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“Ladykiller” is one of those thrillers I read late into the night, knowing that I should sleep but couldn’t resist “just one more page.” It’s the best recommendation for a book.

Gia and Abby used to be best friends. However, it was not a friendship of equals: Gia was born into a wealthy family, and her father decided to help Abby and her mother financially by sponsoring Abby’s education. His intentions were altruistic, but it put Abby in a strange position, even knowing that Gia was a loyal friend protecting her. Now they are adults; Gia is about to sell her father’s mansion on a Greek island and wants to get together with Abby, now an overworked lawyer.

“Ladykiller” mentions a famous book, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith, perhaps wanting to draw parallels. In “Ladykiller,” things are also not what they seem to be. There is a murder, perhaps more than one – or is it just a disappearance? Is Gia’s handsome husband a predator – a ladykiller – or a victim? Perhaps there is another meaning hidden in the thriller’s title. Written from two POVs, as in Gia’s manuscript and Abby’s story, we have not one but two unreliable narrators. If you think you favor one person over the other, wait until you finish the book. You’ll certainly reconsider.

LADYKILLER, by Katherine Wood, Random House Publishing, Ballantine, 2024