cover image The Last Affair

The Last Affair

Margot Hunt. Mira, $16.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-7783-0922-2

This propulsive domestic thriller from Hunt (For Better or Worse) opens with the police arriving at the upscale South Florida home of 49-year-old Gwen Landon, a married mother of two, whose dead body lies in the backyard. Flash back six months. Gwen wants to be something other than a homemaker, having abandoned college for the sake of the career of her physician husband, Josh. Josh, who’s discontented with his marriage, begins an affair with housewife Nora Holliday, who wants to leave her alcoholic husband. As Josh and Nora’s affair intensifies, Gwen targets the wrong woman in an attempt to uncover her husband’s infidelities. Meanwhile, Gwen and Josh’s college-age daughter, Abby, spots Josh kissing Nora and resolves to punish her father. Hunt builds suspense through the alternating perspectives of each of the three women. The action hurtles toward an astonishing conclusion. Fans of Paula Hawkins and Megan Abbott will be gratified. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Literary. (Nov.)