Poisoned Pen Press | Book Chatter

The Housewife
By Natalie Barelli
Poisoned Pen Press, June 2026, 368pp.

The Short of It:

I love a good villain.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

Jodie has always dreamed of being the perfect housewife. She gets her wish when she marries Dr. Roy Davies, a renowned psychiatrist with a posh Beverly Hills home. Jodie moves right in, but the neighborhood wives are watching her with a cautious eye. She sure isn’t Deborah, Roy’s first wife, who decided to kill herself by shooting herself in the head.

Oops.

Jodie has some secrets.

As details about Deborah’s death begin to surface, along with the weird, very strange behavior of the housemaid, Jodie starts questioning everything. Soon she’s digging into Roy’s locked office and wondering why there are so few details surrounding Deborah’s death.

I won’t say any more because I don’t want to give anything away, but The Housewife is one of those dishy reads that makes you put the chores on hold. There’s deception, lies, plenty of suspicious behavior, and a nice twist that keeps you on your toes.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Dear Debbie
By Freida McFadden
Poisoned Pen Press, January 27, 2026, 336pp.

The Short of It:

Whoa, Nellie. What a wild ride.

The Rest of It:

Debbie is a small town advice columnist whose career is going nowhere. Like, really nowhere. Most of the “advice” she provides can only be saved to a private file because it’s NSFW or life. I am being slightly dramatic. Her advice is GREAT but probably not legal. When she finds herself let go, she doesn’t immediately panic since her husband Cooper is the real breadwinner anyway.

But…Cooper’s career is a real mess too. Desperate for a promotion but really, really not wanting to ask for one, he is left without a choice when Debbie tells him to go in there and demand what he wants. This doesn’t end well.

While their careers hang in the balance, other things hit the fan like their eldest daughter’s loser boyfriend causing trouble, and their younger daughter getting kicked off the soccer team. An athlete with incredible talent. Debbie is appalled and goes off the rails dealing with all of it. That’s the thing with Debbie, you really don’t want to be on the wrong side of her.

Debbie is a real go-getter so when her husband isn’t, it’s easy as a reader to read between the lines when other people get involved. Let me tell you though, McFadden pulls some surprising punches that I did not see coming. It’s wild!! I read one chapter again, just to be sure I was understanding it correctly.

This is a fun, dishy read. My first McFadden. If you want a page turner that makes you laugh at loud in places, and gasp in others, then this is the book for you. It took me right out of my day and entertained me in a way I had not been entertained in a while.

Recommend.

Source: Review copy sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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