Review by Booklist Review
Con queen Liz makes a timely escape from Chicago just as her art-dealer cover draws suspicion. Socialite Isabelle Beresford offers the perfect opportunity to lie low and plot next steps when she hires Liz to install art in her newly purchased Mexican villa. But when Liz discovers that she bears an uncanny resemblance to Isabelle, she just can't resist posing as her boss in the gated community's tony social scene. In an unsettling twist, Liz discovers Isabelle and Oliver Beresford's bodies and strategizes pathways for becoming Isabelle Beresford permanently. As Oliver's business partner alerts authorities to Oliver's disappearance, cartel connections surface, and a furious Chicago mark sets a fixer on Liz's trail. Now she must rely on her deceptions to protect her from prison and the Beresfords' cunning killer. Agile plotting and Liz's rapid-fire manipulations are an easy trade for the suspension of disbelief demanded in con-game territory. Ritter's second thriller, after Bonfire (2017), is a gripping next-read for fans of Darby Kane's What the Wife Knew (2024).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Jessica Jones actor Ritter follows Bonfire with a lukewarm tale of scams, larceny, and murder among the mega-rich. While posing as an art consultant, fraudster Liz Dawson bumps into the glamorous Isabelle Beresford--wife of prominent venture capitalist Oliver--at a gallery opening in Chicago. The pair hits it off, and the next day, Isabelle offers Liz a job overseeing the installation of an artwork at her new villa in the wealthy community of Punta Mita, Mexico, while Isabelle remains stateside. Eager for an escape from the Midwestern winter, Liz agrees. When she arrives, her dark hair and green eyes get her mistaken for Isabelle, and she encourages the confusion, integrating herself with a clique of rich women whom she plans to fleece. Then two people close to Isabelle turn up dead, and Liz starts to worry she's being set up. Her plans are thrown into further chaos when the handsome brother of one of the victims arrives in Punta Mita, adding new layers to the question of who's deceiving whom. Ritter keeps things moving at an steady pace, but many of her plot twists are too predictable to shock. Suspense fans have plenty of better options. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In Jessica Jones star Ritter's second thriller novel (following Bonfire), Liz Dawson, a con artist who targets the elite, is beginning to wear out her welcome when she is invited to oversee an art installation for Isabelle Beresford at a vacant resort in Mexico. Liz quickly sees the potential for an even bigger scam when she is mistaken for Isabelle, who owns the resort and is mysteriously missing. Liz's first few days of impersonating Isabelle spiral into deceit when Liz discovers the dead bodies of a woman and Isabelle's husband, Oliver, in the forest around the resort. With Oliver's shady business deals, Liz's own past, and Oliver's irresistible brother all catching up to her, Liz must decide whether to escape or stay and risk her life. VERDICT A must-read for fans of the popular "rich people behaving badly" subgenre of thrillers. Those who enjoyed The Last Flight by Julie Clark and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty will enjoy Ritter's new novel.--Kerri Copus
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