel quite right.

Just like Behind Her Eyes, the ending is a cracker – and could set you up for a sequel – although I’m not entirely sure I’d bother……..

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.