4 stars
In May 2020 two brothers illegally enter Reef Road beach, clutching their surfboards where they discover a severed hand washed up on the shore. They are watched but fail to notice a middle-aged woman, a lonely writer who is obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother‘s best friend in 1948, Noelle Huber. At the the start of the pandemic the writers life collides with a mother whose husband has disappeared with their two young children. This story, told from the point of view of the writer and the wife is inspired by true crime and looks at how the impact of crime goes way beyond those that are most immediately involved.

This is a clever and exceptionally well written novel which constantly has you questioning the things you learn. It takes you on quite a journey with the psychological aspect of Noelle’s murder on both the writer and her mother being very well conveyed. These two become very isolated and lonely as one of consequences. There are some other very powerful elements too as part of the storyline has its roots in Argentina and that takes us into its murky recent history such as the children of The Disappeared.

For a long time you cannot see quite where the story is going but it’s so compelling that you read on. The pace initially isn’t fast but it certainly speeds up as the storyline progresses as there are a number of shocks in store especially in the life of the mother which takes a very dark turn. The last part demonstrates the old adage of best laid plans of mice and men which are frequently interrupted by things that cannot be controlled and that also individuals should have been able to foresee situations that may arise and thus prevent the rupture of their plans. The Pandemic, an example of the uncontrollable, is used very effectively in the background and adds to the growing tension. Worlds implode and an avenging angel descends and although the ending is very apt and realistic it maybe could’ve packed a slightly bigger punch.

There’s a lot to praise here, I love the way it’s written it’s clever and witty with some creative descriptions. There is excellent use of literature and other quotes to ram home some points more forcefully. My one little negative is sometimes the writer‘s narrative rambles on a bit and is a tad repetitive especially on the impact of Noelle Huber on her life.

However it’s a book I’d still recommend and which richly deserves a four star rating.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Post Hill Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thank you so much for the access to read this book early!

I really really enjoyed the concept of this book - the two perspectives that intertwined more and more as the novel went on was really awesome to read through.

The twists and revelations were also absolutely fantastic and I had a great time pausing to try and predict what was coming next (only to be proven wrong!) I loved the idea of The Writer writing the true-crime story of The Wife - definitely an original and fresh idea.

I was absolutely enthralled once the two stories started to come together more and I could not put it down.

I will say though that the ending feels a bit flat? It doesn’t feel satisfying after getting so into the personal lives of the characters - I’m left with a lot of questions about what happened to everyone that I don’t feel we’re fully answered (Not always a bad thing but in this case I think it needs more of a round up)

All in all an EXCELLENT read - very much looking forward to this coming out so I c a read it again!!

Thank you NetGalley and Post Hill Press for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I have just finished this book and my thoughts are still swirling...which is always the sign of a great read! This is a great story based upon true crime and an intriguing mystery / thriller that I could not put down.

There are 2 main characters that also are our narrators: the Wife and the Writer. Both narrators are telling 2 seemingly different stories until they intersect with a clash in such a clever and masterful way. Honestly, I spent the first half of the book trying to figure out how, when and where the 2 narrator stories would intersect. Once the stories combined into one, I could barely keep up!

The Wife is dealing with a missing husband and her 2 children. The writer is living a dysfunctional life filled with bulimia, loneliness and growing up in the persistent shadow of a real life 1948 murder. The book explores eating disorders, Covid, the effect trauma can have on its victims, adultery, domestic abuse, familial secrecy, Argentina's historical unrest, and motherhood. How the author combines and weaves the two stories together is masterful.

Loved this! Looking forward to publication day!!!

This was a fun read, it took a while for the narrative threads to come together from the key protagonists - and to be honest I had far more for the characters when they weren't so enmeshed -unfortunately once they did the book lost some of its appeal as a reader. The mix of lies vs truth between the lonely writer and the lonely wife is compelling. but the end left me far from sated.

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s “Reef Road,” which reads a bit like a cross between Truman Capote and Joan Didion, concerns a young girl’s unsolved stabbing death and its connection to the narrator/writer, whose mother was a close friend of the victim. Intersecting with that story line is an account of another young mother’s bizarre story of how her husband and two young children have gone missing, and the puzzle for the reader for roughly half the novel is to try to figure out how the two narrative lines are connected. Eventually the link is spelled out, though, as the novel starts taking on the aspects of an increasingly over-the-top thriller. Distinguishing Royce’s novel, though, is an arresting narrative voice with occasional asides to the reader – think John Fowles’ “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” which is in fact cited – as well as a compelling look at Argentina’s “Dirty War.” There are also some nicely turned sentences along the way, for instance when a character notices another character’s head snapping to the left, “looking for her car or her bicycle or her fucking broomstick, whatever the hell mode of transportation she’d used to get here tonight.”

Deberah Goodrich Royce has done a brilliant job of bringing to life a past true crime with this exceptional novel. An elderly writer is coming to terms with and seeking atonement for the murder of young girl who was a girlfriend. of her mother's. Her mother's life was forever changed which in turn changed the raising of her own child. There are many twists and turns in the story that involve the daughter of the man responsible for the murder some seventy years ago. The story is divided by the lives of The Writer and The Wife and capture moments of grief, obsession, intimacy, truth, lies and trauma. A five (5) star read.

Palm Beach, Florida is a place in the sun for the uber wealthy, but it harbors a dark side. When a severed hand washes up in the beach, two women, one obsessed with finding out who killed her mother’s best friend, the other, frantic with worry after her husband absconds with their children, are forced together by the first Covid shutdown. Determined to uncover their truths, they both risk everything for the answers. Royce captures all the heat, humidity, natural beauty and relentless violence that make up South Florida