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L**D
child protective services based
4⭐️As I absolutely loved Gone Tonight by the same author I was keen to read/ listen to this book asap.I had the audiobook read by Laura Benanti who does a good job.This is the second book I’ve read about child protective services, this one is court appointed best interest attorney Stella who is investigating where Rose the appointed child’s interest lies after her Nanny died in suspicious circumstances. The previous book concentrated more on the court procedure (Between the Lies Louise Tickle for anyone curious) This one is more investigative than court based.Of course there are plenty of secrets, lies and twists it wouldn’t be a psych thriller without. It’s got a good pace. It kept me entertained, there’s a couple of dodgy decisions (to be expected). There’s characters to love, hate and be suspicious of, sometimes all three at once.I didn’t love it as much as Gone Tonight, but I enjoyed it.
S**N
Gripping Read
Sarah Pekkanen's latest offering is a dark and deeply unsettling affair, set in Washington DC, the wealthy Barclays on the surface would appear to live an enviable existence, but what lies simmering just beneath the surface? 9 year old Rose is not speaking, mute, after the death of her nanny, Tina, a mutism that best interest lawyer, Stella Hudson, can identify with, she herself suffered similarly after a traumatic incident in her past. Stella does not usually accept cases of children under the age of 13, but in this particular instance she does, the very bright Rose is the subject of a custody battle between her bitter divorcing parents, Ian and Beth.In a narrative that goes back and forth in time, it soon emerges that Stella may have taken on more than she bargained for as we learn more of what happened in her tragic past. Ian's mother, Harriet, lives in the house, and aspects of Tina's death are being viewed suspiciously by the police, although stymied by insufficient evidence, everyone is regarded as a suspect, including Rose. Rose is an odd child, with violent tendencies, harbouring the habit of collecting sharp objects, a child that will make you shudder, and there are other worrying issues too, in this strange, troubled house of lies, secrets, and danger.This is a intense and gripping read of twists that will likely appeal to fans of the author and many fans of the crime and mystery genre. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
L**W
INTENSE!
On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?My Thoughts:From the very beginning of House of Glass, I was caught up in the family dynamics and in Stella’s efforts to help the family through the custody agreement. I was reminded of my own career in social work, trying to choose what was best for the child or children.We learn about the strange setting in the home, from its old fashioned arrangement to the absence of anything glass. No glass anywhere, from the picture frames missing to only plastic dinnerware.Slowly we realize that there is so much more going on, and just when we think we have figured it all out, we are stunned by what is really happening. A tense five star read.***
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