Be careful what you wish for…

Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple—until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight.

Soon they’ve moved into a custom-built state-of-the-art Glass Barn on the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. They have fancy cars, expensive hobbies, and an exclusive lifestyle they never could have imagined.

But this dream world quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool.

Nicole is devastated. Tom is her rock. And their beautiful barn —with all its smart features that never seem to work for her—is beginning to feel very lonely. But she’s not entirely by herself out there in the country. There’s a nice young couple who live in the Manor itself along with their middle-aged housekeeper who has the Coach House. And an old friend of Tom’s from school has turned up to help her get through her grief.

But big money can bring big problems and big threats. Was Tom’s death a tragic accident or was it something worse? And is her life in danger as well?

Nicole’s beginning to feel like a little fish in a big glass fishbowl.

Surrounded by piranhas.

I bought this book last year but forgot about it for whatever reason. I’d read nothing but great reviews, so I was excited to finally get to it via audiobook. I went in expecting a cliched thriller, but what I got was more of a solid whodunnit with a whole lot of good old-fashioned revenge thrown in, and I loved every minute of it.

The story is told from multiple points of view but focuses primarily on the lives of childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom, who go from a regular couple to wealthy lottery winners overnight. The couple purchased land from the nearby owners of Lancaut Manor and built their dream home, which is lovingly referred to as “the Glass Barn,” on said land. Nicole has adjusted to a life of prosperity much faster than Tom – mainly because Tom is a bit of a nervous Nelly and his old friend Patrick keeps hounding him for money. Nevertheless, the couple is happy and hoping to start a family, but their happiness turns on its head when Nicole comes home to find Tom dead in the swimming pool.

The setting of the Glass Barn and Lancaut Manor really elevate the creepiness of the story. Had these people not been so isolated, I’m not sure it would have worked as well as it did. The author does a great job of setting the scene and making us feel like we’re right there with the characters.

Pulling from the points of view of Nicole, their next-door neighbors Sasha and Olly, Sasha and Olly’s housekeeper Kitty, detectives Hal and Jen, as well as journal entries from someone named Anna and flashbacks to Tom’s point of view on the day of his death, the author weaves together a fun, twisty tale of murder, lies, and deceit topped up with several healthy doses of revenge.

Usually, when a book has this many different points of view, it puts me off, but MacMillan does a fantastic job of weaving together a complex and suspenseful plot. All the characters were distinct, and I had no trouble telling them apart – mainly because this audiobook used a different narrator for each character, and each one inhabited the character perfectly. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much had I read it. I needed the different voices to help keep everything straight.

And what a cast it is! I loved that everyone except for maybe Tom and the detectives had a dark secret that they were hiding. I had my suspicions about what had happened before I was halfway into the book, but the other revelations along the way made the book shine for me. I wasn’t a huge fan of the twist/reveal regarding one of the characters about halfway into the book (if you’ve read it, you know what I am talking about), but I went with it because it helped move the book forward. However, I loved the unexpected surprises revealed for one of the other main characters, and I loved how everyone got exactly what they deserved in the end.

Overall, I found this one to be a twisty, fun, and addictive read that will appeal to fans of murder mysteries. Do you need to suspend disbelief in a couple of places? Absolutely, but if you can do that, then you’ll be in for a heck of a ride. Since there are so many different characters, I highly recommend checking out the audiobook for this one. The use of different narrators for each character definitely elevated the experience for me, making it an engaging and immersive read.

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