Maribelle isn't particularly happy in her childless marriage to Samuel Walker, nor is she excited about her life in Palm Beach, despite the fact that she has risen to the position of Editorial Director at her magazine, PB Confidential. When she tries to revisit their plan of leaving the glittering community, perhaps to try her hand at screenwriting in Los Angeles, Samuel deflects and goes off for a ride on his beloved speedboat, the Vertigo. Maribelle is convinced he's taken another mistress and she's determined to figure out who among her peers could be the one that turned his eye from her once again, but then her sister Caroline's husband, Travis, is at the door with the news of Samuel's drowning death and her whole world stops.
As Maribelle is processing this event, it comes to light that Samuel was not the beloved and charming philanthropist everyone thought, and allegations of embezzlement are revealed by Lucinda, matriarch and non-titled driving force of the family company, Barrows, a line of trendy convenience stores. Samuel, as CFO, had embezzled 7.5 million dollars and Lucinda is after blood, even if it destroys Maribelle as the recipient of Samuel's estate in the wake of his death. Caroline and Raleigh, middle and youngest daughters, come out in support of Maribelle, at first, but since Lucinda is constantly pitting her daughters against one another in a bid for her approval, Caroline starts to sway and throws her weight towards Barrows, the dear family company. Raleigh is forever in Maribelle's court, as she has always looked up to her older sister, but she is having her own struggles as she is plagued with guilt over a recent affair with a man called North, and despite having a loving husband in Alex, a talented artist, and a sweet young son named Caleb, she can't get her mind off North.
Caroline is certain that Travis, as CEO of Barrows and Samuel's best friend since childhood, knows more than he is saying, but he is a brick wall. Aunt Bryant, Lucinda's constant friend and godmother to all of the girls, suggests hiring Julian Albert, a forensic accountant, to get to the bottom of matters. As Julian unearths the many secrets Samuel fought to keep hidden, he also unlocks long-buried feelings in Maribelle.
Suffice it to say that everyone in the Barrows family has more than one secret and they are struggling to keep them buried, but everyone in Palm Beach would love nothing more than to see the real Barrows family, in all of their ugly glory.
Despite kicking off with a suspicious death, Maribelle's Shadow is definitely a drama with lots of salacious secrets, and not a thriller. The Barrows women are not what they appear outwardly, to each other or to other residents of Palm Beach, and they'll do what they can to maintain the status quo. The toxic relationship between the girls and their mother, Lucinda, certainly doesn't help matters either. However, the vivid descriptions of everyone's apparel and home decor, including the requisite designers or artists' names, reads like a Who's Who of style and fashion. There's a hefty dose of cattiness to the book, as the ladies navigate this world they weren't born into, but that's just another family secret Lucinda is determined to keep that way - they moved to Palm Beach from a backwater town on the Gulf Coast. Maribelle's Shadow would make a great beach read, and if you are vacationing in Palm Beach, you'll also get a laundry list of the best clubs, shops and eateries as a bonus!
