I’ve just finished reading This Place of Wonder by Barbara O’Neal. It’s her next book after the bestsellers, When We Believed in Mermaids, and The Lost Girls of Devon. It’s due out in July, and I was lucky enough to read an advance reader copy. It’s another gripping family suspense novel, where tragedy ultimately helps heal four women. Barbara is very good at drawing you into the lives of her characters. Set in California, there are secrets which will slowly be revealed, grief, and personal reckonings. It is a rare Barbara O’Neal character who has had a ‘normal’ childhood, but she pulls you into their stories so you will keep on wanting to go back for more, while hoping it will all be alright in the end.

When famed chef Augustus Beauvais dies, he leaves behind a celebrated reputation—and four women grappling with loss, anger, pain, and the question of how the world will turn without him…

Meadow, the ex-wife with whom Augustus built an empire—and a family—still holds a place for him in her heart, even as she continues to struggle with his infidelities, which ended their twenty-year marriage. More unforgiving is Maya, his estranged daughter, who’s recently out of rehab but finally ready to reclaim her life. Norah, his latest girlfriend, sidelined her own career for unexpected love and a life of luxury, both of which are now gone with Augustus. And then there’s Rory, Meadow’s daughter, the voice of calm and reason in a chorus of discontent.

As Meadow, Maya, Norah, and Rory are flung together by tragedy, grief, and secrets yet to be revealed, they must accept—or turn away from—the legacy of great intentions and bad decisions Augustus left them. And when the circumstances around his death are called into question, their conflicted feelings become even more complicated. But moving forward is the only choice they have, and to do so, they’ll need to rely on family, friendship, and inner strength.