One of Us Is Dead

This decently plotted but pedestrian page-turner from Rose (The Perfect Marriage) centers on a posse of viperous trophy wives vying for social status in the posh Atlanta enclave of Buckhead. Employing the exclusive Glow salon as their unofficial clubhouse, these ladies who do not lunch (preferring to use the calories on booze instead) multitask beauty treatments and backstabbing. Among them is ruthless Olivia Petrov, who successfully strips frenemy Shannon Madison—recently dumped by her politician husband for a much younger female bartender and therefore expendable—of her nonprofit committee chair post. From here tensions between the two Mrs. Madisons start to simmer, roiling the rest of the group; Glow gets broken into, and at least one of them winds up murdered. Despite cartoonish characters and often clunky prose, the novel does have its amusing moments, but these end up being overshadowed by the exploitative use of two serious issues—domestic violence and human trafficking—as little more than plot points to help set up the surprising denouement. This one’s vibe might best be encapsulated in “The Real Karens of Buckhead.” Agent: Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm Literary. (Apr.)