Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Valley of Ashes

Valley of Ashes
Readnmachine avatar reviewed on + 1447 more book reviews


Odd novel that can't decide whether it's mystery, suspense, Diary of a Mad Housewife, or the story of a marriage coming unravelled, all capped off by a blindside ending that seems to have very little to do with the rest of the story.

Madeline Dare is trying very hard to settle into domesticity, living in Boulder with her husband and twin daughters, when she's offered a job with a local paper, reviewing restaurants. That quickly morphs into amateur-sleuthing into a series of arson fires, then takes a hard left turn when she realizes her husband has been having an affair. After that, it's a mad race to tie up all the loose ends, leaving the reader feeling that she's Definitely Not In Kansas Any More.