The Dead Ex

At first blush the only thing middle-aged aromatherapist Vicki Goudman and scrappy eight-year-old delinquent-in-training Scarlet Darling seem to share is that each faces a crucial turning point in their lives at the start of this slow-building but ultimately gripping psychological thriller from Corry (Blood Sisters). In February 2018, Vicki’s quiet life in the seaside resort of Penzance, England, is about to implode with the arrival of two detectives investigating the disappearance 15 days earlier of her ex-husband, David, a wealthy property developer. In March 2007, Londoner Scarlet will soon be placed in a Dickensian foster home after her beloved single mom’s imprisonment for drug dealing. The dual narratives alternate—revealing Vicki’s startling past in a very different profession—and eventually converge with devastating impact. For those willing to press on through the somewhat deliberate first half, Corry delivers several satisfying plot twists as well as a meditation on the nature of family. [em]Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Jan.) [/em]