The Drowning Woman is the twelfth novel by Canadian author, Robyn Harding. Not so long ago, thirty-four-year-old Lee Gulliver had her own restaurant in New York City. Cue one pandemic and an unwise loan, and she’s now declared bankrupt, estranged from her family after some desperate acts, and on the run from an unsympathetic criminal backer. She’s living in her car in Seattle, working at a Beacon Hill diner.

When she parks overnight in a tony beachside suburb, she notices, and then saves a drowning woman who, it turns out, doesn’t want to be saved. Hazel Laval is married to a sadistic high-profile criminal defence lawyer who insisted on a Total Power Exchange pre-nup. Hazel is virtually Benjamin Laval’s prisoner, and this was her way out.

Friendless and desperate, Lee is perhaps less sceptical of Hazel’s apologies and friendly overtures than she should be. And the same probably goes for the handsome personal trainer she encounters a little later: Jesse Thomas is kind and gentle with her, and she falls hard.

When Hazel asks for Lee’s help to escape her controlling husband, how can she refuse?

Readers best pre-book a chiropractor appointment, there are so many twists in this one. Every time the reader thinks they have a handle on what’s happening, there’s a new wrinkle in the plot that keeps the guesses coming and the pages turning. Harding inflicts two very nasty psychopaths on her gutsy female protagonists, but the resolution is very satisfying. Hard to put down!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia.