Title: Wish You Were Gone by Kieran Scott
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery
Length: 351 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
This “captivating thriller full of twists and surprises” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author)—about what happens when the death of a husband and father isn’t the tragedy everyone believes—is perfect for fans of the Netflix original series Dead to Me.
Emma Walsh has finally worked up the courage to confront her husband James about his drinking—his alcoholic rages, his blackouts, and the fear his behavior has created for her and their two kids. But James never shows up to meet her as planned, and all her righteous words go unsaid. And unsaid they remain, because the next time Emma sees James, his body lies crumpled amidst the wreckage of his flashy car, which has been smashed to its final resting place halfway through the back wall of their suburban house’s roomy garage.
In the aftermath of the fatal crash, Emma and her teenage children begin to embrace life without James’s looming, volcanic presence. Buoyed by the support of her two closest friends, she struggles to deal with her grief, complicated by the knowledge that her husband’s legacy as an upstanding business owner and family man shines only because so many people, for so long, were so willing to keep his secrets—secrets that twist into new and unexpected shapes as the mysterious details of his last day of life begin to come to light.
A sinister and suspenseful domestic thriller, lauded as “stylish” by Publishers Weekly and “delicious” by Booklist, Wish You Were Gone will keep you guessing “until not just the last page, but the last paragraph” (Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author)
Review:
Wish You Were Gone by Kieran Scott is an engrossing domestic mystery.
Emma Walsh is absolutely furious when her husband James does not show up to the restaurant for dinner. She is planning to hand over divorce papers to her alcoholic, abusive husband but after waiting for him, she returns home. She is a little surprised when he does not answer any of her texts but she is unconcerned enough to go to bed before he returns home. Emma is awakened in the middle of the night by what turns out to be her drunken husband crashing his car into their garage. Although the police are satisfied his death is just a tragic accident, Emma is not so sure after discovering some little things that do not add up. But that leaves her wondering who would have reason to kill James?
Emma can barely remember when her marriage was happy. James is drastically different from the kind-hearted man she married and she knows it is time to end the marriage. When Emma finds the first thing that is not consistent with James’ typical behavior, she turns to her best friends, Gray Garrison and Lizzie Larken. Gray’s husband Darnell is James’ business partner and Emma has been close to Lizzie for several years. In between attempting to uncover the truth about what happened to James, Emma tries to be there as much as possible for her teenagers, Hunter and Kelsey.
The deeper Emma digs into her husband’s life, the more the realizes she does not him as well as she thinks. She begins to suspect he was having an affair but trying to figure out who the “other woman” is turns out to be somewhat tricky. Emma also discovers shocking information about James’ future plans and she begins to harbor a few suspicions about someone close to their family. She is also becoming concerned about Hunter and Kelsey who turn out be keeping a few secrets of their own.
Wish You Were Gone is a fast-paced mystery with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. The characters are multi-faceted and easy to like. The storyline is well-developed with chapters that alternate between various points of view. With the suspense building with every chapter, Kieran Scott brings this clever domestic mystery to a jaw-dropping and thoroughly shocking conclusion.
