Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

"That's why secrets normally stayed secret. Secrets broke things."

Steamy Savannah, Georgia, fabulous mansions, old money, social standing and self-indulgence. It's a world that is dominated by men who have certain types of wives. When an old scion, William Radford IV,  gets himself a hot new wife after the death of the elegant Savannah belle, Eleanor, the tongues can barely stop wagging. Gossip is currency, and William's friends are both contemptuous and jealous of the lovely Keisha -- who's barely into her early twenties. "There's no fool like an old fool," they all say behind their social niceties. No one is quite as concerned, however, as Marcie Maddox. Marcie is also the second, younger wife but she displaced the former by having an affair that led to a divorce for Jason Maddox. When Marcie notices that Jason seems a bit too taken with Keisha, the claws come out. But then, to her surprise, she and Keisha find that they have quite a bit in common and become close. It's their need, their wildness, their hedonism that might upend it all. Things start to unravel almost immediately and everyone in their close circle will be affected. NO SPOILERS.

Although this was definitely not the twisty, shock-of-a-lifetime thriller that was BEHIND HER EYES, it was entertaining though a bit more "racy" than I like with far too much focus on lust and sex. The shifting narrative between Marcia and Keisha's points of view was seamless, but it lagged in places even though there seemed to be almost too much going on. Lots of different themes within this novel but the overlying tension was weakened for me a bit because I really didn't care of any of the characters! It was quite a collection of pathological personalities and as the end came closer I discovered that I had guessed it out quite correctly. I'll still check out the next book by this author as the stories are unique in their own way, but the more I read, the less likely it is that I'll truly ever be totally surprised by a twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - drama, mystery, sex, marriage, South USA