Jane Corry | THE DEAD EX

Plot (via Goodreads):

Vicki works as an aromatherapist, healing her clients out of her home studio with her special blends of essential oils. She's just finishing a session when the police arrive on her doorstep--her ex-husband David has gone missing. Vicki insists she last saw him years ago when they divorced, but the police clearly don't believe her. And her memory's hardly reliable--what if she didhave something to do with it?

Meanwhile, Scarlet and her mother Zelda are down on their luck, and at eight years old, Scarlet's not old enough to know that the "game" her mother forces her to play is really just a twisted name for dealing drugs. Soon, Zelda is caught, and Scarlet is forced into years of foster care--an experience that will shape the rest of her life . . .

David's new wife, Tanya, is the one who reported him missing, but what really happened on the night of David's disappearance? And how can Vicki prove her innocence, when she's not even sure of it herself? The answer lies in the connection among these four women--and the one person they can't escape.

Review: 

Confession: I have three Jane Corry novels lined up on my bookshelf and The Dead Ex is my first one. Well, let's just say I am going to be scrambling to find the time to feature her previous titles in my TBR this year because I have been blown away! 

The Dead Ex is equal parts domestic suspense, psychological thriller, and murder mystery and I was 100% living for all of it. I've said it a million times before, so what is one more time? I LOVE novels that have different character perspectives. Not only is it far more entertaining for me to enjoy, but it says a lot about the writing capabilities of an author when they can really use their talents to channel multiple characters and The Dead Ex is no exception from that rule. What I enjoyed most about this case was that the characters were vastly different and told in different timelines. At first, I was just trying to keep up with their lives and enjoying the different perspectives until about 100 pages in when it clicked that I needed to start thinking of how these characters are related to this one man who has disappeared. Now for me, that says a lot. I wasn't focused on trying to guess the ending, but sitting back and enjoying the devilish plot and relishing in the dark-cloud-like moments. These characters are vastly different from one another and yet with their prose and the occurrences in their story-lines, you could tell only a genius like Corry can weave up some tales like these that paint a rather dark and disastrous story. I couldn't get enough.

If you're anything like me, your to-be-read pile/list is forever growing and sometimes in a novel you count the pages until you can start your next read. I always do this, even when I am enjoying a novel as much as I did this one. Well, color me shocked, but this time I rarely even knew what page I was on. Thankfully, I started this one on a Sunday and was able to enjoy it in one sitting and did I ever enjoy it. I brought it with me everywhere. I ate with this novel, I enjoyed about 75 pages in the bathtub before my pruny fingers finally dragged myself out of the water, I took small breaks to sit back and digest what I had just read. Told in a few different parts, I felt like each one had a different vibe to it that only developed more into the story as they progressed, which kept me even more invested in the novel. Towards the end, there were some rather shocking and brilliantly executed revelations that I never saw coming leading to an intense and thrilling climax that left me breathless. I  know one thing, I expect this novel to be much talked about when it releases in February.

Special thanks to Pamela Dornan Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5