The Next Mrs. Parrish: A Novel

by LIV Constantine

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish!
 
“Delicious and shocking.”—Jeneva Rose
“A brilliant page-turner.”—Lisa Gardner
“One hell of a ride!”—Andrea Bartz
 
CBS NEW YORK BOOK CLUB PICK • Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into each other’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line.

Amber Patterson Parrish has come a long way. Hard work and immaculate planning turned her from invisible wallflower to prominent socialite, though there have been bumps along the way. Less than a year after her husband Jackson’s tax-evasion scandal, Amber reigns supreme over the Bishops Harbor community. But with Jackson being released from prison, Amber’s free time—and money—is vanishing.

Meanwhile, Daphne Parrish left Bishops Harbor after her divorce from Jackson, swearing she would never go back. But when one of her daughters runs away from home, desperate to see her father, Daphne agrees to return for the summer for their daughters’ sake. Jackson swears he’s a changed man, but Daphne knows all too well that he can’t be trusted.

When a ghost from Amber’s past emerges looking for revenge, these three figures find unlikely allies in one another. But who is playing who? When all is said and done, they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for everything they have left in this zero-sum game.

With shocking turns and entertaining characters, The Next Mrs. Parrish will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about duplicity and betrayal.

• ISBN10: 0593599926
• ISBN13: 9780593599921
• Publish Date: 18 June 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bantam
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593599921

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

Sociopathy vs Psychopathy vs Revenge. If the first "Mrs Parrish" book was a study in psycopathy vs sociopathy with a "normal" person caught in the middle - and it was -, this one is in some ways more of the same, but with the added twist of adding a new character who is just as cunning as both the sociopath and the psychopath, but a more 'normal' person with the added motivation of pure revenge.

 

Thus, the action tends to be just as despicable here as in the first book, and for that reason many who did not like the first one may in fact not like this one either - so if that is you, seriously, just spare the author the 1* review and skip this one.  

 

But for those who are willing to endure the despicable acts knowing that this book *is* more revenge focused and *does* have some significant (and seeming conclusive, for at least some of the players involved) payoffs... this book is actually quite delicious. Where the first one was more slow and methodical, this one almost seems like a director who has only now learned about quick scene cutting, particularly relative to just how slow the first book was. Almost like an old school, plodding, hours long chess match... and then the next match is over in a brilliant storm of lightning. Not one that will necessarily leave you breathless, but absolutely one where you begin to wonder just how much you've seen and how fast you've seen it. Particularly, again, after the utterly glacial pace of the first book.

 

Whereas the first book had almost no redeemable qualities about almost none of the characters, here we do get to have a bit more sympathy for at least some of the characters, and that alone will make this book better than the first one for some readers - but you absolutely have to read the first book to be able to fully understand this book.

 

Ultimately, this was truly well done, and some parts of the ending were truly delicious indeed given all that had happened to that point.

 

Very much recommended.