The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl

 Fans of reality television may enjoy this novel about a group of friends and family in the Garden State.

Showrunner Eden Bennett has her hands full with Huzzah's new prime time reality program. The show, Garden State Goddesses, highlights rivalry, friendship, secrets, love affairs, and ultimately murder. The drama centers on a New Jersey neighborhood family, the Fontanas, and Eden intends to get a lot of craziness on camera, especially since her cousin, Hope, is now married to one of the Fontana sons. Nobody expects things to go as far as they do, but the family and their friends cannot be managed and it all spins wildly out of control.

Less a murder mystery, this story is mostly about relationships (mainly gay), gossip, speculation, innuendo, and out right lying. It's all rather convoluted with a huge cast of characters that requires a printed list at the beginning to help keep everyone straight. Unfortunately, none of the characters resonated with me, and, in fact, I heartily disliked all of them. I didn't really care who died or why as petty grievances and mistaken ideas come to light. It's like this tries to be way too many things at once and ends up seeming like a disjointed mess with too many irritations. I wasn't really amused at any of it despite this being called funny and dark. I have no intention of reading a second installment as I don't care what happens to any of these characters. That being said, full disclosure that might explain my reaction, I don't watch any reality television as I don't like this type of drama.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. There is a large cast of narrators (5 of them) and I have no idea who was doing which character. Some of the voices grated on my last nerve -- especially whoever was doing Ruby and Bianca (the teenagers), and some of the others with their attempts at a Jersey accent or the one who did Birdie. So I have no idea whose voice(s) were tolerable and appropriate. Generally I enjoy audio while reading as it provides a more immersive experience. 

This is apparently the first in a new series. I won't be reading any further

Tags - murder, family, friends, gay relationships, reality television, secrets and lies, gossip.