A Small Affair

At the start of this uneven domestic thriller from Collins (Nanny Dearest), 27-year-old Vera MacDonald, the cutthroat director of sales for a Manhattan fashion company, matches with 37-year-old Tom Newburn, who’s separated from his wife and runs a logistics tech start-up, on a dating app. After their third date, Vera breaks up with Tom. A few days later, Tom and his wife, Odilie, are found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in an apparent murder-suicide; a note from Tom states that Vera’s rejection left him no choice. Fired from her job and ostracized by the press, Vera moves to her mother’s house in the Hudson Valley. A year later, Odilie’s family invites Vera to her memorial service, which prompts Vera to try to regain her life and unravel the truth behind the deaths. Collins neatly doles out secrets as flashbacks chart the downfall of Tom and Odilie’s marriage, but readers will struggle to root for characters who are hard to like, and the slow-moving plot builds to a rushed and unconvincing ending. Hopefully, Collins will do better next time. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Dec.)