You thought you knew your neighbor.
Janis Wheeler lives in a picturesque coastal town where nothing ever seems to happen—a husband, two teenage children, a life that looks ordinary from the outside, if you don’t look too closely.
Until the last day of school, when a police car pulls up outside her house.
Sixteen years ago, Janis killed her abusive lover by burning down a motel with him inside it. She told herself it was the only way out. She told herself she had escaped what happened. For a long time, she almost believed it.
But now someone is asking questions.
And Janis realizes she may never have been as safe as she believed.
What begins with a death in the neighborhood spreads quickly. Her daughter becomes involved in an incident that draws police attention at the worst possible time. A man from Janis’s past reappears, as inconvenient as ever. And the past is no longer something she can keep under control.
The closer the investigation moves, the more fragile Janis’s life becomes. Every answer creates another risk. Every step forward tightens the noose. And still she has to keep going—making dinner, answering emails, pretending everything is normal.
Because beneath the surface of her perfect domestic world of iced cakes and happy families lies murder. What really happened that night sixteen years ago?
And how far would you go to keep your life from falling apart?
A darkly funny psychological thriller about ordinary people doing very bad things. And don’t forget the cakes.
Come for the murder. Stay for the cake.
