The Wife Upstairs

by Rachel Hawkins

First published 2021

Jane walks dogs in Thornfield Estates, a gated Birmingham community where she steals jewelry and trinkets from her wealthy clients. She uses a fake name and keeps her past buried. When she meets Eddie Rochester, a recently widowed resident whose wife Bea died in a boating accident, Jane sees her chance for security. Eddie is wealthy and mysterious, still mourning his ambitious wife who built a successful lifestyle brand from nothing. As Jane pursues Eddie, she struggles with comparisons to the beautiful, accomplished Bea. Jane wants Eddie's protection and love, but her criminal past threatens to surface. Meanwhile, questions about Bea's death and Eddie's true nature create growing tension. Jane must secure her future with Eddie before either of their secrets destroys the relationship she desperately needs.

Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary

Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful

Tropes: deception, enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Birmingham, Thornfield Estates

Period: contemporary

290 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press

Content warnings: violence

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