Hey!

I just finished reading She Never Lived Here by Rita Maxil.

And it's about a woman whose new friend disappears, and nobody else remembers her.

Gaslighting the main character because their narrative doesn’t fit their picture-perfect community is one of the staples of domestic thrillers.

Here are my favorites.

Nobody Believes Her Thrillers

The Last Room On The Left by Leah Konen

Kerry takes a caretaker job at an isolated mountain hotel to write her book, away from a life that has come apart on her. Then she finds a body in the snow, makes it to a neighbor's house to call the police, and by the time they arrive, the body is gone.

In The Last Room On The Left by Leah Konen, we follow Kerry as she tries to prove what she saw, trapped by the blizzard with whoever moved it.

The Perfect Nurse by Daniel Hurst

Darcy is a nurse looking after Scarlett, the wife of a wealthy man recovering from a brain injury. The house is beautiful, and the arrangement looks generous, and then Darcy starts noticing things about the marriage that do not add up.

In The Perfect Nurse by Daniel Hurst, we follow Darcy as her suspicions build in a household where she is the hired help and nobody has much reason to take her word for anything.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Mallory is a recovering addict who gets a fresh start as a nanny for Teddy, a sweet five-year-old boy in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Then Teddy's drawings stop being scribbles and turn into detailed pictures of violence.

In Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, we follow Mallory as she tries to work out where the drawings are coming from, with a history behind her that makes her the easiest person in that house to wave off.

And the newest addition to the list:

She Never Lived Here by Rita Maxil

Camila moves her family to Belladonna Estates, a gated community a long way from the city and from the past she and her husband are trying to leave behind. When she befriends her neighbor Erin, it feels like proof that the fresh start is working. Then Erin disappears, and the women in Camila's new social circle tell her that no one by that name has ever lived there. The more Camila pushes, the more her own family starts to look at her differently.

She Never Lived Here by Rita Maxil is a domestic thriller set in a gated community.

Maxil's writing is functional and transparent. Descriptions add to the experience without slowing down the story.

We mainly follow one POV, Camila. The story runs on a single line of events, but it moves back and forth through it rather than straight ahead. It revolves around the mystery with some thrills later on.

Camila is a proactive protagonist, pushing the plot forward as she keeps asking about Erin even when it costs her. And underneath the mystery, the story is about class and fitting in, and about what being a good mother is supposed to look like to a group of women who have already decided who belongs. But mostly the story revolves around what lengths the characters will go to to keep their family safe.

The only thing I wasn’t totally onboard with was that Camila doesn’t have a super strong motive to go the full length of her involvement into figuring out Erin’s disappearance, but I was ok with suspending my disbelief as the obsessed main character is a typical trope of the genre.

There is some romance between Camila and her husband, though it stays in the background. There is some swearing, and no graphic violence. The tone stays light for most of the story but does touch on child abuse.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

I enjoyed the ending. The main mystery is resolved. There was a short denouement, which was appreciated.

She Never Lived Here by Rita Maxil is a solid domestic thriller around a woman nobody will back up. This is a satisfying read if you're looking for a proactive main character who keeps digging while everyone around her decides she is the problem.

Latest Updates

• One of the Family by Mark Edwards lands in the US on August 4. Patrick joins his girlfriend's family for a holiday in the Scottish Highlands and walks straight into a plot to murder the patriarch's much younger fiancée.

• I have been rewatching some older films these past few weeks. Striking Distance, with Bruce Willis as a river cop hunting a serial killer, and The Firm, with Tom Cruise as a young lawyer who works out that his firm is not what it seems. Both on Netflix.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— D.E. Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!

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