Title: Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
Publisher: Harper
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 293 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
From “master of clever misdirection” (Kirkus Reviews) Aimee Molloy, author of the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Mother, comes an irresistible psychological thriller featuring a newly married woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband goes missing.
A handsome psychotherapist. His lonely wife. And in his home office ceiling, a vent …
You’d listen too, wouldn’t you? (You know you would.)
Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say good-bye to New York City and start a life together in Sam’s sleepy hometown upstate. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele. Little does Sam know that through a vent in his ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist’s wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her in bed. Who could resist listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie’s happily ever after.
Showcasing Molloy’s deft ability to subvert norms and culminating in the kind of stunning twist that is becoming her trademark, Goodnight Beautiful is a thrilling tale of domestic suspense that not only questions assumptions but defies expectations.
Review:
Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy is an absolutely brilliant mystery that is incredibly riveting.
Psychologist Sam Statler is a reformed player who is now happily married to his wife Annie Potter. The couple have recently relocated in Sam’s hometown due to his mother’s dementia diagnosis. Sam quickly establishes a woman heavy practice that is located in a historic Victorian home that belonged to the last surviving member of the town’s founder. Unbeknownst to Sam, his sessions can be heard through the vent in his recently renovated office space. When Sam disappears one evening on his way home, Annie knows something terrible has happened to her husband. But with the police treating his disappearance as voluntary, she decides to see if she can find him on her own. Will Annie find Sam before it is too late?
Sam is keeping some very major secrets from Annie that she discovers soon after his disappearance. Although she harbors a few doubts, she remains convinced something nefarious happened to her husband. Police Chief Franklin Sheehy is disinterested in the information she provides to him. Annie remains confident Sam would never leave her but will she give up searching for him in the aftermath of surprising discoveries?
Goodnight Beautiful is a thoroughly engrossing Mystery with a clever storyline. The characters are intriguing and the small town is the perfect setting for this gripping story. With absolutely stunning twists and diabolical turns, Aimee Molloy brings this smart mystery to an outstanding conclusion. Highly recommend this suspenseful mystery to fans of the genre.
