Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell

 

The Woman of the Year has a deadly enemy in the latest twisted novel by Darcey Bell due out in March. Lorelei Green and Holly Snopes became good friends in a college psychology seminar until a man, a professor no less, entered into Lorelei’s love life. Lorelei believes Holly carried out a scheme to win the professor for herself and gaslighted Lorelei in the process.

In the end, Holly turns against the professor and exposes his dalliances with students, costing him his career. Not only does she do the professor in, but she also causes the animal experimental lab at the college to fall in disfavor and be closed.

Whatever she did back then, 20 years later Holly is now rich and famous thanks to some profitable marriages, while Lorelei barely scrapes by living alone except for her cat. When Lorelei learns Holly is to be named Woman of the Year, she attends the gala and executes a perfect plan that embarrasses Holly.

While Lorelei’s plot is gloriously successful, she is questioned the next day by two police officers who tell her Holly is dead. Lorelei never wanted to kill Holly, she just wanted to get back at her for what Holly did to her in college. Fearing she is a suspect in the killing, Lorelei cooperates with the police who clear her conscience when they tell her how Holly was murdered.

The befallen professor has been dead for some time so Lorelei cannot imagine who else has a vendetta against Holly. Is Holly not worthy of the honor bestowed on her? Since someone else had it out for Holly, could Lorelei be next? Who is that man at the door?

Darcey Bell, a preschool teacher in Chicago, writes some wickedly warped novels. Her debut novel A Simple Favor was produced as a film starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting January 6, 2023.

I would like to thank Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.