Starred review from October 24, 2022
Single mom Paige Lancaster, the protagonist of this razor-sharp novel from Scott (Wish You Were Gone), returns to her hometown of Piermont, Conn., with her eight-year-old daughter, Izzy, after being fired from her lucrative screenwriting job in L.A. and a spectacularly violent breakup with her boyfriend. Settling in with her widowed mother, Paige enrolls Izzy in the elementary school she attended and discovers that the cliquish Parent Booster Association runs the school and sometimes its members’ lives. PBA president Ainsley Anderson and her three board members rule the PBA with an iron hand, demanding “100 percent membership enrollment” from the parents. Ainsley and her crew annoy Paige, demanding that she join committees and attend parties—so many parties. The women close ranks on her, especially when they learn that Ainsley’s husband was once Paige’s high school boyfriend. Then a death brings embezzlement, bribery, and adultery to the forefront. The stark contrast between the women’s perfect public personas and their messy private lives enhances the clever, brisk plot. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Mean Girls, and the Real Housewives franchise won’t want to miss this one. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.
January 1, 2023
After a disgraced departure from the television show she helped create, screenwriter Paige Lancaster and her daughter decamp to Piermont, Connecticut, where she finds her hometown more of a suburban caricature than she remembered. The key to fitting in is the Parents Booster Association (PBA), which is ruled by a tight-knit mom cabal. Running into her first love is an interesting turn; unfortunately, he's married to the PBA queen bee, Ainsley. When Ainsley's body is found crumpled at the bottom of her stairs, the rumor mill favors murder over accidental death, and secrets crack Piermont's Pinterest-perfect veneer. Ainsley's crumbling marriage, another PBA member's rage after Ainsley reneged on her promise to hand over the group's presidency, and Ainsley's savage dismissal of allegations concerning PBA financial irregularities all provide possible motives. Fully aware that she hasn't escaped suspicion, Paige agrees to inform on the PBA's power politics for a local cop, hoping no one discovers the violent meltdown that marked her departure from L.A. A beguiling whodunit cleverly infused with humor and social commentary.
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