Release Date: January 23, 2018

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: MIRA

About The Book:

Kat Grant and Alice Campbell have a friendship forged in shared confidences and long lunches lubricated by expensive wine. Though they’re very different women—the artsy socialite and the struggling suburbanite—they’re each other’s rocks. But even rocks crumble under pressure. Like when Kat’s financier husband, Howard, plunges to his death from the second-floor balcony of their South Florida mansion.
Howard was a jerk, a drunk, a bully and, police say, a murder victim. The questions begin piling up. Like why Kat has suddenly gone dark: no calls, no texts and no chance her wealthy family will let Alice see her. Why investigators are looking so hard in Alice’s direction. Who stands to get hurt next. And who is the cool liar—the masterful manipulator behind it all?

Book Excerpt:

“Let’s get out of here. There isn’t any room to breathe, much less stand,” Kat said too loudly.
I glanced at Eleanor Wyeth just in time to see her cast a disapproving look in her daughter’s direction.
Kat either hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. Or maybe she was used to her mother’s disapproving looks. “Are you hungry?”
“No,” I said just as Todd said, “Starving.”
“There’s a huge spread in the dining room.” Kat pointed the way to Todd. “We’ll be out on the patio, by the pool. Get a plate and come find us.”
“Do either of you want anything?” Todd asked, but Kat and I both shook our heads, and he headed off toward the food.
“What’s on the patio?” I asked.
“My dad, probably. He likes to hide out there and smoke cigars, which he’s been expressly forbidden to do.” Kat fake- coughed. “Come on. I can’t wait for him to meet you.”
I nodded and smiled, feeling a f lush of pleasure at Kat’s warmth, especially in the wake of how coldly her mother had dismissed me.
Still, perhaps my own disinterest in such social politicking had made me naive about what these women did once they achieved such positions. Kat’s mother, who certainly occupied a far higher place on the social ladder than the PTA Queen
Bees, wielded her position as a weapon. Warm smiles for the lucky favorites, icy disdain for the rest. I wasn’t exactly sure what had put me in the latter group. It could have been simply that I was a friend of Kat’s. I knew their relationship was strained. Or perhaps Eleanor Wyeth was a snob who believed that a middle-class suburban mother was not worthy of her attention. Maybe a little of both.
I followed Kat out onto the veranda, which was very large and grand and had a spectacular view of the water. Kat, who lived several miles to the north, could have boated down to her parents’ house if she wished. The veranda had a pergola overhead and was furnished with navy upholstered patio furniture, glass tables and large potted palm trees. Off to one side was a rectangular pool surrounded by statuary. There was a chill in the air, but it felt good after the crush of the crowd inside.
Kat looked around for her father.
“He’s not here.” She looked disappointed. “Oh, well, he’s bound to come out eventually.”
She plopped down onto one of the rattan chairs and kicked her heels off. I took the chair next to her.
“I’m sorry about my mother,” Kat said. “I should have warned you that she can be… What would be a polite way of saying this? Difficult, I suppose. Although even that might be sugarcoating it.”
“It’s fine.” I sipped my champagne. “I’m sure it’s not personal. I didn’t take it that way.”
“Oh, but it is personal.” Kat let out a humorless laugh. “What?” I asked, startled.
“I mean, no, of course it’s not personal about you. She obviously doesn’t know you. But she’s always been predisposed not to like any of my friends. She always warned me when I was younger that the people who wanted to be my friends might have ulterior motives,” Kat explained.

About Margot Hunt:
Margot Hunt is the pseudonym of a bestselling writer of twelve previous novels. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is her first psychological thriller.