Synopsis:
Meet Lalla Rook. Lalla has a lot on her plate: She needs to guarantee her husband makes partner, secure her dream house in Hampstead, and get her daughter into a prestigious prep school. And on the afternoon she stabs a stranger seven times after he breaks into her living room, she has a four-year-old’s birthday party to host.
With an unambitious partner, two demanding children, and a barely adequate large house in a nice (if not quite fashionable) part of town, Lalla’s life isn’t quite perfect yet. And she can’t pretend she hasn’t missed the adrenaline rush that comes with transgressing. Besides, as a wife and mother, she’s already an expert multi-tasker. So, disposing of a body, framing a friend, and being the world’s best mother can easily be managed alongside the usual domestic minutiae.
It’s just that her husband Stephen seems distracted, her daughter’s drowning of the class hamster is affecting her academic future, and then there is the unexpected intruder. Who is this man and what does he want from her? Because Lalla has a past she’d rather keep hidden, and the sudden appearance of the police means that avoiding them will be yet another task to cross off her to-do list.
Review:
Compared to the novels I often choose, this one was not something I would have selected, (especially given its cover). I picked it up since it was chosen as my book club’s book of the month.
The plot twists and turns of this novel had me captivated from beginning to end. It was quite enjoyable to read with brief chapters, dark humor, and moments of laughter. Surprisingly, at moments, it was also really relatable (except of course the murders!) It was fun getting to know Lalla even though I was apprehensive about reading a female character created by a guy, M.K. Oliver did an excellent job!
This book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither should the reader. Lalla desires the things that everyone else desires in life: a contented family, a cozy lifestyle, close friends, a successful career with a promotion, and top-notch schools for the children. She simply does things a little differently, and since she is a sociopath, she will do whatever it takes to obtain it, even if its a small murder or two or three.
Lalla is a refreshing heroine (or anti-heroine, to be more accurate), because of her unique, unrepentant voice and how unhinged she is, I must admit that I couldn’t get enough of her.
I adored this book’s other characters as well. Every average mother from the playground was present. The poshest mommy, Tor, with her modest boasting and subtle jabs. We had Sophie who was a gossipy gullible woman and Aisha with her big moral compass. Cait’s character was very great and likeable, she had experienced a lot of issues in her life, and I enjoyed seeing her grow.
More significantly, readers can find that Lalla’s difficulties are disproportionate to their own or that they are similar to those that most women encounter.
In this murder mystery novel set in the suburbs its about an amateur detective who is looking into the murder she committed.
For readers who enjoy an unlikable heroine, this is a great source of fun.
Review with minor spoilers:
Our lead Lalla Rook, the housewife in M.K. Oliver’s debut novel A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage, feels like she has a right to the ideal life and to achieve what she wants, she kills, extorts, blackmails, cheats, threatens, and lies, she never once questions her actions which suggests us she might be a…sociopath!
When a stranger attacks her house, Lalla knifes him to death and then employs her Christmas gift-wrapping skills to ready the body for transportation. Lalla tells her amenable companion Cait that if she doesn’t assist in disposing of the dead, she could be implicated, which she does without much thinking.
The good news is, that Lalla can multitask. Along with escaping criminal penalties, Lalla has a lot of pressing chores to finish. Getting her daughter in a prep school, securing a home in Hampstead and restoring her marriage to Stephen, whom she fell in love with immediately after learning of his money, is one of these. Sadly, he hasn’t expressed gratitude to Lalla in a long time, despite the fact that she provided him a lovely home and two healthy kids.
Stephen her husband adamantly maintains that they cannot afford the ideal home, and then there is the issue of increasing the down payment. This may be the case, but Lalla is resourceful. She persuades a Stevens colleague to suggest Stephen as a partner in the investment firm he works at and a close friend provides the remaining funds for the down payment. Now, Lalla just needed to participate in extortion, put someone on fire, and woo a younger man. For a lady who is so conscientious about keeping and finishing a to-do list, that is not an issue.
When Lalla learns that the dead man in her home was deliberately pursuing her, it seems as though her perfect life is slipping away from her. The dead man was a former police officer who was recruited by Lalla’s first husband, whose presence would render her marriage to Stephen void if word got out. Even worse, because she survived the foxglove Lalla put in her tea, her mother-in-law may divulge the identity Lalla had long since discarded. Before she receives everything, she can end up with nothing.
Unless …Lalla is ready to become more ingenious and cunning than she has ever been. And of course she is!
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