The Wrong Family

October 26, 2020
Juno Holland, the protagonist of this gripping psychological thriller from Fisher (The Wives), was once a successful psychologist, until her penchant for getting too involved in her patients’ lives led to her losing her practice and her home. Now, at 67, she sleeps on a bench in a Seattle park, where she meets and befriends 12-year-old Sam Crouch. One day, Juno can’t resist sneaking into Sam’s house, which his parents, Winnie and Nigel, are renovating, while the workers are out. When the workers return, she hides in a closet, where she discovers a trap door that leads to a large crawl space. She makes the crawl space her new home, where, undetected, she can overhear Winnie and Nigel quarreling. Eventually, Juno uncovers a sinister family secret. Reverting to her old ways, she involves herself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse surrounding Winnie, a missing young woman, and the woman’s baby. If Juno is right in what she thinks is going on, she will have saved a child and redeemed herself; if she’s wrong, it could cost her and others their lives. Vivid prose and well-drawn characters keep the pages turning. Fisher remains a writer to watch. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

November 13, 2020

Winnie Crouch seems to be living the dream life in her enviable home in the prestigious Greenlake neighborhood of Seattle with husband Nigel and teenage son Samuel. Juno is an elderly former psychologist who left her home and family in Albuquerque and now resides with the Crouches. Juno soon questions whether the Crouches are living such an idyllic life when she overhears Nigel and Winnie whispering and learns they are harboring a life-altering secret. Juno becomes obsessed with exposing their secret and righting all wrongs, despite the consequences. Through the alternating chapters voiced by Juno and Winnie, readers are catapulted through a nail-biting quest toward the truth; neither woman will emerge unscathed. VERDICT This book rates a 10 out of 10 on the creepiness scale. Readers will be peering over their shoulders with trepidation as their paranoia levels soar. Suspense fans will love being frightened by this twisty plot. Fisher's (The Wives) goosebump-inducing book will spook readers long after the final pages are turned.--Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

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