THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED
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?
MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER.
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Dead To Her today. Many thanks to Sarah Pinborough, Harper Collins and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for sending me a copy of the novel and for inviting me to take part in the tour.
Years ago I used to love reading the glitzy, scandalous books that were eventually termed 'bonkbusters' and Dead To Her reminded me of those novels although it also comes with a dark Southern Gothic twist. Set among the upper echelons of Savannah society, this is an addictive tale of revenge and murder.
Newly widowed, William Radford IV went to London for a few months and returned with a new bride on his arm. Despite the false politeness, Keisha knows she doesn't fit in to the moneyed set - she is too young, too common, too reckless and too black. However, she does catch the eye of Jason Maddox, which in turn attracts the attention of his wife, Marcie. Until Keisha's arrival, Marcie was the young second wife but she has changed to conform and worries that the old adage, 'once a cheater, always a cheater' will hold true, especially when it becomes increasingly obvious that her husband is keeping secrets from her.
William and Jason are thoroughly unpleasant men; the former is an entitled bully and Maddox is a duplicitous gaslighter but the two women aren't exactly innocent victims either. Keisha is a gold-digger who is desperate for her husband to die so that she can get her hands on his money and though Marcie married for love, she has no intention of going back to her former life as a waitress. This is a slow-burner of a novel and it took me a little while to figure out how I felt about Marcie and Keisha but as the book progressed I became increasingly intrigued by these secretive, conniving women.
It's perhaps easier to sympathise with Keisha's predicament, as despite her deceit, she has clearly come from a troubled, even abusive background. Raised by an uncle who claimed to be a witch doctor and an aunt who practised something akin to dark voodoo, she has long believed herself to be cursed. Both manipulator and manipulated, she is a fascinating character. Marcie is equally as interesting; she also knows what it's like to grow up poor but her affluent lifestyle now doesn't seem to have made her any happier. She evidently feels suffocated by her position and yet she is clearly not prepared to give it all up.
There's something very sultry about Dead To Her; in part it's the Georgia setting which is richly evoked but it's also due to the seductive, erotic sex scenes and the way in which hints of Savannah's voodoo subculture are woven in to the story. Almost a cautionary tale of greed and betrayal, this is a fiendishly dark and surprising suspense thriller which becomes more twisted towards the end and has a deliciously shocking conclusion. This is my first book by Sarah Pinborough, it won't be my last.
Dead To Her is published by Harper Collins, purchasing links can be found here but please consider supporting independent bookstores whenever possible.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Hailing from Milton Keynes, Sarah has written more than 20 novels across a variety of genres. Her international number 1 bestseller, BEHIND HER EYES, brought widespread success. The book was a word of mouth sensation, receiving quotes and endorsements from authors such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Harlan Coben. It was one of the most talked about publications of recent years, with the hashtag #WTFthatending reaching over 600 million people on social media. The book was both a hardback and a paperback number 1 bestseller in the UK.
Left Bank Pictures and Netflix have just completed filming the TV mini-series of BEHIND HER EYES, starring The Night Manager’s Simona Brown, Murder on the Orient Express’ Tom Bateman, The Knick’s Eve Hewson and Game of Thrones’ Robert Aramayo. TV rights to DEAD TO HER have been sold to Tracy Y Oliver and First Look Media/Topic Studios.
Sarah also writes for film and TV and her YA novel 13 MINUTES is currently being developed by the team behind The O.C. for Netflix.
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