2017 thriller and light mystery. Jenny Checkland is married to Russell
and has a small daughter. But some people seem determined that she
should not be happy.
This doesn't fit genre labels well: on the one hand there's
comedic chaos with driving lessons and a biscuit-box full of
mealworms, but on the other there's genuine nastiness from the
ungodly, and working out what to do about them is a major concern.
To a large extent it's more of the same, which means a certain amount
of regression of the confident Jenny at the end of the first book to
the unsure of herself Jenny of earlier chapters. There's at least some
narrative reason for this, but it does somewhat spoil the happy ending
of that earlier story.
The plot is mostly the earlier plot revisited (you can't keep a good
villain down) and one should read this mostly for the atmosphere; the
atmosphere works very well, particularly in its portrayal of Jenny
trying to be something other than cripplingly shy and socially inept.
If you liked the first book, well, this is an extended epilogue. If
you didn't like it, this won't win you over. If you haven't read it,
start there.