My rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)
Publisher: William Morrow
I had high hopes for this one but alas it wasn't a stunner. This also had the hook of a political family, so I was really excited. I've been having bad luck with the thriller end of mysteries of late. My expectations are high and there are so many that I'm running into more middling than magnificent. Here, the biggest problem was the main character, Finn. She was the sort of character that often did things that made no sense and it became quite clear early on that the story needed her to do that for there to be a story. Without her withholding info and making incomprehensible decisions for "reasons" this would have been a novella. Still, I persisted reading because I kept thinking it'd turn around.
The author had a wonderful way with the description of a place and because of that her rendering of Arizona was captivating and reminded me of the place in vivid detail. The author did it again in with her descriptions of the mountain landscape later in the story. It turns out that was one of the saving graces of the story. I'm glad I finished it because I wouldn't have wanted to miss those parts. As for Finn and the remaining characters, they won't leave as lasting an impression. But I will remember the coyote.
Summary: They are Phoenix’s First Family: handsome Philip Martin, son of the sitting Senator, an ex-football player who carries himself with an easy grace and appears destined to step into his father’s seat when the time is right; his wife Marina, the stylish and elegant director of Phoenix’s fine arts museum; and their four-year-old daughter Amabel, beautiful and precocious and beloved.
Finn Hunt is working a dull office job to pay off her college debt when she meets Philip and charms Amabel. She eagerly agrees to nanny, thinking she’s lucked into the job of a lifetime. Though the glamour of the Martins’ lifestyle undeniably dazzles Finn, her real pleasure comes from being part of the family: sharing quick jokes with Philip in the kitchen before he leaves for work; staying late when Marina needs a last-minute sitter; and spending long days with Amabel, who is often treated more like a photo op than a child.
But behind every façade lurks a less attractive truth. When a young woman approaches Finn, claiming a connection with Philip and asking Finn to pass on a message, Finn becomes caught up in a web of deceit with the senate seat at its center. And Finn isn’t exactly innocent herself: she too has a background she has kept hidden, and under the hot Phoenix sun, everything is about to be laid bare. .
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