No One Saw It Coming

Bestseller Lewis (One Minute Later) explores the complexities of marriage in this potent if predictable domestic drama set in Bristol, England. During a gala celebrating her husband Jack’s Businessman of the Year award, philanthropist Hanna Madden meets clinical psychiatrist Riona Byrne, who’s dating Jack’s best friend, college professor Seb Goodman. Soon, Riona becomes close with the Maddens, partaking in their lavish, upper-crust lifestyle, one aspect of which is a secret to their friends: though they love each other, Hanna and Jack have each—with mutual permission—been carrying on several yearslong affairs. The arrangement sours when one of Hanna’s lovers (and, incidentally, one of Jack’s attorneys) attempts to rape her, and Hanna and Jack’s son, Leo, attacks him in retaliation, leading Jack to consider bribing the lawyer to keep quiet. Then, after Jack fails to return home from fishing one evening, Seb finds his bludgeoned corpse half-submerged in a lake. Hanna’s friend Andee Lawrence, a former detective, investigates, while Riona uncovers secrets about Jack, and harbors a few of her own. Lewis comes through with fully formed characters and keeps her foot on the gas, but—title aside—some readers will be able to piece together the case faster than Andee does. Still, this is an entertaining slice of domestic suspense. Agent: Luigi Bonomi, LBA. (Oct.)