This “super creepy” (The Washington Post) and “perfectly plotted whodunnit” (Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author) follows an advice columnist searching for answers about her predecessor’s murder—from the bestselling author of The Golden Spoon.
Years ago, Alex Marks escaped to New York City for a fresh start. Now, aside from trips to her regular diner for coffee, she keeps to herself, gets her perfectly normal copywriting job done, and doesn’t date. Her quiet world is upended when her childhood hero, Francis Keen, is brutally murdered. Francis was the woman behind the famous advice column, Dear Constance, and her words helped Alex through some of her darkest times.
When Alex sees an advertisement searching for her replacement, she impulsively applies, never expecting to get the job. Against all odds, Alex is given the position but soon, she begins to receive strange, potentially threatening letters at the office. Francis’s murderer was never identified, turning everyone around her into a threat. Including her boss, editor-in-chief Howard Dimitri, who has a habit of staying late at the office and drinking too much.
As Alex is drawn into the details surrounding her predecessor’s murder, her own dark secrets begin to rise to the surface and she suddenly finds herself trapped in a dangerous game of cat and mouse that takes her all the way from the power centers of Manhattan to Francis Keen’s summer house, where her body was found and where the killer may just be waiting for her in this “fresh and fascinating” (Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot) page-turner.
Quirky Mystery
"I love the premise of this book. It was refreshing to read a thriller with a premise that I never read before. How did it be beloved advice columnist become murdered and how is her new replacement connected… And why is she now becoming threatened as well? I love the characterization. Each character was so well hash out that they were incredibly easy to picture and intuit their next moves. Alex, our main girl, and new Dear Constance was hard not to love. My problem with the story and the only reason I dropped a star was because of how the story wrapped up. I love the twists and how much sense all the little pieces made put together, but it felt so rushed with having two huge plot lines and only 250 or so pages . Don’t get me wrong. I loved both plot lines, but I felt like neither was given the amount of space needed to adequately and best serve each. I would read another Jessa Maxwell book and recommend this to anyone looking for an engrossing quick read. There’s still new plot lines to discover y’all! As for my ratings : Excitement level: 5 Ease of reading level: 5 Overall rating : 4"
