Lainey Wolfe is an artist who works for an ad agency in New York City. In her mid 30's, she is ensnared in a relationship with a fellow employee, Julian, that is not going anywhere, and stalled in a career with little hope of advancement.

The story opens at John and Farrell Cole's Christmas party. Lainey and Farrell have been best friends forever. Lainey is the loving godmother of Farrell's children, Tim and Riley Cole. Part of Lainey envies Farrell her idyllic suburban life, complete with a loving husband and adorable children. At the party, Lainey becomes aware of an unexplainable tension in Farrell.

Returning to the city, Lainey is offered an extraordinary opportunity to move to the West Coast and head a new marketing venture. While doing the research preparatory to the move, she is called by John's brother Charlie.

She learns that Farrell and John have both died by carbon monoxide poisoning in their home. Fortunately, the children had been spending the night with friends away from home. She drops everything, and rushes to them. She finds Tim has totally withdrawn from everyone, and Riley can do nothing but cling to her. Farrell's brother, Penn, arrives and they learn they are to be co-executors. By the terms of the will, she is to live in the house and rear the children.

Penn soon returns to London in the pursuit of his news career, Charlie disappears into his vague business deals, and Julian becomes more demanding. Amidst this, Lainey is torn between balancing her career and tending to the immediate needs of the children she loves. Without a doubt, these conflicts are the strongest parts of the book.

Gradually Lainey realizes that John and Farrell's deaths may not have been accidental. Without much more than complex character development and superb foreshadowing, the author creates waves of tension, warning the reader that there are sinister undertones in this suburban utopia.

This novel is driven by the characters rather than the plot. The bonus is that Victor develops very different female characters and children with incredible understanding and compassion. The price she pays for this is that it makes obvious her male characters are poorly developed and flat.

Despite the noted weaknesses, this book moves from one compelling scene to another and is a pleasurable read.

--Thea Davis