Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
[Rosenblum is] a keen observer of small, telling details ... With so many objectionable characters, it’s anybody’s guess who will end up dead before the summer is over.
In juicy chapters that alternate viewpoints, it seems at first that there are too many regulars to keep track of. But, as the same names keep popping up over and over, readers get a sense of how claustrophobically small the community is ... These characters are so readable and so terrible. They think highly of themselves but consistently have the worst impulses, and, as the book wears on, it becomes delightfully clear that they are incapable of resisting.
... scintillating ... Rosenblum does a terrific job of establishing the setting and atmosphere, and adds complexity to the plot by revisiting events from various points of view. This is wickedly entertaining.
