Domestic Thrillers THE WIFE AT THE WINDOW with Cara Reinard

Through the window I can see her—a beautiful woman, sweeping a little boy into her arms, and the handsome father pulling them both into a tight hug. A picture-perfect family. But it’s all a lie. And I’ll do anything to prove it.

Talia took my life. She took my darling boy, Leo. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, that it was all my fault my husband Shep chose a new start with her. But I know it’s not. Because she’s not as perfect as she seems.

I know that Talia has planned to take my place for a long time. She used a terrible tragedy to tear me away from my family. Now I am finally out of the hospital I will make sure everyone knows what really happened. I will get my son back. No matter what.

But when a woman staying in the hospital bed I just left is killed, I’m shaken. Was I supposed to lose my life instead? I thought I was watching Talia. But someone has been watching me, too…

Desperate to save my son, I must find out if the real danger has been stalking me for much longer—and if it will take more from me than the woman in the window ever did?

Best selling author Cara Reinard recently sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss her latest domestic thriller, THE WIFE AT THE WINDOW.

Cara Reinard

Can you pinpoint a moment or incident that sparked the idea for this book?

When my children were babies and didn’t sleep through the night, I had the hardest time with my own personal sleep disorder. I couldn’t nap when they did, and when I did sleep, I often awoke prematurely, or thought I heard them crying when they weren’t. It was the first time I had the fear that I might accidentally do something in my sleep, or not hear them if they needed me. Thankfully, nothing did, and now that they are eleven and thirteen, I’m far enough from that fear to write about it and turn it into a novel.

A novel is such a major undertaking; there’s the writing of it, of course, then you’re spending months and months revising, polishing, and then promoting it. How did you know this was the book you wanted to spend the next couple of years on?

It was a book I’d wanted to write for a long time, but for personal reasons, I stayed away from it. I was finally “ready” to write about it, and thought maybe others with sleep issues with resonate with it.

Were there any particular books, movies, or songs that were knocking around in your head while you were writing this one?

I thought of the old movie, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, because it’s about a woman trying to move in on another woman’s family.

When you first created your protagonist for this book, did you see an empty space in crime lit that you wanted to fill? What can you share about the inspiration for that character?

One of the main characters is an artist, and she views the world through a different lens. Colors and people leap out to her in real-life and this ends up being the very trait that helps her solve the crime. I don’t know of any other crime thriller that has a character quite like her.

In addition to a great read, what do you hope readers will take away from this story?

The ending of this story can be left up to interpretation, and that interpretation isn’t revealed until the very last page. I’m beyond curious to see if readers grasp it. I hope readers take away a great thrill from this tightly paced novel.

What can you share about what you’re working on next?

My next novel, A Tiny Secret, coming in November, is very close to my heart and I’m super excited about it! It’s also a psychological thriller and it’s the first time I’ve blended the medical thriller genre. It’s also a novel I started a long time ago, and the premise has lived with me for a while — I cannot wait to share it with you!