A woman and a painting: Marguerite by the Lake

A Novel

by Mary Dixie Carter

Named a best fiction title of 2025 by Kirkus Reviews

#MargueriteByTheLake #NetGalley

Wow! This book really kept me engrossed. I would say to myself that I had other things to do but still kept reading this perfect summer thriller. Take this one on vacation or read it at home, either way it is enjoyable.

Anyone who has read Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca will recognize Carter’s debt to that title. Similar elements include a grand house and its grounds, a complex marriage, a death, servants/employees with loyalties and more. However, this book can stand on its own and diverges from the original in some significant ways.

Phoenix is a talented gardener/landscape designer at the story opens. Two of her most prominent clients are Marguerite (of the eponymous painting) and her husband Geoffrey. They seem to have everything but did they? Read the book to find out.

What befalls Marguerite early in the novel? What was Phoenix’s role in Marguerite’s fate? What will happen as Phoenix increasingly insinuates herself into life at Rosecliff, Marguerite and Geoffrey’s estate? What kind of man is Geoffrey? How will his and Marguerite’s daughter Taylor figure in the story? What about Marguerite’s employees? As a reader, how will you feel about these characters? How will the suspenseful plot unravel? There are lots of questions. Again, read this one to find out. I highly recommend it.

Kirkus review states: “Not to be missed, and definitely not to be imitated.” Need I say more?

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 20 May 2025

304 pages

Mystery & Thriller

From the Publisher