On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?
Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.
From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.
As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?
Review
I jumped at the chance to read Sarah Pekkanen’s latest novel. I enjoy her solo writing just as much as the work she does with Greer Hendricks. House of Glass is one entertaining thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat!
Stella’s job is to decide the best interests of a child in custody cases. She takes on Rose Barclay as a client, a girl who can’t speak after seeing her nanny fall out a window and die. What complicates matters is the nanny might have been pushed, making Rose the only witness to a murder.
So Stella is under a lot of pressure, she doesn’t want to recommend a possible murderer gets primary custody of Rose. But there’s also something off about Rose herself. She’s a very intelligent girl who is secretly stockpiling weapons in a house where suddenly no glass is allowed..
Stella investigates thoroughly, questioning Rose’s parents and her grandmother that came to stay after an injury years ago and never left. Stella tries to gain Rose’s trust despite her unpredictable moods and actions. And it’s no secret Rose’s father was having an affair with the nanny, hence the divorce. Suffice to say, the whole family is suspicious!
The whole situation is very trying for Stella. She has her own traumatic childhood that is being dredged up as she gets in deeper with the investigation. Finally finding out the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death when she was little is also part of the story.
I enjoyed every bit of House of Glass. I suspected everyone and had no idea what the outcome would be! The suspense and tension never lets up, I raced through this book desperate to know what would happen. I highly recommend House of Glass!
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
Expected Publication Date: August 6, 2024
A Good Mystery 