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A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage

Published
Feb 2026
Main Genre
General Fiction General Fiction
Rating
Pages
384

About This Book

A whip-smart and darkly funny crime novel—perfect for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer and The Maid—that follows a wife and mother with a deadly secret that she must suppress if she wants to maintain her picture-perfect façade.

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.

Funny, calculating, hypercompetent, and ambitious, Lalla is your next favorite antiheroine. Just don't mention it to her mother-in-law.

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Hardcover

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Hardcover
First Edition Feb 2026 Atria ISBN 1668096900
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eBook

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eBook
Dec 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0F3XXW118
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eBook
Feb 2026 Atria ISBN 1668096927
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eBook
Feb 2026 Hemlock Press ISBN 0008741662
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Audio

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Audible
Feb 2026 -- Not Selected ISBN B0FMS979T9
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Audio CD
Feb 2026 Simon & Schuster Audio ISBN 1668135043
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Large Print

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Hardcover
Mar 2026 Thorndike Press Large Print ISBN 1420532839
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