House of Glass

Sarah Pekkanen

Mystery Thriller

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(4.5 / 5) Wealthy child Rose had a nanny who was killed by falling out a window, or she was possibly pushed. Since that day, she has not said a word but acts suspiciously and collects weapons. Stella is child advocate lawyer that is assigned to her case to determine which parent she will live with after their divorce.

Stella was fabulous. She had her own broken past that she used to help others. Rose was her most difficult client and the questions that arose each time she visited became very troubling. I was hooked to the story from the start. The mystery was high with little aspects such as Rose’s family having absolutely no glass or breakable objects in their house. Each member seemed to have something to hide, including Rose, and the lengths Stella took to get the answers to was nothing short of impressive.

I highly recommend this one to those that love a deep, emotionally-driven mystery!

AUDIO REVIEW: I couldn’t put this one down! Laura Benanti did a great job holding that mysterious tone while also giving the touching moments their due.

General content summary: 

Little to no language

Person pushed out of window and killed (child sees)

Traumatic mutism (child, previous, present)

Corpse (previous, child sees parent)

Infidelity (pregnancy)

Deaths (parent car accident, parent drug overdose)

Drugs (addiction)

Alcohol (alcoholism)

Physical violence (taser, broken nose, blood

F/F attraction and kiss 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copies!

The book releases August 6, 2024.

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