The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

Where to start with this one.  Amber is a completely unlikeable character and yet I fell in love with her almost instantly.  She is that despicable, envious part of us that most of us manage to quash but Amber doesn't she revels in it.  Her manipulations are so carefully planned and so devious that you should be gunning for her to get her comeuppance but the writing is such that I did find myself wanting her to actually get what she wanted; after all she worked so darned hard at it.

Not all is what it seems in Daphne and Jackson's seemingly perfect life and marriage and you don't even realise how carefully constructed their appearence to the outside world actually is until you get to hear Daphne's side.  She really isn't the doormat that Amber's tale makes you think she is.  Yes, she is cowed by her situation but the true horror of that takes some time to unfold and you are left reeling at her revelations.

This is a carefully crafted book that lulls you in to false sense of security with it's delicate characterisations and deliciously slow unfolding of the plot.  It is a reminder that all is never what it seems on the surface and that no matter how perfect someone's life appears there may well be darkness and tragedy beneath that thin veneer.  At first you think this going to be all about how to win a wealthy man and more suited to a Chick Lit genre than a thriller and, really, the thriller doesn't come out until just over halfway through but it is worth sticking with.

I could easily have given this book a 5 star review but although my tuts of disbelief at how gullible Daphne seems in the first section of the book did cause me to mark it down.  Even though these are all addressed they sometimes do feel a little glib and certainly the breakdown of her relationship with her mother reads very unbelievably.  Overall it is a very strong book and the twists keep you reading way past bedtime.

**Review originally published January 7th, 2018**