A dream girls trip to a luxurious French chateau devolves into a deadly nightmare of secrets and murder in this stylish, twisty thriller for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell.
Cancer, infertility, antisemitism.
Welcome to picturesque Provence, where the Lady of the Chateau, Séraphine Demargelasse, has opened its elegant doors to her granddaughter Darcy and three friends. Twenty years earlier, the four girlfriends studied abroad together in France and visited the old woman on the weekends, creating the group’s deep bond. But why this sudden invitation?
Amid winery tours, market visits, and fancy dinners overlooking olive groves and lavender fields, it becomes clear that each woman has a hidden reason for returning to the estate after all these years. Then, following a wild evening’s celebration, Séraphine is found brutally murdered.
In the midst of this shocking crime, a sinister Instagram account pops up, exposing snapshots from the friends’ intimate moments at the chateau, while threatening to reveal more.
As they race to uncover who murdered Séraphine—and is now stalking them—the friends begin to suspect each other. Because the chateau houses many secrets…several worth killing for.
Don't just take our word for it...
“Come for the gorgeous setting; stay for the escalating tension, high-stakes drama, and dark revelations. With its labyrinth of secrets and intersecting mysteries, The Chateau is a mesmerizing story of betrayal and revenge.”
– Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot
“This twisting, serpentine novel has all the ingredients for an addictive read: a girls’ trip, a picturesque setting, and a shocking murder mystery. Prepare to get totally lost in this rich, complex story, with its complicated female friendships, where nothing is quite as it seems. The Chateau is sophisticated, surprising, and equal parts delicious and devious.”
– Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here
“A gloriously twisty and compulsive whodunit that I ripped through at warp speed. Felt just like I was curling up with a classic Christie! Stylish, smart, sinister, and completely unputdownable. I will follow Goldis anywhere she takes me.”
– Linda Sivertsen, bestselling author and host of the Beautiful Writers Podcast
Taste the very first page
In the prelude to sunrise, just after I’ve returned to my room and drifted back off to sleep, I awaken to a scream. I bolt up in bed, shove my sleep mask off my face. I reach out to toggle the lamp, but where is the switch? Disorientation in the dead of night is doubled when you’re across the world, in someone else’s home. Finally, I grasp the switch and wince as light illuminates the cavernous room, the herringbone marble fireplace and towering windows framed in gauzy cream drapes, the leafy branches of an oak tree swishing against the exterior of the panes. In the thick silence that has en- sued, I analyze the sound I thought I heard—its scratchy, desperate contours. Did I dream it? I sag back into my nest of pillows. I suppose I did.
I grab my phone to see if one of the girls has texted. No text, and mercifully no Instagram notification from @imwatchingyou88. Only the time blinks back at me. 6:05. So I stole not even ten minutes of sleep after returning from my little errand. My heart slaps my chest— did someone see me? Does someone know?
No. Impossible. I force my mind to turn over other affairs—the fact that my birthday is officially over. Forty. Thank the Lord. Thirty-nine felt like a forced march, but now that I’m here, in this new decade, I remind myself, again, that I have everything I’ve ever wanted. A kind, gorgeous husband; two amazing kids; a career that has steadily skyrocketed. And I’m hotter than ever, hotter even than most of the…
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