What is it about books that center on the incredibly wealthy—the glamour, the ritz, and complicated personalities that can collide head-first with the family’s spoiled and extravagant lifestyles—that also allows us to follow the family’s tragic, imminent and potentially shocking downfall? We’ll shake our heads while reading about the protagonist’s wild and unpredictable decisions, our mouths dropping open at their impulsive, knee-jerk reactions while we experience shock and dismay at their ill-fated plans for getting out of trouble, only for the protagonist to find themselves plummeting into deeper trouble. At the end, they find few ways for escaping; they may even try to drag others down with them. And then they’ll discover, to their grave disappointment, that money and stature might not be able to buy everything.
For readers, novels about the uber wealthy can be enticing, glamorous and over-the-top. A sneak peek into how “the other half” lives. For writers, stories about the filthy rich can be like catnip. Authors will fill their pages with descriptions about the opulent homes, the décor and glitz and the characters’ designer clothing, while also including stories about their jet-setting lifestyles to exotic destinations, their flamboyant behavior and entitled notions that money can buy everything—including happiness. When a murder occurs, or a body needs to be buried, or the police come knocking on their door, shock and outrage might ensue when they discover their wealth can’t protect them. Not always. And in other cases, their wealth is exactly what allows them to keep big secrets hidden… until someone digs them up again.
In my upcoming novel, Nanny Needed (publishes October 5 with Bantam, Penguin Random House), readers are cast into the mesmerizing world of the Bird family living in the extraordinarily decadent penthouse of an exclusive building in the Upper West Side. Despite the family’s unusual way for hiring nannies and the fact that she has zero nannying experience, Sarah takes the job. She also agrees to the family’s strict instructions for never leaving the apartment with the child. The mother, Collette Bird, isn’t allowed to leave either which is troubling because, on the surface, she seems to have everything she wants: designer gowns, a live-in staff and a husband who takes care of her every whim. But Collette Bird is trapped, and soon, Sarah will discover a disturbing secret about the child in her care. While dealing with Collette’s tragic behavior and the child in their midst, she also finds herself fighting against the power and influence of the family who employs her, who have gone to great lengths to make sure no one will ever talk—especially the nanny. Until now, the Bird family may have gotten away with a few too many tragedies, but with Sarah, it’s time that every one of their secrets rises to the surface.
Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier
Publishes January 25, 2022
Speaking of opulent wealth, the title says it all. As one of my personal, most anticipated reads for the upcoming year, Eliza Jane Brazier’s sophomore book Good Rich People takes us into the lives of a wealthy couple living in L.A. and the twisted games they will unleash on the people they invite to stay in the guesthouse of their Hollywood Hills mansion. Lyla and Graham have it all, and yet, they can’t stand the idea of someone else having a self-made success story. Enter Demi, a destitute woman who jumps at the chance to take over another person’s identity and deceives her way into living in their guesthouse. But little does she know what Lyla and Graham are planning, and how far they will go to win at their wicked games. Because after all, doesn’t having a lot of money mean you always come out on top and you’re the winner? But Lyla and Graham may have sorely underestimated the latest player living under their roof and she has a few tricks up her sleeve too. Good Rich People is a wild, witty, suspenseful and wholly original story.
The Receptionist by Kate Myles
Out now: August 1, 2021
Emily is a top talent agent in Los Angeles who works with multiple talk show host celebrities while her husband Doug is a successful CEO. The couple is keenly aware of how good they have it and their glamorous one-percenter lifestyle. But a surprise pregnancy and the birth of their child changes everything for Emily, except for one problem: Doug isn’t quite ready to settle down yet. He still wants to play. And his reckless behavior leads him to having an affair with his beautiful young receptionist, Chloe. But not only will Chloe disrupt their lives and threaten to destroy their marriage, she will also entangle them in the dark secrets she has been desperately trying to hide. For Emily and Doug, will money buy them happiness? And how far will Emily go to be rid of the receptionist and protect her family?
Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins
Publishes November 30, 2021
With Nanny Needed soon to be published, I am definitely plugging another nanny book. Nanny Dearest is Flora Collins’ debut with her novel already gaining quite the buzz as an intense, psychological thriller. When Sue Keller is in her mid-twenties, her father dies, and she finds herself reconnecting with the nanny who cared for her as a child. Annie looked after Sue and lived with the family in their enormous house upstate. She loved Sue as her own. But while the two women rekindle their bond, Sue begins to ask questions and she discovers several tragedies that may have occurred around the time Annie lived with them. A slick thriller, Nanny Dearest shows the dark side of a family and the nanny who promised to care for everyone in the home.
When She Disappeared by Nicole Mabry and Steph Mullin
Publishes March 3, 2022
Writing duo Nicole Mabry and Steph Mullin are back at it again with another suspenseful read. After releasing The Family Tree in 2021 (a DNA kit and a serial killer found among the family’s midst), their next book When She Disappeared focuses on the discovery of a teenage girl’s body, the same girl who disappeared fifteen years earlier, and the lengths one family will go to so their only son doesn’t become the main suspect. In their small town, this family owns the primary business, and therefore, owns most of the cops and runs the town’s economy. When Margo returns to her hometown, she works with a documentary crew to investigate the case about the discovery of her high school best friend’s body. But the Abbott family will use their stature to convince everyone—and anyone—to turn the spotlight away from their son. Under their watch, Charles Abbott III will not go down for murder. But as Margo uncovers shocking secrets, it appears the Abbotts aren’t the only ones who didn’t want Jessie’s body to be found.
Parting the Veil by Paulette Kennedy
Publishes November 1, 2021
From the first pages of this beautifully written, historical fiction, Parting the Veil, the reader is swept into a world of decadence. The sisters step from a long ship voyage from America, tired, but with so many questions as to why a massive estate in England has been left to them by their deceased aunt. Soon, they meet the mysterious Lord of Havenwood and while they are trying to make a home of the crumbling, once-beautiful mansion, the sisters must also deal with a multitude of servants and neighbors who appear to be holding dark secrets. Eliza fears the man she has married and the parts of the mansion she and her sister are repeatedly told not to enter. In this not so tranquil section of England, it appears the most elite families are hiding a very troubled history.
A Bright Young Thing by Brianne Moore
Out now: September 7, 2021
This novel takes place in the grandeur of 1930s British high society and focuses on a young woman named Astra Davies who uncovers one secret after another after her parents pass away. But before they died, Astra’s life was one fun, indulgent escapade after another. She gallivanted around London with hardly a care in the world. But when Astra learns about the enormous debt her parents leave behind, her desperate solution is to marry the Earl of Dunreaven and pay back the money that is owed. But scandals surround her husband, she finds herself in increasingly more debt, and to make things worse, a blackmailing socialite threatens to make life more difficult. From the bustle of London to the country estates of the aristocracy, Astra must find a way to seek her financial independence. More importantly, she must break out on her own before someone else pulls her under.
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia
Out now: June 1, 2021
In Nekesa Afia’s debut mystery, a young Black woman named Louise is working at a café by day in Harlem and the hottest speakeasy at night in 1920s Manhattan. This is a time for hopes and dreams and great jazz, but to everyone’s horror, someone is killing young Black girls, and no one knows who is behind the murders. After an unfortunate altercation with a police officer and Louise is arrested, her past threatens to lumber her with the consequences she’s been avoiding. Instead, she agrees to help the investigation and find the serial killer who is targeting young Black girls in her neighborhood. With the prejudices of New York society working against her and several influential people standing in her way, Louise must track down the killer before they hurt someone else, and before Louise finds herself in the crosshairs too.
The Hitman’s Daughter by Carolyne Topdjian
Publishes January 11, 2022
The Château du Ciel was once the enviable destination for the rich and famous to play, drink and ski. These days, however, the guests are few and far between. A glamorous New Year’s Eve party is supposed to bring the hotel back to its former glory until a massive snowstorm hits and the guests are trapped within the large, and rumored to be haunted, halls. Mave, one of the hotel employees, discovers the body of a woman, and soon, suspicion arises that she’s the one who killed her. After all, it’s discovered that Mave has a past she’s been trying to outrun for years, and her father is a notorious hitman serving multiple life sentences in prison. Mave worries that she’s being framed for murder and now she must use the survival skills her dad taught her and look deeper into the sordid history of the guests staying at this elite hotel.
A Mother Never Lies by Sarah Clarke
Out now: August 27, 2021
In A Mother Never Lies, a young woman had the perfect life: a nice house, a loving husband, and a gorgeous little boy. But in one horrific night, everything she knows to be good and pure is taken away from her. Fourteen years later, she’s finally ready to face the past—and she will take her son back. She will bring him home, even if that means going up against her husband’s wealthy and incredibly powerful family who remain intent on brushing their past traumas beneath the carpet. But this mother is no longer going to take no for an answer.
The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney
Publishes January 21, 2022
In the summer of 1956, cicadas descend upon a small town in Georgia, an event that brings with it surprisingly supernatural repercussions and drastically unsettling the life of Analeise Newell, an eleven-year-old piano prodigy. Analeise finds her world upended with the dark obsessions of others and strange new gifts that no one can explain. While visiting the plantation home owned by the wealthy Mayfield family, Ananleise meets the mother and daughter who live there and who seem to possess an otherworldly beauty. She quickly becomes obsessed with their mystical presence. But with wealth, also comes the Mayfield family’s need for power, and a chain of events results in violence and dangerous moments of manipulation. Their story unfolds at the sprawling grounds of this haunting plantation under the intensely maddening sound of the cicada song.
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