Natalie already loves her newborn son, Oliver, with everything she has. From the moment he was born, she knew that she was meant to be his mother.

But when Oliver refuses to sleep, and her husband Tyler returns to work, Nat is left alone in a new neighbourhood, the task of keeping her small son healthy and happy on her shoulders alone. No one else can breastfeed Oliver; no one else will protect him like she can; no one can help her.

No one, that is, except her neighbour Paul. He is everything Tyler isn’t, and provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest.

But Paul wants something in return. He has a plan of his own, and it’s no coincidence that he’s befriended Nat . . .

* * *

Praise for Nora Murphy:

‘I couldn’t put it down’ – Shari Lapena

‘Taut, compelling and deliciously dark’ – B. A. Paris

‘Brilliant, gripping, dark and superbly written’ – Gilly Macmillan

Leah Dawson and McKenna Hawkins had a lot in common, but they had never met.

They are smart, professional women living in the same sunny, prosperous neighbourhood in lovely houses with picket fences and beautiful gardens. And they were both married to successful, good-looking men who both seem bent on having ‘the perfect wife’.

They don’t – ever – find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or in the coffee shop. And they don’t – ever – discuss their problems and find common ground.

But they do cross paths. And they see something each recognizes in the other.

That they are living in hell.

Neither narrator is unreliable. They always tell us the truth. And their truth hurts. A lot. Because these two attractive, intelligent professional women are living in a hell of their husband’s making. And there is no way to get out of hell. Is there?