whitneydaniell

by: Steve Cavanagh
published: July 20, 2023
genre: Thriller, Mystery
351 Pages, E-Book
Goodreads | Amazon

Character Summary

Amanda White, 41, had once worked her way up from caregiver to manager at a retirement home. She put herself through night school to earn her degree—determined, focused, and family-oriented. Amanda was your typical wife and mother before the incident. But like with many traumatic experiences, there was a clear line that split her life into before and after. And in the after, Amanda was never the same.

Ruth Gelman, 39, is a rising real estate agent in New York City, waiting for the one big client who’ll finally land her that game-changing paycheck. On the surface, she seems to be living the dream—married to a wonderful man, Scott, who would go to the ends of the earth to protect and provide for her. Once a prosecutor, Scott left his meaningful job for a private firm that tripled his salary. He bought Ruth a beautiful brownstone and was ready to settle into family life. But the one night he wasn’t home, Ruth’s life was forever marked by a deep scar of her own—the kind that draws a permanent line between then and now.

Detective Andrew Farrow is a fixture in the NYPD. Depending on who you ask, he’s either famous or infamous. Nicknamed “Saint Jude”—the patron saint of hopeless cases—Farrow finds himself both on the fringes and smack in the center of Amanda and Ruth’s worlds.

Synopsis

When Amanda is ordered to attend court-appointed counseling, she finds herself forming an unlikely connection with another grieving mother. The two women—strangers at first—discover they have more in common than they’d like to admit. And the thread that binds them is tighter than a knot in a toddler’s shoelace.

What begins as a raw, grief-filled friendship quickly takes a dark turn. Their passing thoughts of revenge morph into a grisly, well-planned reality of deception and murder. Out of 8 million people in New York City, somehow these two women find each other. But neither of them is telling the whole truth. So—who’s lying, and who’s killing?

My Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this one and was genuinely surprised when everything came together. I was keeping notes and tracking my suspects, and when I flipped back through them at the end—well, let’s just say I was wrong about 95% of the time, which is rare for me.

This was my first Steve Cavanagh book, but it definitely won’t be my last. The pacing was solid, the writing strong, and the descriptions vivid. Even though my own NYC experience is mostly limited to the Lower East Side and the Financial District, I could still picture the city thanks to how well it was depicted.

The characters were fleshed out just enough to make you root for them—and even feel a little bad for the villain. I also appreciated that Cavanagh didn’t hold back. He went there—the murders, the gore—it was gritty in all the right ways. Let’s be honest, that’s what we’re here for in a murder mystery, right?

Now, this might be a mild spoiler, so: SPOILER WARNING. Around chapters 24 and 25, I started to question the timeline—and it turns out my hunch was right a few chapters later. Speaking of time, there’s a part (set around 2018) where Amanda is told to use a payphone. I literally wrote in my notes, “a payphone in 2018?!” But according to NYC.gov, while they started removing payphones in 2015, the very last one wasn’t taken out until 2022. So, color me surprised.

Overall, this was a quick, dark, and satisfying read. I liked everything about it and will definitely be adding more Cavanagh books to my TBR. Pick this one up if you get the chance!