He Will Be My Ruin by K.A. Tucker

Happy Monday, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for K.A. Tucker's latest, He Will Be My Ruin.

Maggie Sparkes couldn't be more shocked to learn that her best friend has committed suicide. When she arrives in New York to help empty Celine's apartment, however, she quickly decides the case is suspect. Celine had everything to look forward to, including starting classes in an elite art program and her mother's recent remission from cancer. And the fact that Celine's phone is missing is another telling clue. 

Then Maggie learns about Celine's secret life. One she did everything she could to keep under wraps. But she chronicled everything in diaries and the last one seems to have gone missing as well. Now Maggie is determined to learn whether Celine's death was indeed suicide or murder. 

Tucker's latest is a real page turner. Perfect for summer reading in fact - I brought it to a friend's pool and a crawfish boil this weekend. Distractions not included, this would have been a one sitting read considering I later found myself frantically turning the final pages as the story drew to a close.

Maggie is a rich girl who throws herself into humanitarian efforts thanks to the dirty deeds of her family's company. Celine, her best friend, was actually her nanny's daughter. But Maggie always felt more close to Celine and her mother than her own work and money focused parents. So of course when such a tragedy strikes, she's overwhelmed but also fiercely protective. And the longer she spends time in Celine's home, the more convinced she is that the case can't be as open and close as the authorities believe.

Chapters are interspersed with some of Celine's own final months in New York, filling in gaps for the reader that Maggie herself isn't privy to. It personalizes Celine, giving a nice balance between what Maggie recalls about her friend and what's gleaned from the journals in addition to providing some additional clues as to her fate.

He Will Be My Ruin probably won't trick a careful reader - there are red herrings and the author does a good job of turning the reader's suspicion from one suspect and possibility to another. I found, though, that there were a few places where I wasn't quite thrown and wasn't surprised to find I'd figured out Celine's unfortunate end. It was still, as I mentioned above, a tense read. And one that I couldn't put down!

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on K.A. Tucker you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.