I've read some excellent thrillers this year, and In Her Shadow fits right in with those. The tone is ominous throughout, and I can see why the book is compared to some of the classic gothic novels. We know Colleen is in danger from the first page, and her story slowly uncovers. She has moved in with her boyfriend Michael, and finds his house is a mansion, with forbidden rooms, hostile servants, and everyone (including Michael) focused on his wife Joanna, who left him a year ago. It sounds as if Joanna was perfect - but was she?

There isn't much more I want to say about the plot, because the fun is in the unfolding. The book switches point of view quite often, so just be aware, especially if that is a device you dislike. Even seeing inside peoples' minds, it is difficult to guess what is happening until towards the end. I'd recommend it for thriller lovers.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read a copy to review.

Colleen and Michael are expecting a child. The background leading to this spells trouble: Michael was her boss; his wife has been "missing" for several months; Michael moves Colleen into the home that he had built around his wife, Joanna. When a body is found in the grove across from their home and it is discovered to be Joanna, Michael is the prime suspect. But the elite neighborhood and the people living in it have all their own secrets they are trying to hide and it is up to the two detectives to sort them all out. The story is a good thriller with so many facts coming out that one is never sure who is the killer....until it all wraps up in a surprise ending. The chapter headers are an interesting way to move the story forward. I found the last one to be especially provocative. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Random House in return for an honest review, which this has been. #NetGalley #InHerShadow

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I loved this book. The atmosphere was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

A twisty, exciting thriller with chapter titles that keep you guessing! A mindfully crafted mystery.

A pregnant young woman, Colleen, moves into the home of her boyfriend, Michael and his ex-wife Joanna and feels burdened with the presence and memory of Joanna. Shortly after moving in the body of Joanna is discovered in a nearby grove and all of the men in her life, especially Michael become a suspect. The chapter titles are deceiving, as intended, overall a good read.

Hmmm... I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked it for the most part. It is a similar story to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, but definitely not the same story. Joanna (the first wife in this book) is the same as Rebecca, but the storyline is slightly altered in places and majorly altered in others. I also did not believe that this book was as atmospheric and creepy as Rebecca. Samara definitely doesn't compare with Mrs. Danvers.

Anyways, I did enjoy the book up until the end - which I thought took a strange turn that didn't make much sense. It could have made sense (I guess) and potentially been a fabulous twisty ending, but I felt like I should have been able to look back and think "Oh yeah... That's what they were up to." But, unfortunately, I can't look back and feel that way - it just felt like one of the characters completely changed who they were on a dime. And since it was a character that we had been reading their first-person point of view - it seems like in retrospect we should at least think it makes sense...

Anyways, that inconsistency brought this book from a 4 star to 3 for me. However, it was very readable writing and an entertaining book.

MY RATING:

Characters: 3

Story: 3

Overall: 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I am not a fan of a story told from various points of view so reading In Her Shadow wasn't the easiest read for me. Though, in this story, the multiple narrators turned out to quite interesting..... but, at the same time time, confusing.
The story does grasp you and makes you HAVE to read to the end so you know what the heck is going on.
I guess you could call this a psychological thriller with just enough mystery and suspense to keep you reading it.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and give my honest review about this book.

I was a little leary of In Her Shadow on my first inspection. The chapter titles could go a couple of different ways. My first thought was about whether or not I wanted to read a book where it seems like the ending is already understood. Then, I thought about another way those chapter titles could be taken, and again, it kind of gives the game away. Either of those could depend on an individual's experience with thrillers, and I suppose since my brain did go in a couple of different directions, it goes without saying that I read thrillers pretty regularly. So, with all that in mind, I dove in, but I admit that at least some of my interest was in which way it would go.
Once I started reading, I felt like this could be something to really get invested in, something to keep me turning those pages, reading just one more chapter until the wee hours of the night. The problem is that the more I read, the more convoluted the story became.
First and foremost, this book suffers from too many points of view. I was starting to worry that every single character in the story would get their own point of view, and I've gotta say that had the grumpy chef or catty housekeeper gotten a chapter of their own, I may very well have stopped reading. The detective certainly got his fair share of page time, which I'm still a little confused about. I mean, we get some of the detecting, but this really isn't a procedural. And since it's not a procedural, I'm a little confused as to why we need so much information about the detective's late wife. Once everything comes together, it's clear that the detective is only included so much in order to propel things the way the author wanted them to go. He's kind of a throwaway character other than for that reason, which is one of the worst kind in my opinion.
As far as the characters go, I'm just gonna say it - I didn't like a single one. Not the husband, not the girlfriend, not the neighbors, not the staff, not even the victim. I didn't find a single character in this book who was even remotely likable. The closest it comes is Colleen in the beginning, and she mostly just comes across as desperate and pathetic. And on top of being unlikable, every character who gets their own point of view is practically the very definition of the unreliable narrator. The only exception is the detective, and I've already given my thoughts on him. I won't go into the rest so I don't completely spoil it for anyone, but it would've been nice to like at least one of the players in this game.
Even so, the book isn't all bad. Kristin Miller does an excellent job with the almost Hitchcockian atmosphere. It's kind of Gothic and kind of not, and there are secrets to be discovered. The ending is also a pleasant surprise - sort of. I started to guess how things were going to go about halfway through, but I didn't know the details of it all. Unless I missed it, this is one of those thrillers where there's really no way to figure out the details short of reading the last couple of chapters early, and that's a big no-no for me.
So what I ended up with was a book that fell somewhere in the middle for me. The atmosphere was great, and there are a couple of decent red herrings along the way, but I could've done without so many points of view and so many thoroughly unlikable characters.

Perfect for a simple mystery read that allows you a binge of quick escapism, like watching a tv show season all in one weekend! The characters are overdramatic in all the right ways. You'll have fun judging their many mistakes and mishaps among all the society scandal. It has a murder mystery plot which isn't bogged down by too many specifics, but rather propels the story forward with ease in a straightforward manner which many readers, when in the right mood, will appreciate.

For fans of Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, and One of Us is Lying.

Notable Traits:
- Surreal, dramatic characters in upper-class society
- A surprise ending you won't see coming
- An easily readable writing style
- Fast pace

The story took turns I did not see coming and that makes me so happy. The writing is engaging and I was not willing to put the book down because each chapter introduced new evidence that was very damning for another character.

The characters are all flawed in some way, but that makes them more colorful and in some ways enjoyable. The world building is very vivid which helped create the scenes in the two homes and grove beautifully.

All of the pieces came together in the end in quite the creepy manner, but it was fitting for what we learned about everyone as well. All the characters were well developed and the book showing the multiple views and conversations was helpful in building the “who done it” component of the book. I think my favorite character is Detective Shaw as he does not stop at the surface level, but continues to ask questions, even when it appears to be solved.

Thanks for the chance to read this book and share my opinion!

I am not typically a suspense reader, but I do love a good Rebecca reference. This read fast and easy. It was twisty enough to keep me turning the pages and didn't scare me into nightmares. It was a good, light mystery with a good plot turn at the end that I didn't have all the way figured out. It wouldn't be my first recommendation for true suspense readers, but is light enough for dabblers like me.

(4.5 Stars) Kristin Miller has penned a clever modern retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s REBECCA with its own delicious twists in her latest novel IN HER SHADOW. The young protagonist Colleen finds herself pregnant and living at Ravenwood, her boyfriend Michael’s lavish seaside estate. Months earlier, Michael’s wife Joanna left him and abandoned Ravenwood, yet Colleen still feels her oppressive control within its walls. The situation gets much worse when human remains are found across the street, and Michael becomes a suspect.

This book was an exciting combination of mystery and Gothic suspense that kept me guessing. Ravenwood was gorgeous but creepy, and I couldn’t wait to find out what secrets it held. The story is told from a few different characters’ perspective, and I was never quite sure who to trust. The surprising twist at the end was one I did NOT see coming, a definite what?!? moment. Enjoyed!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Her Shadow
Kristin Miller

Colleen feels all her wishes and dreams have come true. She has a man who loves her, she is carrying his child and he going to provide a home for them all. Her life is going to be perfect or so she thinks.
She has a beautiful mansion to live in, servants to do the cooking and cleaning and all she is required to do is rest. What more could she want? It should be perfect but it’s not. All she hears is how wonderful the missing wife was and how she was so loved. Colleen wants to be loved too but it is hard to feel loved when you are living in the shadow of another person. It seems everyone resents her. There are secrets that she is not privy to, rooms that are locked and then when a body is found near the house things begin to get scary.
A chilling, suspense filled book that will hold you until the shocking end.
Don’t pass this one up!

This book was AMAZING. For some reason, I did not realize this book had Rebecca retelling vibes but I really love Rebecca retellings/inspired stories and this was such a great, fresh story. This book was like if Rebecca was a Criminal Minds episode that took place on Wisteria Lane. I loved the pacing and the chapter divisions/POVs. The twists and reveals really did it for me. I normally don't care for detective focused chapters but the detective chapters in this book worked and did a good job of furthering the story. I also loved the ocean front setting of this book. Someone make this a miniseries!!

Modern gothic novels in the vein of Rebecca are not my normal genre yet I thoroughly enjoyed this sort of romantic suspense maiden in distress style of writing. New girlfriend gets pregnant, moves into her baby daddy’s Mansion (add to that, he is her boss) and now Colleen (should have been named Brie or Briiany) is afraid of what inconveniently happened to Michaels wife who has disappeared. Rolling along, we have a handful of disturbing and shallow people and the usual twists and turns - a few really surprises me. Glad I read it!

I enjoyed this book from the beginning. It had lots of twists and turns that kept me hooked til the end.

I enjoyed this twisty story and it did remind me of a Hitchcock movie. Some parts I predicted and then there were surprises along the way too.
It was an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to Ballantine Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A really good mystery that starts with a bang....then rolls out the story of Colleen. Skillfully written to add clues with each new character, the mystery won't be solved until the very end. Every time you think you've figured it out, Kristen Miller presents us with enough information to see another suspect. As a young pregnant woman with too much time on her hands, Colleen is presented with a murder investigation where the victim, criminal and indeed the crime scene, maybe too close to home. As the tension builds, the ending will come as a surprise.

My thoughts

Would I recommended? Yes

Would I read more of by this author? Yes

This is the first time I've ever read anything by this author and while I've never read Rebecca , and have never seen the movie , I can stay that this is something I would pick up in a heart beat. It has everything in that I like about thriller and that's man cheats on wife, wife goes missing, nobody knows where she is, girlfriend movies in to the house and strange stuff happens like a body is found. And then the the question of who doing it comes out in the open, all the while your feeling sorry for the girlfriend and the baby ,because some of the stuff that is going on is kind of crazy and you start asking yourself who is doing it , is it the husband, or is someone out to get Colleen like they got Joanna,and who can you really trust. Because it seems like everyone has something to hid and lie about. Another thing I loved was how is was like a movie but not just any movie ,the really old black and white ones ,the ones like
Alfred Hitchcock or even Vincent Price would make but that just be me.With that said i want to say thank you to NetGalley for letting me read and review.

This was a great book. A real page turning thriller. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy!