A review by baoluong
Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

4.0

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!