This book by Peter Swanson was on Tom Nolan's WSJ list of the Best Mysteries of 2025 (WSJ gifted link). Tom's not always a reliable guide for me, but he got it right this time.
It does require a pretty capacious definition of "mystery", though. Not much whodunit content here. Sentence one is: "The first attempt at killing her husband was the night of the dinner party." That's Wendy, her perhaps-doomed husband is Thom.
I've read a few of Peter Swanson's novels, and (looking back at my book reports) the word that sticks out is "gimmick". Usually that's not a compliment, but Swanson makes his gimmicks work. Here, it's that Wendy's and Thom's story is told in reverse-chronological order, starting in 2023, going all the way back to 1982. Hints and references are made along the way about sordid past events, which will be described in subsequent chapters. That's kind of the opposite of foreshadowing; is "backshadowing" a word? "Aftshadowing"?
Reader, if you don't want the book spoiled, do not even glance sideways at the last page. You may not find that ending satisfying, but I did.
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