"The life she wants" by J.M. Hewitt

An audio book

Paula (mid-thirties) is married to increasingly rich Tommy. They have a 5 bedroom home. She wants a child. He's stalling. Her best friend Julie tells her to hurry up. When Tommy surprises Paula with an Arctic cruise he hints that he's ready for fatherhood.

Anna has overheard Paula's conversation with Julie. She is William's live-in carer. One day he brings home $18k in cash and says his son will arrive in a day or so from Spain. She pushes him downstairs and prepares a departure. She spends £6k to get the cabin next to Paula and Tommy. She tries and fails to kill Paula. She kills a crew member who suspects her.

We learn about a girl whose single mother bringing clients home. The girl tried locking her in her room until she kicked the habit but her supplier saved her. She won a scholarship to study at Edinburgh by swindling the only other candidate - Rebecca, a foster child. She was called back by the pusher when her mother died. She killed the pusher.

When Paula phones Julie, updating her on events, Julie tells Paula to be suspicious of Anna, who's gaslighting her and making her doubt Tommy. An indistinct photo of Anna appears online as a suspected murderer of William. The crew suspect her. On a daytrip Anna tells Paula about her murders then pushes she under the ice of a lake, throws away various incriminating things she's stolen, and returns to the ship. Paula escapes, collects the items, and returns to the ship to confront and kill Anna.

We learn - I think - that Paula is Rebecca

I'd assumed than the girl whose past we learn about was Anna but I was confused at the end - were it not an audio book I'd have turned back to work things out. The section when Paula escapes from under the ice (an unlikely event, giving the coldness of the water) and collects items is detailed without being interesting. The phrase "she smiled to herself" is used several times even when she's alone.

Other reviews

• tropicalgirlreadsbooks (the plot is too direct, not many twists and turns and is too predictable to me. ... The book was too slow and overall bland to me. The ending was OK to me.)
• Goodreads (an evaluation of 4.03 after 4,685 ratings. I'm surprised by both figures.)