Colleen Roper is pregnant by her boss Michael and madly in love with him. But when he moves her to Ravenswood, his opulent estate, she feels like a fish out of water. She doesn't fit in with this society and everything around her, including the coffee the chef fixes for her, reminds her of Joanna, Michael's wife who disappeared 6 months ago. It is obvious that the staff and the neighbors adored Joanna and don't appreciate Colleen moving in. Right after she moves in, bones are discovered across the street. Of course they are Joanna's. That much was expected. But not much else in the rest of the book was expected and the ending flabbergasted me. That is the mark of an excellent psychological thriller. I was given a copy of this book through NetGalley and I loved it! I look forward to reading more of Ms Miller's many works. ( )

In Her Shadow from Kristin Miller is a good but, it seems to me, a busier read than it needs to be. At some point there can be too many side stories and things begin to just drag. I actually am at about a 3.5 rating but rounded up because the parts that really paid tribute to du Maurier and Hitchcock were well done. The rest seems like residual habits from her romance suspense writing.

The writing itself is good and I don't mind multiple viewpoints, though multiple viewpoints just, it appears, to have them gets a little tiring. I also think that books that are promoted as being similar to, or inspired by, classic works or writers set the bar higher than it needs to be. Like the vast majority of such hyped books, this one falls short of the elevated expectations the advertising campaign set up. This really has less to do with the book itself, but the fact is that the reading experience is a dynamic between the book and a reader, so giving unrealistic expectations to the reader ultimately hurts the book's chances of being easily praised since it has to now be compared to classics in the genre. but publishers are more interested in selling books out of the gate than they are with the actual perception of the book after release, since they are already looking ahead to next Tuesday.

I would recommend this to readers who like Gothic stories and especially like du Maurier and Hitchcock. Just remember, this is its own work and not something that needs to be compared to a classic in order to be enjoyed, regardless of what the short attention span of publishers may think.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. ( )

A new girlfriend who’s left in the dark and also in the shadow of her boyfriend’s ex is an awkward place to be. Add in a murder and too many suspects and it can be quite dangerous to boot! The characters Miller created are unique and clever, the plot twists and intrigues and the chapter titles are ominous enough to keep you from putting the book down. You may think you’ve got this one figured out, but you’d be wrong. Well done to the last page!
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review ( )