Is the kid traumatized or murderous?

I was excited when I heard about Sarah Pekkanen’s new book House of Glass, since I’d read several of her collaborative novels with Greer Hendricks and found them to be excellent thrillers. I wasn’t sure, at first, how I felt about House of Glass. It took me a few chapters to get into it, and I’m not entirely sure why. But once I did get into it, I was hooked. I read this in a single day, that’s how much I didn’t want to put it down! Tense, thrilling, with enough clues to help you figure out the mystery if you try, but not so many that it feels obvious from the very beginning. Plus, being a native of the DMV (the area comprised of DC, and the surrounding MD & VA suburbs) I am always tickled to read books that are set here and DO IT WELL. (There was a book I read last year that decidedly DID NOT do it well, and I remain bitter.)

On to the plot! Stella Hudson has been appointed the best interest attorney for a young girl whose parents are going through a contentious divorce and fighting over custody. It’s not just a nasty court battle though – one month earlier the girl’s nanny (who happened to be pregnant with the husband’s child) fell out of a third-story window at their house. 9 year old Rose Barclay witnessed her nanny fall to her death, and has been suffering from traumatic mutism as a result. She’s being homeschooled by her doting grandmother, and her parents are still cohabitating while their less-than-amicable divorce works its way through the court system. Stella starts working on Rose’s behalf, trying to figure out the solution that will be best for this traumatized child, but notices that things in the Barclay residence aren’t what they should be. All the glass has been removed from the house, none of the adults seem to be able to tell the entire truth about anything, and Rose has been collecting sharp objects from anywhere she find them. Stella begins to wonder whether Rose was a witness to the nanny’s murder or actively involved herself.

Like I said, this book has high tension and a twisty, engaging plot. You’re kept guessing until near the end, and then the climax is frightening and exciting and satisfying all in one. If you enjoyed The Golden Couple or The Wife Between Us, give House of Glass a try, you won’t regret it.