It Should Have Been You

Mara (Someone in the Attic) delivers a rattling domestic thriller set in the glossy South Dublin neighborhood of Oakpark. At the outset, exhausted schoolteacher and new mother Susan O’Donnell accidentally sends a snarky text meant for her sisters to a WhatsApp group used by her entire housing estate. The message—which insinuates that snobby queen bee Celeste Geary’s husband, Warren, is cheating on her with a “PR Girl”—immediately sends a shockwave through the neighborhood, but a mortified Susan hopes the whole thing will blow over quickly. Instead, it leads to several acts of shocking violence. By the end of the novel, four people are dead, and most Oakpark dwellers—including brooding bartender Venetia and Susan’s sister, Greta—have been swept up in at least one scandal they’ve tried to keep buried. Mara sets a relentless pace from the moment Susan sends her fateful text message. Readers will hold their breath as the plot’s puzzle pieces click into place, exhaling only after the absurdly satisfying finale. It’s a blast. Agent: Catherine Wood, Felicity Bryan Assoc. (Jan.)