Her Pretty Face

May 7, 2018
Frances Metcalfe, the mousy protagonist of this diverting domestic suspense novel from Harding (The Party), has been shunned by the other Forrester Academy parents since her troubled 11-year-old son, Marcus, peed in a mean girl’s water bottle, so she can’t believe her luck when cool, confident Kate Randolph invites her out for coffee. The stay-at-home moms become fast friends, bonding over their mutual contempt for the snobs in their Seattle, Wash., suburb. But as it turns out, that’s not all they have in common: both women are also hiding terrible secrets. Harding’s tale unfolds from the perspectives of Frances and Daisy, Kate’s 14-year-old daughter, who’s being stalked by a mysterious stranger. Flashbacks to the 1997 trial of suspected murderer Amber Kunik keep readers guessing at the involved parties’ modern-day identities and the crime’s connection to the present. Regrettably, Harding’s conclusion is a murky anticlimax that offers more questions than answers, but three-dimensional characters, well-timed plot twists, and a sea of convincing red herrings make for an otherwise entertaining story. Agent: Joseph Veltre, Gersh Agency.

May 1, 2018
A friendship between two very different women is threatened when long-buried secrets rise to the surface.Lonely and overweight stay-at-home mother Frances Metcalfe feels like an outsider among the stylish moms at Seattle's exclusive Forrester Academy. It doesn't help that her son, Marcus, whom she fiercely loves in spite of his challenges, has ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder, which causes him to act out in alarming ways. She knows that her handsome husband, Jason, loves her, but she's painfully aware of the stares she gets that seem to ask how someone like him could be with someone like her. When the beautiful, elegant Kate Randolph befriends Frances, she's thrilled, and Kate's son, Charles, proves to be a calming influence on Marcus. Sleepovers for the kids and get-togethers with Kate and her husband, Robert, become the norm, and Kate brings out an adventurous side of Frances that she thought was lost underneath the stress of caring for Marcus. However, Kate's 14-year-old daughter Daisy's behavior is becoming increasingly self-destructive, calling attention to a darkness that lies just beneath the intoxicating veneer of Kate and Frances' friendship. And there is real darkness here: One of these women is really Amber Kunik, who was involved in the sensationalized murder of 15-year-old Courtney Carey in 1996, supposedly while under the control of an abusive boyfriend--but is it Frances or Kate? Harding (The Party, 2017, etc.) expertly builds subtle menace and does her best to keep readers guessing as to which woman is Amber, whose heinous crimes are revealed through snippets of her chilling courtroom testimony. When Amber's identity is finally revealed, the other woman must decide whether forgiveness is possible while confronting her own dark secret. A bit of gallows humor, such as when Frances fantasizes outrageous ways that she could kill a mom who's particularly rude to her, leavens the dark subject matter.Creepy and compelling.

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May 1, 2018
Frances Metcalfe doesn't fit in at Seattle's elite Forrester Academy. Her overly large son, Marcus, is shunned for his bad behavior, and the other mothers are more interested in flirting with her hot husband, Jason. Fortunately, there's beautiful Kate Randolph, who eschews the snobbery of the PTA for Frances' refreshing awkwardness. Kate's son, Charles, is Marcus' only friend, so the two mothers are drawn even closer together. Both women have a secret, but only one of them is the notorious Amber Kunik, who served time for her part in a brutal murder 20 years ago. Meanwhile, Kate's 14-year-old daughter, Daisy, is keenly aware that her mother is no longer interested in her, so she doesn't see why she shouldn't befriend the man in the muscle car who seems to be everywhere she is. The reader never knows quite whom to trust as the past and present unfold. The characterization of the two overweight characters?as pathetic outcasts?is problematic. Still, the tony setting and the slowly revealed secrets make this a good read-alike for Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies (2014).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)