A decent whodunnit

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This book started out so well. I like a Stepford Wives drama and this fitted the bill. Set in the idyllic Santa Monica suburb of Sunnylakes in 1959, where wives doped on a diet of anti depressants keep their homes spotless and wait for their husbands to return home from the office.

The disappearance of Joyce Haney is the kernel of the story. Detective Mike Blanke is called in to investigate. Issues of gender and racism are also explored. Ruby Wright is the domestic who helps clean the Haney home - she is also a black woman. who has the inside track on the dark underbelly of Sunnylakes. Her own home in the volatile neighbourhood of Compton is in stark contrast to that of Sunnylakes, where gardens are mowed to perfection and the sun always shines.

While I enjoyed this book up to a point, the plot began to unravel towards the end, with a rather ridiculous aborted escape scene. Its been described as a decent little whodunnit and this is the best praise I can give it.