The Body Next Door by Maia Chance
They buried their secrets, but not deep enough…
Hannah McCollough’s life is far from perfect, but you’d never know it by looking at her. Instead, you’d see a beautiful young mother wholly devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You’d see the designer clothes she wears, the luxury car she drives, the dewy-eyed au pair she employs.
You wouldn’t see the dark secret she carries.
But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep, in places she knows she shouldn’t.
As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, the facade of Hannah’s picture-perfect marriage starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. And Hannah’s search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers with shocking secrets of their own.
Review:
I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.
If you’ve followed my reviews for any length of time, you’ll know that I really love a thriller that focuses on rich people behaving badly – especially when their past mistakes begin to catch up with them; that’s exactly what I got with this one.
This time around, we’re taken on a journey through the seemingly perfect life of Hannah McCullough, a young mother with a wealthy husband and a dark secret that threatens to unravel her carefully constructed façade. The ‘rich people behaving badly’ aspect comes into play as we delve into the moral and ethical dilemmas these characters face, and how their wealth and privilege influence their decisions and actions.
The story kicks off when a body is discovered near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island near Seattle, setting off a chain of events that will challenge Hannah and her husband Allan in ways neither saw coming. They’re rich, after all, and Allan has always been able to throw money at anything that could work against him or crack his perfect veneer. But, as the police investigation deepens, they find that the victim may have been a member of an apocalyptic cult that lived near the McCullough’s vacation home, and Hannah may know more about her than anyone realizes.
I have to give the author kudos for building tension and keeping readers on the edge of their seats as the mystery unravels. There were several times when I thought I had it figured out, and then the story would throw a curveball and put me on a different path, only to jerk the wheel again – all without causing “twistplash”. The eerie, remote setting of Orcas Island adds to the atmosphere, making it the perfect backdrop for a story filled with twists and turns; a sense of unease and suspense permeates every page.
The novel is well-paced, and Chance’s writing is engaging and accessible. This makes it easy to get lost in the story and lose track of time. I will admit that when I started the book, I had a few concerns, mainly because we flipped between several different characters right off the bat. Usually, when a book alternates between multiple characters, I get annoyed. It ended up not being a problem in the end, primarily due to Chance really knowing her characters and giving each of them a distinct voice and perspective. I never felt lost or confused.
As Hannah’s search for answers takes unexpected turns and she crosses paths with strangers harboring their own dark secrets, the stakes only get higher. The tension builds to a gripping climax that will leave readers breathless and satisfied with the resolution. My only problem with this one was the addition of the magical powers of one of the characters. While it was integral to the plot, it felt out of place to me because it seemed to shift the focus from the psychological thriller aspect to a more fantastical one. Usually, I’m okay with magical realism in books, but when it shows up unexpectedly in a thriller or mystery, I have a difficult time getting on board with it.
Overall, I found this novel to be a fast-paced, and fun read. Despite the unexpected introduction of magical elements, which initially caught me off guard, it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. The well-crafted cast of characters, each of whom you either love or love to hate really made the book for me. If you are looking for a compelling mystery with a touch of magical realism, I would certainly recommend this one.
