If you are looking for a quick atmospheric read with plenty of suspense, you'll enjoy House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen.

The Barclay family seems to have everything they could possibly want, at least looking in from the outside. Unfortunately, appearances can be very deceiving. The parents, Ian and Beth, are in the midst of a bitter divorce while still living in the same house as neither wants to jeopardize their chance for custody of their 9-year-old daughter Rose.

Rose's nanny recently died after falling to her death from the window in her room. Rose saw the aftermath and hasn't spoken since. The trauma has left her mute. There are questions as to whether the nanny's death was an accident or murder. There is no shortage of reasons one of the Barclays would want her dead, but did one of them commit murder? If so, who, and why?

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney; her job is to investigate the home situation of and decide what is in the best interest for children in custody battles. Due to a very troubled childhood, Stella doesn't typically take on cases involving young children, but her mentor thinks she may be the one best suited to help Rose and determine what really happened.

As she investigates, she finds herself stonewalled by each family member and uncovers secrets, lies, and deceptions at every turn. Soon, she finds her own life in danger. Can she determine the truth of what happened to the nanny, and see that Rose is properly placed and gets the best help to recover from her trauma?

This is an engaging and quick read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to access a digital review copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

This was a fantastic, atmospheric, claustrophobic book. My first read by this author and I don't think it will be the last. A nanny has died and we need to know who did it. Everyone is a suspect and it really is that intriguing. Wow wow wow. I want more books for Pekkanen right away.

Like Gone Tonight, House of Glass is a thriller without Sarah Pekkanen’s frequent collaborator Greer Hendricks. But the book doesn’t suffer from that. Instead, it’s just as scary as their work together.
Stella Hudson is a lawyer who specializes in children’s welfare during deforce. Her latest case is Rose Barclay. Rose is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the death of her nanny. But what brings Stella in is the bitter divorce of her parents. All this trauma has caused Ruth to stop speaking. Stella feels a special need to help Rose because she herself had muteness caused by trauma when she was young. As Stella begins investigating the parents, the grandmother, and the death of the nanny, she learns that the death was probably no accident. Stella is determined to keep Rose out of the custody of a murderer.
I really enjoy Pekkanen’s thrillers more than her women’s literature. While those books are good, they don’t move me like her thrillers. Pekkanen writes in a way that makes you bond with the main character and then you feel the fear they do. You worry about her as darkness envelopes the story as people’s secrets come out. Like Stella, you have no idea who the killer is. I love thrillers where the villain isn’t telegraphed too plainly; I enjoy the mystery.
The only negative I can really find is how the resolution is rushed. I would have liked a richer look. These characters have been through so much, so to minimize problems and give them a couple of sentences seems unfair to them. That being said I can live with this as we were given closure to several threads that could have been left untied. This is always a plus.
House of Glass must be on your TBR pile. Book Clubs that like thrillers? This is for you. Pekkanen will take you on an adventure that keeps you guessing.

Publication date: August 6
I received an Arc from the Publisher; all opinions are my own.

This was a great book! The premise of a child not being able to speak after experiencing a traumatic event was fascinating. The story pulled me in and held my interest, I couldn’t put it down, And the end! The twist! I didn’t see it coming! So well written. A must read!

This is a perfectly sinister story about a lawyer tasked with observing a family to determine who should be awarded full custody of their child during a contentious divorce. This child also potentially witnessed the murder of her nanny. Stella Hudson, who always works with troubled kids due to her own traumatic childhood, knows how to help little Rose, who has been unable to speak since her nanny’s death. Stella, once unable to speak herself, is acutely aware of how to deal with selective mutism. She dives headfirst into the lives of this odd and secretive family, pursuing the truth even as the creepy events she experiences begin to mirror what the nanny went through before she died.

This was like a combo of The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware and The Push by Ashley Audrain. This would be a great one to add to your spooky TBRs because it has:

- a creepy house 👻
- a potentially evil kid who doesn’t speak 😱
- serial killer references
- twists/eery moments
- an ending *most* people won’t see coming 😜

Whether you read it physically or via audio you can’t go wrong because I thought this was one of Sarah Pekkanen’s best books to date! 4.5 ⭐️ rating overall, only took half a star off because I’m too smart and predicted the ending.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the ARC & finished copy!

House of Glass is a slow burn, the pacing might be slightly too slow in the middle, but the book overall is another strong moody mystery that highlights the complex lives many women lead.

Thank you to St. Martin's for the review copy of House of Glass. As a fan of Pekkanen and her moody, character-driven suspense novels, I enjoyed House of Glass a lot. I appreciated how the clues gradually revealed not just what happened, but also the "why" behind Stella’s role and why she was central to the story and to helping Rose.

Pekkanen excelled at creating a moody tension throughout the story, with a slow-burn sense that nothing is quite as it seems—similar to the standout writing in Gone Tonight. The resolution was strong and thoughtfully tied together the interconnected threads. I particularly appreciated that Pekkanen avoided rushing into an action-filled ending, which can often undermine a slow-burn narrative. Instead, she let the pacing work for the reader, allowing me to fully enjoy both the reveals and the way the entire story came together.

Ominous, edgy, and intricate!

House of Glass is a fast-paced, compelling thriller that takes you on a journey into the life of best-interest lawyer Stella Hudson as she juggles a new case involving a philandering husband, an extremely wealthy wife, a doting grandmother, a pregnant nanny who may or may not have accidentally fallen to her death, and a nine-year-old client who hasn’t uttered a word since the tragic event.

The prose is crisp and tight. The characters are secretive, protective, and vulnerable. And the plot is a complex, menacing tale of family, friendship, deception, lies, drama, manipulation, secrets, revelations, suspicious personalities, violence, and murder.

Overall, House of Glass is another suspenseful, twisty, intense tale by Pekkanen that does a remarkable job of highlighting that people aren’t always who they seem to be and that desperate people often do desperate things.

Loved this! Sarah Pekkanen has a way of writing that seems to immediately hook me every time and I can not get enough. What do you get when you combine a dead nanny, a child who wont speak and is hoarding sharp objects, and a fucked up family dynamic? This fun and twisty little book. Huge thank you to Netgalley and St Martins for my review copy!

This is a gripping and suspenseful novel. At first, it may seem clear where the story is heading, However, surprising twists near the end keep it interesting and unpredictable.

Stella is a quite likable character. Anyone who has ever had to make a life-changing decision for a child can relate to the seriousness and the difficulty of her task, Rose is an extremely compelling character. She seems like the personification of evil one minute and the next like an innocent young girl caught up in the machinations of the adults in her life. Her grandmother is definitely the most clearly drawn of Rose's family members. She is a force to be reckoned with. Rose's parents, on the other hand, are mostly bland and boring although their fierce loyalty to their daughter is admirable.

The story moves along quickly. The plot remains intriguing throughout. All in all, It's an exciting thriller.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I've wanted to try this author and I'm glad I was able to read House of Glass. Stella is an engaging main character with good intentions and knowledgeable about her work in being a representative for children. Rose is a bit younger than her normal cases but has a condition she once had herself.

The parents are divorcing. The paternal grandmother is living there and now teaching the child. Stella sees problems with all of them. I felt very tense with worry over Stella in the house since the nanny was most likely murdered. These are not safe people. Stella comes up with a plan to draw out the killer. So I was even more worried.

Stella is also just starting to be able to look at what happened to her parents and why they died. She has had Charles as a mentor since her mother died. He hired her and assisted her to get through law school. But now there are some hard truths she will learn about her parents.

Stella is sharp and capable. I enjoyed the ending because she handled things well and protected the child. It was suspenseful getting there!

This is the first time I recall a mystery/thriller coming from the POV of a GAL (Guardian ad Litem), or apparently as they call them in DC: BIA (Best Interest Attorney). Having done quite a bit of work as a paralegal for a GAL this was a fun angle for me.

Stella, BIA, is assigned to help decide custody for 9 yr old Rose who is suffering traumatic mutism (oddly the 2nd book in a row that I've read with this component) following the suspicious death of her nanny. The players being Mom and Dad, who both are accusing the other of the murder and Grandma who lives in the home as well.

This book is a page turner!! A true psychological thriller that will definitely mess with your head. The big reveal at the end wasn't a big shock since I had an inkling beforehand, but the author had me questioning my decision multiple times. This was a really fun read that I flew through.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one! I'm here for all the tea when it comes to the perfect presenting yet not so perfect family and this one didn't disappoint. The fact Rose refuses to talk was both heartbreaking and intriguing, selective mutism is just interesting. So many events/characters gave me the creeps at different points in the story and I couldn't decide who had done it for a while! Our MC, Stella, has a traumatic past and while she had a side story of her own, I was definitely more invested in the plot surrounding the Barclays. I do love Stella's role in this story though, as an advocate for Rose, that is a POV I feel we don't see often in books.

I went back and forth between the ebook and audio for this one but in the end the audio was so good I finished the book that way! The narration was great!

CW: Death of a parent, murder, infidelity, addiction, child abuse.

A big thank you to St-Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC. All opinions are my own.

This was hands down one of the best books I've read this year.
So well written, love a dual storyline thriller.
The main character was amazing.
I finished the last half in one sitting. Definitely will be reading mire books by this author.
Solid 5 star read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Thanks to NetGalley for another great ARC! I thoroughly enjoyed this one and thought it was very well written. I had no idea what was going to happen and I'm so glad that I wasn't able to predict the twists and turns. I need to read more from this author as this was my first of hers!

This was a great example of what a domestic thriller is and should be.
It was easy to get into, enjoyable throughout and super entertaining.
The mystery was very easy to figure out but the pace and writing kept me hooked. I feel like it needed a better title though.
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy.

This book didn't start out that great for me. I wasn't that enthused with the premise of the Guardian Ad Litem identifying too strongly with her young client and the book felt like it had a slow start. The first quarter didn't really sing to me and I wasn't a fan of the bad seed storyline. But at around the 40% mark, the book really picked up speed and the pacing improved. While the finale wasn't awesome, I didn't figure out the killer right away, and Pekkanen did drop enough clues that it all made sense at the end.

I really had trouble connecting with Stella as a character. Her lack of personal relationships and her overall lack of identity bothered me. I found it hard to believe that she had formed any sort of personal connection with anyone because her character just overall felt like she was stuck in the past. She didn't seem competent at her job and I just didn't really believe that anyone would give her charge over any decision making. She just felt "off" to me through the entire book. Her personal background hit too close to her client and I find it hard to believe that a judge would assign her to that case given her own traumatic past. It just felt too pat.

Overall, the book was fine and I think those that like thrillers will enjoy it. It just made me go hmmm for all the wrong reasons.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc for review purposes.

I was dying to get my hands on this book as Sarah Pekkanen is one of my favorites! But I’m a little disappointed. It felt slapped together with a lot of over describing of silly things like what Stella ate that day. Sarah did a great job at making everyone but the FMC and her boss unlikeable. I wish there were more character development throughout. Definitely not one of my favorites but look forward to what Sarah puts out next!

I just finished reading "House of Glass" by Sarah Pekkanen. Many thanks to Net Galley and St. Martins' Press for the Advanced Copy in return for an honest review.

This story is all about lies and deception and how far people go to keep secrets, no matter what the cost. It revolves around a seemingly perfect family so are torn apart when the Nanny is murdered in their homw. She had an affair with the husband and now there is a fight for custody, but thet all life under the same home. Enter Stella, whose job it is to find out which parent will be better for for the child, Rose to stay with. The thing is that Rose is a trauma iduced mute who refuses to speak. Being a victim of trauma herself, Stella really wants to make sure she makes the right choice and decides what is best for Rose. But who killed the Nanny? it seems everyone is a suspect included Rose herself. As it turns out...someone killed tha Nanny, and all the lies and secrets are exposed when the truth explosively reveals itself.

I did like this book. I read it quickly. The characters were likeable and the author did an excellent job of freating mysery and suspence with every chapter. It truly was hard to figure out who the bad guy was. Rose was the most ineresting character because she was a small child caught in the middle of a custody battle and not able to speak because of the trauma surrounding her Nanny's death.

It is called House of Glass for a reason. There is both a literal and figurative House of Glass which evokes the idea of a fragile house that could shatter under pressure of lies and deception.

There were some parts that I felt were unecessary, but I did like the background story of the main character, Stella. She too had secrets of her own that shaped her actions and responses.

I would recommend this book for those who enjoy a good family or psychological thrller. Not my favourite but definately worth the read.

Happy Reading

Stella, a child custody advocate, has been called upon to observe and evaluate 9 yr old Rose who suffers from mutism following the tragic (and questionable) death of her nanny. Her family appear to be perfect: her happy perfect parents, a doting and involved grandmother and the perfect house. Except that the house has no glass in it. Everything is plastic. As Stella conducts her interviews with Rose and with her family, she senses not only how weird things are in this family’s home but also that things may not be as perfect as they appear.

This is a slow burn thriller where the author takes great care to set up the characters and slowly reveal their backstories, their intentions and their lies. Everyone is a suspect in the death of the nanny, maybe even little Rose. Nobody is being truthful to Stella and she might just pay the ultimate price while writing her evaluation.

I found this one to be a little slow. It was ok, but she’s written better ones, in my opinion. The narration was good and I think that kept me invested.

Thank you to @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @netgalley for gifting me both a digital and audio version of this thriller

If you’re looking for a chilling mystery that takes you in one hell of a ride, House of Glass is it. Pekkanen’s storytelling is masterful in this multifaceted tale and will have you reading long into the night. With differing suspects, a child even, and extenuating circumstances, this one will have you sure that something isn’t quite right, but not being able to pinpoint it until the last possible moment. Add this to your TBR pile!