TO DIE FOR

4 stars out of 5

A cutthroat world of real estate agents and brokers? Who knew? In and of itself, that doesn't sound too exciting. And for the most part, it wasn't. But my lack of enthusiasm mostly happened because the plot seemed lacking in transition; while the technique of jumping from time period to time period - allowing readers to gradually see what happened before that led to the current situation - can be effective, it just didn't work well for me in this case (maybe my opinion was colored by the fact that the identity of the murder victim wasn't revealed until way past the halfway point). Besides that, it was a bit of a letdown to realize that real estate really wasn't the issue at all.

Despite the aforementioned caveats, it's an entertaining story that's worth reading. Once I got used to the presentation and the changes in perspectives no longer required me to go back to my notes to re-discover who was who, I became more involved in the details. Basically, Andi Hart is a realtor whose firm has landed a representation contract for a $50 million Malibu beach home - clearly a financial boon to the firm and the agent who reels in the buyer (to the tune of a cool million dollars - hardly chump change). Needless to say, competition turns ugly; the firm's agents and the husband-and-wife owners are, understandably, hot to trot to get it done and apparently willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

The story is complicated by the fact that each of the characters, Andi included, carries secrets they'd rather no one else knows. An already bad situation takes a turn for the worse when, during an posh post-staging party for brokers, a dead body turns up in the swimming pool. But who is the victim, what was the motive for the murder and - most important - who did the dirty deed? Little by little, readers get hints about both, until all is revealed at the end (which I'd describe as mostly satisfying). For the details, though, you'll have to read it for yourself; as for me, I'll just say thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read a pre-release copy.

To Die For by Lisa Gray (Thomas & Mercer, August 2023); 329 pp.