Anna Fox is an agoraphobic recluse in New York, who spends her days watching old movies and spying on her neighbours. One day, she witnesses a murder through her neighbour’s window, but when she reports the crime, she learns that not only is the victim alive, but the woman she thought was her neighbour seems to never have existed at all.

AJ Finn’s Woman in the Window is a well-written psychological thriller in the vein of Rear Window and Girl on the Train. I had the opportunity to meet the author in the Harper Collins offices a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed hearing about how his own experiences with mental health informed the writing of this book. I like that the book updates the Rear Window trope to an agoraphobic heroine — it’s a condition that I don’t often see in novels. Finn does a good job in depicting how terrifying the outside world is for Anna, as well as how much the Internet can help in forming a social circle online.

The reason behind Anna’s agoraphobia informs much of Anna’s psychological journey, and it was sad to see her struggle in coming to terms with what happened. The reality behind the event is fairly easy enough to guess early on, which detracts from the impact of the big reveal midway through, but this knowledge also enhances some of the earlier scenes with emotional heft.

The story started off a bit slow for me. There were also a lot of old movie references that I think will appeal to film buffs and possibly even foreshadow events in the novel, and I also appreciate how they helped form a complete picture of Anna’s isolation such that the old movies are the highlights of her day. But to me, they just slowed the story down.

The second half picks up the pace significantly, and to my mind, is worth the wait. The big reveal about the villain is unexpected and chilling, and goes to show how vulnerable loneliness can make a person.

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Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for a copy of this book and a chance to meet the author.

This book is like a gothic Agatha Christie, and I loved every minute of it.

It begins when tarot card reader Hal receives a letter about an inheritance she realizes was sent to the wrong person. She decides to claim it anyway to pay off some debts, but when she gets to the house and meets the family, she realizes something’s very wrong. There’s much more behind the reason she received the letter than she’d initially thought, and that there may be things in her past that connect her to that family after all.

I’m a huge Ruth Ware fan — no surprise as I’m also a huge fan of Agatha Christie and contemporary thrillers, and Ware has an uncanny ability to blend both genres. The Death of Mrs Westaway is probably the creepiest, most atmospheric of Ware’s works, and that’s saying a lot when her previous novels involve a remote cabin in the woods and a murder at sea. There’s something about a large estate and a family full of secrets that just lends itself really well to a creepy atmosphere, and Ware does a great job keeping the tension thrumming throughout. There’s such a sense of wrongness about the estate and the Westaway family, and it’s all so deliciously disquieting.

The Death of Mrs Westaway also plays into my love for soapy family dramas. Take family members who barely tolerate each other, entice them with a massive fortune to spend a weekend in a house filled with bad memories, and then tell them a relative they never even knew existed would be taking a chunk of their inheritance. This is a recipe for disaster, and Ware milks the situation for all it’s worth.

We also get flashbacks into the past through diary entries from a character who grew up in the house, and whose identity plays into the first big reveal. It’s easy enough to guess long before Hal does, but knowing this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. If anything, knowing the writer’s identity made me more interested in the diary entries, and more eager to study the text for clues.

The Death of Mrs Westaway is just pure fun to read. It has family drama, a compelling mystery and lots of atmospheric creepiness. I couldn’t put it down. I’ll always have a soft spot for In a Dark, Dark Wood, but The Death of Mrs Westaway may just be taking its place as my favourite Ruth Ware book of all time.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestley, Emily Blunt’s Emily Charlton is probably my next favourite character in Devil Wears Prada. Who can forget the iconic line “I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.” Weisberger’s earlier sequel Revenge Wears Prada fell flat for me, but I figure if anyone could save the series, it would be Emily Charlton. And When Life Gives You Lululemons certainly lived up to its promise.

Emily, now an image consultant to the stars, lands the A-list client she needs to save her career: supermodel Karolina Hartwell, who was just arrested for a DUI in a Suburban filled with children. The catch is that Karolina lives in Greenwich, CT, and the suburbs are definitely out of Emily’s comfort zone. The stakes are raised because Karolina is married to a senator, Graham, who has no qualms about throwing his wife under the bus to protect his aspirations towards the presidency. Connecting them is mutual friend Miriam, a former high-powered lawyer who is now a stay-at-home mom dealing with all the social pressures of suburban life.

I had so much fun with all the soapy drama in this story. Emily is just the snarky, over-the-top heroine the Devil Wears Prada series needs. I also loved the scheming, revenge-filled storyline of Karolina and her husband. Graham’s an absolute ass and I was cheering so hard for him to fail the entire time. I also found it hilarious how Emily was forced to rethink her strategy of merely saving Karolina’s reputation so that she could actually give Karolina what she wanted — custody of her son.

In the midst of all the over-the-top plot points, what really stands out to me is the strength of the friendship between the three women. The story is hilarious and entertaining, but there are also a lot of deeply felt emotions running throughout. I was cheering the women on the entire time. Miriam in particular is a standout character for me. I love how she feels like she’s settled in the life she’s chosen yet can’t help feeling like something’s missing, and I love how this causes tension in her relationships. She felt the most real and relatable of the characters, and I absolutely love how her subplot turned out.

Finally, I love how Weisberger included Miranda in this story. Unlike Revenge Wears Prada which focused a lot on Andy’s PTSD-level fear of running into Miranda again (which after ten years, seems a bit much for what she went through), When Life Gives You Lululemons shows Emily as more than a match for the devil herself. Emily is clear on the dangers of being sucked back into Miranda’s world, but she’s also savvy enough to figure out how to use Miranda’s skills and connections to her advantage. When Emily says she may have to sell her soul to the devil to save Karolina, we are still confident she can handle anything Miranda throws at her. The book puts Emily toe-to-toe with Miranda for a while, and it’s glorious.

Someone please make a movie of this book already! I’d love to see Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep bring this story to life on the big screen!

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.