Cheryl by Michael Parkes

A sudden tragedy. A family torn asunder. A woman disillusioned with the formerly comforting, now cloistering, confines of suburbia. Cheryl Decker's life is forever changed by the death of her eldest daughter, as are the lives of her husband, Scott, and surviving daughter, Melinda. Spiraling into multiple addictions, her level-headed best friend Beverly and the chaos loving fellow addict Matilda each comfort her in their own unique ways. Navigating blackmail, PTA meetings and her own demons, Cheryl is forced to do worse and worse things in the pursuit of appeasing crazed blackmailing divorcees, her dead daughter's mystery contact, and discovering why her daughter leapt off the balcony. How well do you really know your neighbours? The suburbanites of Cheryl are sophisticated on the surface, but beneath that thin veneer, there are addictions, hedonism, and ever more sinister predilections... A dark, though at times humorous, story that captures the grim side of living in the "perfect" suburb where not everyone is as prim and proper as they appear to be, nor are they nearly as moral. Contains possibly disturbing scenes and substance abuse.

Adult • Contemporary Fiction • Crime Fiction • Women's Fiction/Contemporary • Women's Fiction/Families • Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense

Content Warning: Contains possibly disturbing scenes and substance abuse.