This story has two separate story lines. Mari's story is from 1973 and Emily's story is set in present day. Seems all our main characters are writers, both past and present.
Emily is having trouble in her marriage as well as her writing career. Her best friend Chess, also a writer, invites her on a 6 week vacation staying at an Italian villa. It is mainly set in Italy and the villa sounds amazing. The setting and genre were my initial attractions to the book.
I found there were too many plots going on, back and forth between Mari and Emily's time period. The toxic relationship development was not surprising between the friends so after a while I became distracted. I would not describe this book as a thriller at all. It was a mystery but a predictable outcome.
Previously I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs and so I would read more by this author.
Publication date January 3, 2023 by St. Martin's Press Genre: General Fiction Adult, Mystery and Thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.