#ATBR2020 – Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

Released yesterday!

Thanks to William Morrow for the free copies in exchange for our honest reviews

DEAD TO HER – Sarah Pinborough (Released February 11th, 2020)

You can see our thoughts on her other books!

CROSS HER HEART (here) and 13 MINUTES (here)

Book Description:

For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top from the New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes.

Being the second wife can be murder . . .

“Once a cheat, always a cheat,” they say. Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get where she is after the illicit affair that started her new life a few years ago. But her world of country clubs, yachts and sumptuous houses in Savannah, Georgia, isn’t easy to maintain, no matter how hard she tries. Nor is keeping her husband, Jason, truly interested.

So, when Jason’s boss brings home a hot new wife from his trip to London, the young Mrs William Radford IV isn’t quite the souvenir everyone expected. Sexy, drop-dead gorgeous and black—Keisha quickly usurps Marcie’s place as the beautiful second wife. But when Marcie sees the extra spark in the room when Keisha and Jason are together and their obvious, magnetic attraction, the gloves come off.

Revenge is best served cold, but in the steamy Savannah heat, blood runs so hot that this summer it might just boil over into murder.

Chandra’s Thoughts: 5/5 stars

Pinborough is one of my favorite authors. Not just in her writing, but also her as a person as she was extremely nice in an interchange with me a couple years back. She’s an autobuy author and I absolutely love how divisive her books make the thriller community. It honestly just tickles me.

One thing I’ve noticed is that people tend to compare all her reads to Behind Her Eyes (especially if that’s their first and only book). Personally, I say don’t do that. That book is a divine entity of its own (for those who loved it like I did).

I think Dead to Her will also be equally divisive as most of her books are within the reading community. There’s a LOT going on with the different, very unlikable characters. We have second wives, love triangles, voodoo, the rich, the poor, secrets on top of secrets and parties with masks! Let’s dance, y’all! Personally, this is the kind of Pinborough read I love. I was highly suspect about one character and felt a certain warm feeling when I was right about said person. *ding ding*

Now some times you’ll feel this story is getting just a tad bit too convoluted and you may go cross eyed a bit, but this is what I love. Keeping all this madness going while still keeping my interest. I did feel there were some lull moments but not enough for my eyes to glaze over. I was keenly looking for the next hint or misdirection.

This country club-esque, entitled neighborhood and all their drama reminds me why I would never want to be a part of such an elite, rich, white world. And that’s what made the ending all that more satisfying.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars

I became a fan of Pinborough after picking up 13 MINUTES and CROSS HER HEART, so I was anxious to see how this new one would shape up. One thing I’ve noticed about a lot of her books is that they become pretty divisive among readers. People either love the twists and the plot or they just don’t connect with it. DEAD TO HER is no different. Now that I’ve finished it and read other reviews, I completely understand where both sides are coming from, but this one just worked so well for me!

There are a lot of elements in this book and some very unlikable characters. The only thing that brought down my rating was that the pacing felt a little off at times while I was trying to keep all the chaos straight. Of course the author is able to bring it all together well and it was amazing at how all these pieces worked.

All the secrets, all the drama, some voodoo elements, the rich and the poor, and so much more. Another very original story, which is something I feel like the thriller community has been craving lately. Again, this one will be very divisive like her other books, but you gotta love that for discussions! Pinborough does a great job at keeping you guessing from start to finish and I will continue to pick up her books in the future!