Dead to Her

by Sarah Pinborough Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Overview

For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top from the New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes.

Being the second wife can be murder . . .*

""Once a cheat, always a cheat,"" they say. Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get where she is after the illicit affair that started her new life a few years ago. But her world of country clubs, yachts and sumptuous houses in Savannah, Georgia, isn't easy to maintain, no matter how hard she tries. Nor is keeping her husband, Jason, truly interested.

So, when Jason's boss brings home a hot new wife from his trip to London, the young Mrs William Radford IV isn't quite the souvenir everyone expected. Sexy, drop-dead gorgeous and black-Keisha quickly usurps Marcie's place as the beautiful second wife. But when Marcie sees the extra spark in the room when Keisha and Jason are together and their obvious, magnetic attraction, the gloves come off.

Revenge is best served cold, but in the steamy Savannah heat, blood runs so hot that this summer it might just boil over into murder.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Sarah Lyall

The prolifically ingenious Sarah Pinborough…has produced another twisty book about tricky characters behaving badly…

Publishers Weekly

12/09/2019

This soapy domestic suspense novel from Pinborough (Cross Her Heart) roils with passion, rancor, and greed wrapped in Southern politesse. As the second wife of Savannah, Ga., attorney Jason Maddox, 34-year-old Marcie is the youngest, most attractive woman in the couple’s wealthy social circle—until Jason’s widowed boss, William Radford, returns from London with a gorgeous bride, 22-year-old Keisha, a former cocktail waitress. Marcie loathes the way her husband ogles Keisha, but agrees to befriend the young woman—ostensibly to manipulate Keisha into encouraging William’s retirement, thus rendering Jason senior partner, but also to monitor her competition. The relationship between Marcie and Keisha takes an unexpected turn as their respective stories unfold via an alternating third-person narrative. Tension increases in tandem with Marcie’s suspicion and paranoia; meanwhile, Keisha’s sanity shreds as William’s domineering nature emerges. Pinbrough’s intricately woven mystery will please fans of B.A. Paris and Paula Hawkins. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Co. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Possibly my favorite of Pinborough’s yet, and that’s saying something. It’s an absolute rollercoaster of a ride: twist upon twist, expertly handled. I actually gasped out loud several times. So atmospheric and sexy… A triumph!" — Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party

“The prolifically ingenious Sarah Pinborough, whose Behind Her Eyes chronicled a deranged love triangle with a rationality-defying last-minute surprise, has produced another twisty book about tricky characters behaving badly… There are shades of Rebecca and Body Heat.” — New York Times Book Review

“Within minutes of opening Dead to Her you will be unsettled, charmed, riled, empowered, and aroused.  Pinborough at the height of her powers.” — Josh Malerman, bestselling author of Bird Box

“Illicit love affairs, [and] tension as stifling as the Georgia summer heat… With Dead to Her, Pinborough plants her flag as the master of seductively sinister suspense. This absorbing tale will satisfy and even surprise fans of Jennifer McMahon and Gillian Flynn.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Roils with passion, rancor, and greed wrapped in Southern politesse... Pinbrough’s intricately woven mystery will please fans of B.A. Paris and Paula Hawkins.” — Publishers Weekly

“‘Big Little Lies’ meets ‘Rebecca’ in Sarah Pinborough’s ‘Dead to Her,’ a saucy novel about insecure second wives dragged down by secrets [and] jealousies… This may not be the most important novel you’ll read this year, but it’s definitely among the most delicious.” — Washington Post

“The story is well written and… the twists are surprising… A mix of steamy sex, lies, secrets, betrayals, murder, and a dash of voodoo, Pinborough’s latest novel will keep readers guessing until the very last chapter. A twisty thriller for fans of Liane Moriarty… and Paula Hawkins.” — Library Journal

“Behind Her Eyes is a dark, electrifying page-turner with a corker of an ending. Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession.” — Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fool Me Once

“You should read Behind Her Eyes…It’s bloody brilliant.”  — Stephen King

“The amazing Sarah Pinborough has done it again with this brilliant, pacy story of lies and deceit.” — B.A. Paris, author of Behind Closed Doors, on Cross Her Heart

“Gloriously glamorous, and brilliantly plotted: Dead to Her is everything I love in a novel.” — Clare Mackintosh, author of I See You

"Some writers you drop everything for. You wait for their books because, in the best possible way, you just don’t know what you’re going to get. Pinborough is one of those writers. She crawls inside your head. And she does it with such grace, such sheer, savage skill."  — Chris Whitaker, author of Tall Oaks

“Dead To Her is my favorite kind of novel: every time you think you’ve got it pinned down, it twists and bites you like a snake… The only thing you can be sure about is that you can’t trust anyone or anything. I wolfed it down.” — Rod Reynolds, author of The Dark Inside

"Sarah Pinborough writes like a dream but plots like a demon. Read her."  — Neil White, author of From the Shadows

“I LOVED Dead to Her! So deliciously dark and twisted, and that setting is just perfection."  — Lisa Hall, bestselling author of The Party

"Dead to Her is set amid Savannah’s elite: a lusty, greedy, exclusive society of old money where secrets are buried deep. Sarah Pinborough is always ahead of her reader, expertly weaving her killer plot. Thrilling, sexy and utterly unputdownable."  — Beverly Vincent, Co-Editor (with Stephen King) of Flight or Fright

"Dark, hypnotic and immersive. Dead To Her is beautifully written and full of Pinborough’s trademark twists - sultry and seductive as its Savannah setting. I loved it."  — Harriet Tyce, Sunday Times Bestselling author of Blood Orange

“Swift and entertaining… When Pinborough unveils her first surprise about a third of the way in, it’s a good one… Cross Her Heart has a welcome sisterhood-is-powerful vibe; it’s a novel that defines women by their relationships with one another, even as their creator is ruthlessly shoving them into position for the next twist.” — New York Times Book Review on Cross Her Heart

“[Pinborough’s] work invariably possesses a surreal, dreamlike quality. . . . The juggling of multiple viewpoints shows great elan, and the author’s storytelling is as sure-footed as ever.” — The Guardian on Cross Her Heart

“The past decade of crime fiction has been remarkable for the huge number of novels… featuring women... Some have been excellent, but most have been indistinguishable... Critics have spent much time searching for well-written, original examples. Sarah Pinborough passes the test. She… is adept at conjuring the unexpected.” — The Times (London) on Cross Her Heart

“[A] tension-driven page-turner… The anxiety builds relentlessly... Cross Her Heart is unapologetically feminist, driven by the strong relationships between women, for better or worse. This will be an easy sell for fans of all domestic suspense… especially fans of Liane Moriarty and Megan Abbott.” — Booklist on Cross Her Heart

“As the narrative weaves among these three… characters, readers are pulled deeper into their connected webs of secrets and lies… Fans of Pinborough’s smash debut, Behind Her Eyes, won’t be disappointed… [This is] a fast-paced, twisty thriller... Devotees of B.A. Paris and Ruth Ware will be fascinated.” — Library Journal (starred review) on Cross Her Heart

“A masterclass in artful misdirection . . . brilliantly rendered and utterly harrowing. To say any more would be to give Pinborough’s high stakes game away: suffice to say those twists keep coming, each one a perfectly controlled explosion, right to the mesmerising final pages.” — Irish Times on Cross Her Heart

“An eerie thriller… [A] terrifying mind game.” — The New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

“A masterpiece of suspense...A rare joy...Creates a sense of disorientation and dread that is highly satisfying. But it is with the plot, so tight and yet also intricate, that Pinborough shines. No detail or character is extraneous.” — Booklist (starred review) on Behind Her Eyes

“The one element that sets Pinborough’s novel apart from similar thrillers is the emphasis on female empowerment and the power of female relationships.… Fans of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins will find this comfortingly familiar despite (or maybe because of?) the shocks and turns along the way.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The plotting in Cross Her Heart is calm, cool and beautifully orchestrated—until, WHAM, you marvel at what Pinborough has just tossed in your lap. There are plenty of I-can’t-believe-she-just-did-that moments that will have you sitting straight up in your chair. What a terrific ride.” — Meg Gardiner, author of Unsub

“Pinborough shrewdly transforms a romantic suspense novel into an eerie thriller calculated to creep you out…Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who’s manipulating whom – until the ending reveals that we’ve been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.” — New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

“The strongest, most unsettling thriller of the year, with a final twist destined to provoke arguments for years to come. Read it now before someone spoils the ending for you.” — John Connolly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Parker novels

“Behind Her Eyes is as twisty as a steep mountain road, and just as nerve-wracking. The shocks just keep coming around those blind curves.” — Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

“Twisty psychological thriller…Pinborough will keep even veteran genre readers guessing.” —  Publishers Weekly on Behind Her Eyes

Josh Malerman

Within minutes of opening Dead to Her you will be unsettled, charmed, riled, empowered, and aroused.  Pinborough at the height of her powers.

Harlan Coben

Behind Her Eyes is a dark, electrifying page-turner with a corker of an ending. Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession.

Washington Post

‘Big Little Lies’ meets ‘Rebecca’ in Sarah Pinborough’s ‘Dead to Her,’ a saucy novel about insecure second wives dragged down by secrets [and] jealousies… This may not be the most important novel you’ll read this year, but it’s definitely among the most delicious.

Lucy Foley

Possibly my favorite of Pinborough’s yet, and that’s saying something. It’s an absolute rollercoaster of a ride: twist upon twist, expertly handled. I actually gasped out loud several times. So atmospheric and sexy… A triumph!"

New York Times Book Review

The prolifically ingenious Sarah Pinborough, whose Behind Her Eyes chronicled a deranged love triangle with a rationality-defying last-minute surprise, has produced another twisty book about tricky characters behaving badly… There are shades of Rebecca and Body Heat.

Stephen King

You should read Behind Her Eyes…It’s bloody brilliant.” 

B.A. Paris

The amazing Sarah Pinborough has done it again with this brilliant, pacy story of lies and deceit.

Booklist (starred review)

Illicit love affairs, [and] tension as stifling as the Georgia summer heat… With Dead to Her, Pinborough plants her flag as the master of seductively sinister suspense. This absorbing tale will satisfy and even surprise fans of Jennifer McMahon and Gillian Flynn.

Washington Post

‘Big Little Lies’ meets ‘Rebecca’ in Sarah Pinborough’s ‘Dead to Her,’ a saucy novel about insecure second wives dragged down by secrets [and] jealousies… This may not be the most important novel you’ll read this year, but it’s definitely among the most delicious.

Booklist (starred review) on Behind Her Eyes

A masterpiece of suspense...A rare joy...Creates a sense of disorientation and dread that is highly satisfying. But it is with the plot, so tight and yet also intricate, that Pinborough shines. No detail or character is extraneous.

Chris Whitaker

"Some writers you drop everything for. You wait for their books because, in the best possible way, you just don’t know what you’re going to get. Pinborough is one of those writers. She crawls inside your head. And she does it with such grace, such sheer, savage skill." 

Lisa Hall

I LOVED Dead to Her! So deliciously dark and twisted, and that setting is just perfection." 

Beverly Vincent

"Dead to Her is set amid Savannah’s elite: a lusty, greedy, exclusive society of old money where secrets are buried deep. Sarah Pinborough is always ahead of her reader, expertly weaving her killer plot. Thrilling, sexy and utterly unputdownable." 

Meg Gardiner

The plotting in Cross Her Heart is calm, cool and beautifully orchestrated—until, WHAM, you marvel at what Pinborough has just tossed in your lap. There are plenty of I-can’t-believe-she-just-did-that moments that will have you sitting straight up in your chair. What a terrific ride.

Irish Times on Cross Her Heart

A masterclass in artful misdirection . . . brilliantly rendered and utterly harrowing. To say any more would be to give Pinborough’s high stakes game away: suffice to say those twists keep coming, each one a perfectly controlled explosion, right to the mesmerising final pages.

Booklist on Cross Her Heart

[A] tension-driven page-turner… The anxiety builds relentlessly... Cross Her Heart is unapologetically feminist, driven by the strong relationships between women, for better or worse. This will be an easy sell for fans of all domestic suspense… especially fans of Liane Moriarty and Megan Abbott.

The Times (London) on Cross Her Heart

The past decade of crime fiction has been remarkable for the huge number of novels… featuring women... Some have been excellent, but most have been indistinguishable... Critics have spent much time searching for well-written, original examples. Sarah Pinborough passes the test. She… is adept at conjuring the unexpected.

New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

Pinborough shrewdly transforms a romantic suspense novel into an eerie thriller calculated to creep you out…Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who’s manipulating whom – until the ending reveals that we’ve been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.

Neil White

"Sarah Pinborough writes like a dream but plots like a demon. Read her." 

Rod Reynolds

Dead To Her is my favorite kind of novel: every time you think you’ve got it pinned down, it twists and bites you like a snake… The only thing you can be sure about is that you can’t trust anyone or anything. I wolfed it down.

The New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

An eerie thriller… [A] terrifying mind game.

John Connolly

The strongest, most unsettling thriller of the year, with a final twist destined to provoke arguments for years to come. Read it now before someone spoils the ending for you.

New York Times Book Review on Cross Her Heart

Swift and entertaining… When Pinborough unveils her first surprise about a third of the way in, it’s a good one… Cross Her Heart has a welcome sisterhood-is-powerful vibe; it’s a novel that defines women by their relationships with one another, even as their creator is ruthlessly shoving them into position for the next twist.”?

Clare Mackintosh

Gloriously glamorous, and brilliantly plotted: Dead to Her is everything I love in a novel.

Charlaine Harris

Behind Her Eyes is as twisty as a steep mountain road, and just as nerve-wracking. The shocks just keep coming around those blind curves.

Harriet Tyce

"Dark, hypnotic and immersive. Dead To Her is beautifully written and full of Pinborough’s trademark twists - sultry and seductive as its Savannah setting. I loved it." 

The Guardian on Cross Her Heart

[Pinborough’s] work invariably possesses a surreal, dreamlike quality. . . . The juggling of multiple viewpoints shows great elan, and the author’s storytelling is as sure-footed as ever.”

The Times (London) on Cross Her Heart

The past decade of crime fiction has been remarkable for the huge number of novels… featuring women... Some have been excellent, but most have been indistinguishable... Critics have spent much time searching for well-written, original examples. Sarah Pinborough passes the test. She… is adept at conjuring the unexpected.

Irish Times on Cross Her Heart

A masterclass in artful misdirection . . . brilliantly rendered and utterly harrowing. To say any more would be to give Pinborough’s high stakes game away: suffice to say those twists keep coming, each one a perfectly controlled explosion, right to the mesmerising final pages.

New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

Pinborough shrewdly transforms a romantic suspense novel into an eerie thriller calculated to creep you out…Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who’s manipulating whom – until the ending reveals that we’ve been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.

The New York Times Book Review on Behind Her Eyes

An eerie thriller… [A] terrifying mind game.

Booklist on Cross Her Heart

[A] tension-driven page-turner… The anxiety builds relentlessly... Cross Her Heart is unapologetically feminist, driven by the strong relationships between women, for better or worse. This will be an easy sell for fans of all domestic suspense… especially fans of Liane Moriarty and Megan Abbott.

The Guardian on Cross Her Heart

[Pinborough’s] work invariably possesses a surreal, dreamlike quality. . . . The juggling of multiple viewpoints shows great elan, and the author’s storytelling is as sure-footed as ever.

Stephen King

You should read Behind Her Eyes…It’s bloody brilliant.” 

Booklist (starred review) on Behind Her Eyes

A masterpiece of suspense...A rare joy...Creates a sense of disorientation and dread that is highly satisfying. But it is with the plot, so tight and yet also intricate, that Pinborough shines. No detail or character is extraneous.

Booklist (starred review)

Illicit love affairs, [and] tension as stifling as the Georgia summer heat… With Dead to Her, Pinborough plants her flag as the master of seductively sinister suspense. This absorbing tale will satisfy and even surprise fans of Jennifer McMahon and Gillian Flynn.

The Times-(London) on Cross Her Heart

The past decade of crime fiction has been remarkable for the huge number of novels… featuring women... Some have been excellent, but most have been indistinguishable... Critics have spent much time searching for well-written, original examples. Sarah Pinborough passes the test. She… is adept at conjuring the unexpected.

The Times-(London)

The past decade of crime fiction has been remarkable for the huge number of novels… featuring women... Some have been excellent, but most have been indistinguishable... Critics have spent much time searching for well-written, original examples. Sarah Pinborough passes the test. She… is adept at conjuring the unexpected.

Booklist-(starred review) on Behind Her Eyes

A masterpiece of suspense...A rare joy...Creates a sense of disorientation and dread that is highly satisfying. But it is with the plot, so tight and yet also intricate, that Pinborough shines. No detail or character is extraneous.

Booklist

[A] tension-driven page-turner… The anxiety builds relentlessly... Cross Her Heart is unapologetically feminist, driven by the strong relationships between women, for better or worse. This will be an easy sell for fans of all domestic suspense… especially fans of Liane Moriarty and Megan Abbott.

Library Journal

01/17/2020

Marcie Maddox comes from the other side of the tracks, so she knows a good thing when she sees it. Stealing Jason from his first wife and becoming his second wife places Marcie in a rich Savannah social circle. She revels in her role of "sexy young wife," so when Keisha arrives on the scene as the new spouse of widowed William Radford, the entire social circle is jolted and Marcie is concerned about her status. Directed by Jason to befriend Keisha, Marcie begins to realize that all is not what it seems—and the sparks between Keisha and Jason are hard to miss. The story is well written and, though none of the characters are especially likable, the twists are surprising. VERDICT A mix of steamy sex, lies, secrets, betrayals, murder, and a dash of voodoo, Pinborough's latest novel (after Cross Her Heart) will keep readers guessing until the very last chapter. A twisty thriller for fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. [See Prepub Alert, 7/29/19.]—Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD

Kirkus Reviews

2019-11-10
Two trophy wives in Savannah, Georgia, learn that wealth and status can't protect them when their secrets and lies catch up to them.

Marcie thinks she has finally escaped her bleak past in Idaho. She broke up Jason Maddox's first marriage and is now Mrs. Maddox, with all the trappings of mansions, country clubs, and the right social set. But when Jason's 65-year-old boss, William Radford IV, a recent widower—having buried the saintly and never-forgotten Eleanor—returns from London with 22-year-old Keisha, a stunning bride, Marcie's status as the alpha wife seems uncertain. And is Jason flirting with Keisha? As the novel unfolds, alternating between each woman's perspective, we learn that the husbands may not be the prizes they seem, either. (Though did they ever seem like prizes?) And everyone in Savannah, it seems, has secrets, some more dangerous than others. The author's ability to build suspense is hampered by overwriting ("Splinters of her heart broke off and she wanted to stab him with them") and tedious passages; editing would have made the book tighter and moved the plot along better. It's also a struggle to spend so much time with, or care much about, characters a police officer deems "such truly atrocious people."

If you do manage to stick with this crowd until the end, you may at least be surprised by a few late-breaking twists and turns.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173827777
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/11/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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