This is another run-of-the-mill domestic thriller, rags-to-riches category.
Tabitha is a server at a country club in the less glamorous part of the Hamptons. One day, she sees a familiar face from her past – Connor Ford – the grandson of a wealthy, local family who was her first love in her teen years. They met at the same country club when Connor was a member and Tabitha was, still, a server.
In the intervening years, Tabitha became a nurse, but was fired from her job at the hospital for a crime she didn’t commit. And Connor married a wealthy, famous older woman who has since taken her life.
They end up reconnecting and getting married. Connor moves Tabitha into his and his wife, Nina’s, estate called “Windswept.” It feels like a gothic novel at this point – Tabitha is restricted from accessing parts of the house, and she is micromanaged by the staff in the house which leads to several very public missteps. But is it Tabitha’s fault? The staff? Connor? The ghost of Nina? Everything is very strange.
Because of these public missteps, Tabitha is suspected of, and eventually arrested for, Nina’s murder. Meanwhile, Tabitha suspects Connor.
But who is right?!?
I felt like Connor was setting Tabitha up the entire time, and yet, it was difficult to like anyone in the novel. I wanted Tabitha to ask more questions. I wanted Connor to calm down. I wanted a lot of things.
Another good “Beach Read” that won’t tax your mind too hard, but ultimately, slightly difficult to pick out of the fray of domestic thrillers.