Never Have I Ever

I bought this book by Joshilyn Jackson at Roundabout Books as part of my ongoing effort to support my local bookstores. It was their selection for the mystery book club in November. This is one of those books that started out with such heavy handed foreboding that I did something I rarely do; I skipped to the last chapter to see if this book was going to be a total downer. It wasn't, so I resumed reading. One night as mom and scuba diving teacher Amy Whey is preparing to host the neighborhood book club, she answers the door to find a stranger. This is the woman who, according to Amy's best friend Char, had moved into the ratty rental house in the neighborhood. But she wasn't just "pretty" as Char had indicated, "she was more than that. She was the pretty that's on television: symmetrical features, matte skin, and that kind of long, slim, yoga body that still made me feel self-conscious...She smiled, and I had no premonition as I smiled back. She didn't look like my own destruction to me." She says her name is Angelica Roux and, within days, she threatens to reveal Amy's secret past that could well put an end to the life Amy has so come to love--her husband, her step-daughter and infant son, her friends. Amy has to find a way to outmaneuver this apparently ruthless blackmailer and so she begins to dig into Roux's background, starting with finding out her real name. As Amy digs, we also learn about the tragic events of her teenage years that drove her to self-destructive behavior. And she also reveals what finally saved her--diving. Being in the ocean is a meditation for Amy, where she can leave the problems and her past behind. Amy's investigations also lead her to make further amends for wrongs in the past. There are several plot twists and you'll never see them coming. Overall a good book.
Glowing reviews from Kirkus and The New York Journal of Books, and a muted recommendation from Publishers Weekly.