First line: The candle burns.

Summary: Marcie Maddox has fought hard for the life she has. She is the second wife of a rich and successful Savannah lawyer. Lunch at the Country Club and a giant house is her new normal. However, when her husband’s business partner returns from England with a young new wife life in her social circle gets turned upside down.

Keisha, a young girl from London, married the rich William Radford IV. She is completely different from his first wife. It seems like being a rich wife will be an escape from her family and their poor life. But William plans to train her to be the obedient wife.

As these two women meet and become friends life starts to change for both of them. Weird appearances and pieces of dark magic start to surround them. Who or what is trying to destroy their lives?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this! I was worried when I started it that it would not live up to my expectations because of its low rating on Goodreads. But I was pleasantly surprised! All the characters are awful. There is no one that is likeable. They are all flawed and have dark pasts but that was one of the things I enjoyed the most. I had to find out how it was going to end.

This is a fun mixture of thriller, high society, and voodoo. What’s not to enjoy? The beginning centers on establishing the characters. We meet everyone and get snippets of what their lives have been to this point. And then it all comes to a point. All the secrets are released. So many suspects and theories. It was a wild ride that I highly recommend for a fast summer thriller!

FYI: Sexual content.

The general plot I found just okay but found myself not really wanting to keep reading and would chose to do other things instead. I just felt the pace was too slow for my taste and most of the characters I couldn't really connect with. There were some obvious twists and some more exciting ones but I never found myself really caring much near the end.

Great story! I was engaged the entire time. A real page turner. Looking forward to reading more books from this author! Highly recommend!

Marcie Maddox is worried. There is a new, hot second wife in the neighborhood and she is sure that her husband, Jason, has his eyes on her. When Jason's boss, William Radford showed up with the incredibly hot, incredibly young, Keisha, after a trip to Europe after his first wife's death, Marcie didn't feel threatened. She was once the hot, young, second wife, but she has earned her place among Savannah's wealthy wives. Marcie finds herself increasingly jealous of Jason's attention to the attractive Keisha. Until one day Keisha "rescues" her from a volunteering session and she realizes that she had absolutely no reason to be jealous. But then somebody tries to kill Keisha's husband and Marcie is a suspect. She realizes that there is a very real risk that her world will come crashing down and she will be forced back to the trailer park from which she came. Will she be able to prove that she didn't try to kill William Radford?

Dead to Her was not exactly what I expected. At first, I felt bad for Marcie. She was desperately trying to fit in with the Savannah elite and I think most of us can relate to what it feels like to try to fit in. Even after she started hanging out with Keisha, I felt bad for her. Because she seemed like the innocent party in the situation. And at first, I couldn't figure out Keisha's spin, but then I started to feel bad for her, too. Neither of them had completely altruistic reasons for marrying their husbands, but, they got caught up in this world run by powerful men and they were just along for the ride. I will warn you that there are some really explicit sex scenes in this book and I know that isn't everybody's cup of tea. I was surprised by the big reveal at the end, it was not what I was expecting. -CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - Dead to Her is a great psychological thriller with characters that are generally horrible people. If you can get past that fact, you will find yourself with a great read.

Details:

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough
On Twitter
Pages: 400
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 2/11/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.

2.5*
Well, one thing’s for sure.... money does NOT buy you happiness!

Rich and privileged, the blue-blooded country club patrons have a new member. William Radford’s wife passed away from cancer. While on a trip to Europe to begin healing and finding himself, William finds something far more than just peace of mind. Much more! William found himself a new bride! A very young bride. As in her early 20’s to his mid-60’s young.
The heart wants what the heart wants, right?

Enter... Keisha! And watch all heads turn and the whispers begin!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of this read until it took a bizarre turn, losing me along the way.
I know we all say we want something different, but something believable as well. This book just went completely sideways for me.

I am still a fan of this author and her previous book Behind Her Eyes was a favorite of mine. So yes! I will still be reaching out for her next!

A buddy read with Susanne!🤓📚

Thank you to NetGalley HarperCollins Publishers.

This is the fourth novel I have read by this author and, honestly, my least favorite. Reading the synopsis before beginning it, I honestly expected something completely different. Once the voodoo/black magic element was introduced in the second half, the story became more and more outrageous. None of the characters were entirely like-able and waiting until the last quarter of the book to find out the details of their pasts doesn’t help.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher William Morrow books for a free galley in exchange for my honest review. With mysteries and thrillers, I like to read them without reading the synopsis beforehand. For me, it makes a more enjoyable experience when I go into it with absolutely no assumptions about the plot. This worked heavily in favor of the book this time... because I thought the plot was pretty superficial and absurd - old rich white people, trashy gold-digging marriages, too many uncomfortable sex scenes, weird voodoo... you get my drift. However, because I was reading blind, the unraveling of the many characters and their lies kept me on my toes and I finished it in less than a day. The story is told from two POVs but there are a LOT of players in this game... lies and backstory of scorned characters continually coming out of the woodwork, but none of them seemed fully fleshed out. I was rushing through to figure out who did what, but just felt disappointed in the end as the book itself felt rushed and undeveloped. The twists at the end were surprisingly clever, but unfortunately, for me, it was too little too late to salvage it. If you’re a Sarah Pinborough fan, you will probably love this book... if you’re a Liane Moriarty fan, don’t waste your time - this is nowhere in the realm of her Domestic Suspense genre.

👍Pick It: Just…don’t
👎Skip It: immediately

Wow. Um. Well this book is actual…?…trash.

Rich, beautiful housewives behaving badly? I’m game.
Suspicious businessmen fielding investigations and murder plots? Also great.
*Narrator* She was not game and it was not great.

We meet our cast in the deeeeeep heat of Georgia, home to lemonade on back porches, yacht clubs, country clubs and every overcooked, southern hospitality cliché. Set in present-day Savannah, the volley of laughably, off-putting archetypes misguides readers to believing the culture before us is that of the pre-Civil War, pre-pants-for-women plantation age(as a Texan who is still asked if I rode a horse to school growing up, I imagine Savannahers don’t appreciate the negligent slight, either.)

And when we get to the actual characters, the banal tropes keep bleeding.

We’ve got Marcie, the predictably-paranoid, second-round wife. She’s got secrets and a personality to rival the flatness of a pancake. Then there’s Keisha, the exotic gold-digging, hot new thang on the block! She also has secrets,

Not intrigued in either? What about a lesbian affair between the two? Orgy in the woods? OKAY HOW ABOUT VOODOO?!
Pinborough’s everything-but-the-kitchen sink thriller was thriller-void and riddled with Hail-Marys to beg for a gasping response.
*narrator* No gasping was had.

This book reeked of trashy recklessness that I was relieved to finish. Dead to Me.

I was looking forward to reading this, because I really enjoyed "Cross her heart" but not "Behind her eyes", so I wanted to see what Pinborough's third book would have in store for me. I was intrigued from this book from the moment I started reading it, and it did not disappoint! I don't know what it says about me that I love books with marital discord and possible murder, but this one is now in my "staff pick" pile!

Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Marcie is the younger second wife of the wealthy Jason Maddox they live in Savanna. Image is everything but she feels like she just doesn’t fit in, she wasn’t born into money in fact she’s the complete opposite of the blue blooded woman they socialize with. When Jason’s boss the recently widowed William Redford IV returns from London with a new wife Keisha everyone is shocked! Keisha is gorgeous and oozes sex appeal. Now Marcie isn’t the number one subject of Savanna’s society circle, Marcie isn’t happy because her husband can’t seem to keep his eyes off of Keisha which just irritates her and makes her paranoid. When Jason asks her to befriend Keisha for their “benefit” she soon learns that Keisha has quite a history and isn’t as carefree and she appears she has her own dark secrets, soon the ladies become friends. Marcie can’t help but be drawn to Keisha. Soon lines are crossed lines, lines that may cause Marcie to lose everything she’s worked for and her perfect world to topple. This book was so twisted! Throw in some voodoo, sex, murder, poison and whole lot of selfish characters who keep stabbing each other in the back to keep their secrets hidden I was hooked! I give this four stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough. Behind Her Eyes was one of my favorite psychological thrillers, and I read a lot of them! I was really excited to receive and read her latest title.

This story takes a closer look at the high class society living in Savannah Georgia. After cheating her way into his heart, Marcie Maddox marries Jason, a successful attorney and becomes his second wife. She is finally secure in this elite social circle and enjoying her newly found money and status. When Jason’s boss, newly widowed William Radford IV arrives home from a trip to England with a very young new black trophy wife, Keisha, Marcie becomes jealous and threatened by this new beauty. Jason also seems to be giving Keisha all of his attention. Is he having an affair? Marcie is determined to unravel the mystery surrounding Keisha while holding onto her social status and wealth.

Unfortunately, Dead to Her did not live up to my expectations. The story unraveled very slowly, repeated itself over and over, and was filled with unlikeable and unsympathetic characters. I really struggled to finish this book. The story picked up around the third section, but that was way too long for me to wait for a twist to keep my interest. There are very graphic and unnecessary sex scenes with very little chemistry between the characters. I had a difficult time feeling sorry for them as well, as I could not relate to their situations. I did guess the twist early on, but maybe I read too many psychological thrillers! I like Pinborough’s use of the supernatural, which is woven into the suspense and mystery of this story, but it just felt forced and absurd. I’m still a fan of Pinborough and will continue to read her future titles, but this one just didn’t work for me.

2.5/5 stars

Being the second wife can be murder...

Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get away from her past and into the world of country clubs and large houses. Her husband, Jason left his wife for her, and now she has everything she wants...or so it seems. Jason's boss William, returns from a trip to England with a new, younger and very attractive wife, Keisha. Marcie starts thinking her husband is having an affair with Keisha, but when Keisha and Marcie start out a friendship it turns out to be something else completely. What exactly is Jason hiding from her and is Keisha involved?

Dead to Her was not exactly what I expected. Since this is a story about the overly wealthy, of course there was a lot of backstabbing and cheating, but it's not only about the affairs of the rich in Savannah, GA. A large subplot to the story was based on voodoo so if that is not your thing, than this book is probably not for you. I found that none of the characters were likeable so there wasn't really anyone I was routing for in this crazy and twisted story. Everyone was awful in their own way which isn't a bad thing, but I usually like to have one character I actually like.

There were some parts that I felt moved slowly, and I could have done without the entire voodoo subplot. I don't think it was necessary for this book at all. I also feel like the part with the "ghost" in Keisha's past was unnecessary as well. If these parts weren't included than the book definitely would have moved the plot forward faster. With that said, I do think the storyline of these horrible people made a good story, and the author did a good job of throwing in some twists and turns throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Marcie married into Savannah, Georgia’s high society. Only being in her mid 30s, she’s been the youngest wife in the group, until William (her husband’s boss) arrives back home from England with a stunning twenty-something wife, Keisha. Marcie doesn’t like the attention Keisha is receiving from the men, especially the lingering looks her own husband, Jason has been giving Keisha. When Marcie catches Jason in a few lies, she starts to suspect he’s having an affair with Keisha, but is that really what he’s hiding from her? And who else in their inner circle has secrets?

This book initially had me intrigued because of the mysterious Keisha, but it soon took a bizarre turn. The voodoo/weird storyline that is introduced halfway through just didn’t work for me. It just wasn’t the domestic thriller that I hoped it would be. Thank you Netgalley and a William Morrow for this copy- this book was published on 2/11/20.

Marcie has good reason to suspect her husband for his wandering eye. It's only logical since she's the second wife once mistress. After her hard work to marry a man who she thought would give her everything she never had, Marcie will do anything to prevent a third wife. In comes Keisha to this Southern high society. She's younger, funnier, and different. Yet, when Keisha's much older new husband lands himself in a coma, there's foul play amongst a cast of vengeful elites.

I can say that this is not a good mystery by any means. With poor red herrings that have absolutely nothing to contribute to the story, we get a bloated plot. What remains is a simple case of revenge best served cold and I mean Arctic because there is hardly any mention of this possible motive until 90% of the way through. It baffles me the only way to conceal who did it was to not even write them in the story. Maybe I'm being too harsh because the culprit was always there lurking in the background except there were no clues to point of a sordid past. No photograph or memento. You know, the usual artifacts to tie in voodoo into this. And when I say voodoo, I mean a pale imitation hardly meriting since it just seems like careful planning disguised as magic.

While every character is flawed and commits their own crimes, the book attempts to suggest they get what they deserve. People make choices, how it's possible you'll have to suspend disbelief, to save themselves. What I like most about this book is the twist with Keisha and Marcie. It was a nice respite and I thought the story would go down a much more believable path. However, characters like Marcie won't allow a nice ending. She is after all a dead woman walking. I recommend this for hard core fans of the genre and won't feel fatigued of another intrepid murder mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

I had high expectations for this book. I mean it is by Sarah Pinborough! This was a little different than what I expected. It was a good read, but it varied greatly from my first impression.

Well ok then. I have tried time and again to read Sarah Pinborough. I know she is a very popular author and I admittedly have a bit of FOMO when it comes to books. However, I am going to be submitting my resignation right here and now. I just cannot. When you read vastly across the thriller genre, you have to be original. You cannot just rely on “shocking” twists to make readers believe your books are original. I am sorry. This book was simply not for me and I am realizing this author is not for me either.

This book. I don’t even know where to start other than it took me almost three months to read. The story was just not that intriguing. The first 20% of the book was the best part. Everything after that felt like a crap show. The characters had no development. The twist and turns were random in that they came out of no where. I’m super thankful to the publishers for sending me a review copy but this was just not my cup of tea...or coolant.

This was a quick read and I found it entertaining. There were twists and turns and voodoo and murder and sex. I didn't like it as much as Cross Her Heart because all of the characters were awful people. It makes it hard when there isn't really anyone to root for, so when the bad things happen to them it feels right.

I couldn't even finish this. I read a few other reviews and knew to be wary of content but gosh, there's no need for all the sex, the weird voodoo, and just had unlikeable characters. Not worth picking up in my opinion.

This book spent so long building up to the actual mystery that I think it really threw the whole pacing of the story off. Once things got moving I thought it was interesting and fast paced but it took about half the book to get there. None of the characters in this book are very likable and so it made the first half of this story really drag. I have seen other reviews where people didn’t like the ending but I went into this expecting a Pinborough ending and I thought it was a conclusion befitting the type of books she writes.