From the author of The Husband’s Secret, comes another compelling story about everyday domestic life in a suburb outside of Sydney, Australia. Without wasting any time, Moriarity plunges us into the complicated lives of this small town by letting us know that someone died on Trivia Night, the annual fund raiser for the local preschool. The “who” and the “why” are revealed from a variety of perspectives, but focus mainly on three women who all have children at the preschool.  One is a beautiful Celeste who is married to a wealthy businessman who is often away for extended periods of time while she takes care of her “perfect” twin boys and her “perfect” house. The other is Jane, a single mom struggling to raise her son Ziggy and trying to find a way to escape from a painful incident in her past.  And finally Madeline, a local girl whose ex husband lives in the town with his new hippy dippy wife. Although happily remarried with younger children in the local preschool, it is painful for Madeline to see that her 14 year old daughter from her first marriage seems to prefer living with her father rather than with her.

The secrets that each of these women holds and the lies that they tell themselves are skillfully and sympathetically revealed and the suspense builds as we come closer and closer to knowing who died and why. Moriarty is a proven author whose characters are skillfully drawn and realized from everyday life.  They are believable because we have each known a Madeline, a Jane, or a Celeste. They have been in our PTA’s or in our churches and synagogues and some of us have even carried those same secrets ourselves. Well paced and suspenseful, this book keeps you guessing until the very end!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 stars out of 5) 

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Lauren.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.