Nobody cuts deeper than family...

Dr. Noah Alderman, a widower and single father, has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie Ippolitti, and for the first time in a long time, he and his young son are happy. Despite her longing for the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, Maggie is happy too, and she’s even more overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets another chance to be a mother to the child she thought she'd lost forever, her only daughter Anna.

Maggie and Noah know that having Anna around will change their lives, but they would never have guessed that everything would go wrong, and so quickly. Anna turns out to be a gorgeous seventeen-year-old who balks at living under their rules, though Maggie, ecstatic to have her daughter back, ignores the red flags that hint at the trouble brewing in a once-perfect marriage and home.

Events take a heartbreaking turn when Anna is murdered and Noah is accused and tried for the heinous crime. Maggie must face not only the devastation of losing her daughter, but the realization that Anna's murder may have been at the hands of a husband she loves. In the wake of this tragedy, new information drives Maggie to search for the truth, leading her to discover something darker than she could have ever imagined.

Riveting and disquieting, After Anna is a groundbreaking domestic thriller, as well as a novel of emotional justice and legal intrigue. And New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline will keep readers on their toes until the final shocking page

My Thoughts

Maggie is married to Noah Alderman family and stepmon to his son Caleb. During her first marriage and subsequent divorce, she lost custody of her baby daughter Anna due to postpartum psychosis. Seventeen years later, she gets an unexpected phone call from Anna who wants to connect with her Mom. Eventually Anna moves in with the Alderman family. Within months, Anna is found dead and Noah is charged with her murder.

This story is told in alternating chapters. After Anna chapters are told during Noah's murder trial and give us his perspective on what happened after Anna moved in. Before Anna chapters are told from Maggie's perspective, starting with her first meeting with Anna and following how the family fell apart after her arrival.

Whew - what a story! It was interesting to see how Noah and Maggie looked at the same situations but saw them differently. Of course Maggie is so excited to have her daughter back she can't see the forest for the trees. And while Noah wants everything to go well with his new step-daughter, it doesn't take long for him to start to realize something is amiss.

This was a well crafted page turner. I liked the surprise at the end and the way the author played it out.

I received this from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley.