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An engrossing and immersive trip to an exotic South African safari-compound, — Leopard Sands — second-home to an uber-wealthy family from Florida, that is teeming with things that creep, stalk, and kill (and I don’t mean the wildlife).

Family matriarch Odelia Bach is in her sixties, undoubtedly a narcissist, and an extremely successful one at that. Now widowed, Odelia runs both her family and her high-fashion corporate empire with an iron (impeccably manicured) fist — leaving a caustic imprint on her two sons, Joshua and Sam, her daughter Bailey, and her seasoned and struggling-to-stay-always-prepared serving staff.

As this elitist and largely unlikeable (but certainly compelling) family unwinds their saga, it would be impossible not to be drawn in to their world, drenched with detail and drama as it is, here, in an authentically beautiful rendering of South Africa, in all its splendor, beauty, primal cruelty and corruption. Rich with wildlife, danger, suspense and of course, niggling and intriguing questions, massing like hyenas, this is a terrific read, and one that has plenty of surprises in store.

With a body count that feels like it may keep on growing, (no spoilers here) readers will quickly learn to watch for clues, as there is clearly more than one mystery to solve here. With at least six key potential suspects also serving as individual narrators of their own stories, readers seeking an unreliable storyteller (or a potential next victim) will have their work cut out for them.

A terrific read, highly recommended for lovers of character-based mystery and suspense, and a surefire treat for those of us who would love to encounter, close up, this spectacular African wildlife setting, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, through all the twists, and right up to the neatly-sewn surprise ending, which tidily answered all the questions this reader did not manage to resolve.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.