Review: The Last Mrs. Parrish

Summary: The mesmerizing debut about a coolly manipulative woman and a wealthy "golden couple," from a stunning new voice in psychological suspense.

Some women get everything. Some women get everything they deserve.

Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted.

To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. Amber’s envy could eat her alive . . . if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.

With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent. -- Harper

In the past couple of weeks, my inbox has been inundated with emails tempting me with the new novel THE LAST MRS. PARRISH by Liv Constantine. This book has been getting a ton of buzz, but one email in particular made me pick up this book. It had links to four amazing reviews and referenced three starred trades. How could I not read this novel?

I have to admit that I enjoyed THE LAST MRS. PARRISH quite a bit. This novel, which was written by two sisters (I know -- that's pretty amazing in itself!), is a psychological thriller about a very manipulative woman who involves herself in the lives of a couple who seemingly has it all. It's full of twists and it's even a little disturbing... and it's pretty darn good.

THE LAST MRS. PARRISH begins with Amber Patterson, a woman who feels that life just isn't fair. She desperately wants to be someone, or at least married to a someone, so she decides to befriend the beautiful Daphne Parrish. Amber knows that Daphne is still reeling from the loss of her sister to Cystic Fibrosis, and she worms her way into Daphne's life by pretending that she, too, lost a sister to this horrible disease. I already hated her!

And it just gets worse. Not only does Amber trick her way into Daphne's life by pretending to be her best friend, but her real purpose was to make Daphne's "perfect" husband Jackson fall for her. She learns things about Daphne's life and begins to recreate her own life to match Daphne's. She even decides to get pregnant and convince Jackson that she's carrying a boy -- the one thing that Daphne couldn't give him. However, Amber doesn't take into account that secrets from her past might come to surface... and that her entire plan might fail.

THE LAST MRS. PARRISH is most definitely an intriguing mystery. The authors reveal secrets about Amber's life in carefully placed pieces, but they equally reveal some shocking things about Daphne and her perfect life. In fact, the entire novel read like a well-played game of chess. I'm dying to tell you more about Amber (and even Daphne), but I fear that you wouldn't appreciate all of the spoilers.

As hard as it is for me to imagine two people writing a psychological suspense story, I actually can see how it worked for THE LAST MRS. PARRISH. The novel is divided into two main sections, each starring one of the female protagonists -- Amber and Daphne, so it's understandable how each sister wrote one of the characters. I found it very interesting that Amber's part was written in third person, while Daphne's was written in first person. No matter how they wrote these characters, I think the authors did a great job and definitely captured the essence of both characters.

There were plenty of twists and turns in this story, but I will admit that I had a feeling where the novel was going. From fairly early on, I figured out what was going to happen (or at least pretty close to what happened.) That doesn't mean that I wasn't entertained, though, by the cat and mouse game! The mystery and suspense was well-plotted, and the novel was truly a page-turner.

All in all, I liked THE LAST MRS. PARRISH and think it's going to be a big hit for fans of psychological suspense novels like GONE GIRL. Highly recommended!

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this novel.

Mystery Mondays is a regular feature where I review all types of mystery books -- traditional mysteries, suspense/thrillers, and even cozies! Please feel free to share your thoughts on any recent mystery books that you've read.