
Marguerite by the Lake
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Helen Laser
About this listen
From Mary Dixie Carter comes an atmospheric, tense novel about the death of a glamorous garden designer, a widower trying to keep his secrets buried, and the beautiful young gardener who finds herself entangled in their lives.
Marguerite Gray is a lifestyle icon known for her garden parties, high-end business ventures, and being the muse behind the famous Serge Kuhnert painting, Marguerite by the Lake. Her presence is overpowering, her taste, legendary. For the last few years, Phoenix has been the gardener on the famed Rosecliff grounds, home of the Gray family: Marguerite and her husband Geoffrey. Phoenix came from humble beginnings, and now she works hard to craft the landscape that underpins Marguerite’s brand.
When a storm threatens the launch party for Marguerite’s latest book, it’s Phoenix who spots the danger to the guests and rushes to Geoffrey’s side to save him from a falling tree. Geoffrey is grateful—perhaps too grateful. Marguerite is . . . jealous. Phoenix senses the danger of being drawn deeper into their lives but can’t resist the attention, becoming embroiled in an affair that could destroy her career.
But soon after the affair begins Marguerite falls to her death, from the same high point at Rosecliff where she posed for Marguerite by the Lake. Now Phoenix has another secret, one that haunts her even as Geoffrey invites her to move into the manor with him. A secret that Detective Hanna and Marguerite’s daughter—her spitting image—are circling closer and closer to. Phoenix tries to put it all behind her and find her rightful place at Rosecliff. But as every gardener knows, nothing stays buried forever.
A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.
©2025 Mary Dixie Carter (P)2025 Macmillan AudioCritic reviews
One of PEOPLE’s “Books to Read After Watching Top 2025 Streaming Shows and Movies”
One of SheKnows’s “Incredible New Books That You’ll Want To Get Your Hands on in 2025”
One of Beyond the Bookends’s “May 2025 Book Releases”
One of Brit+Co’s “Darkly Twisted Books To Read If You're Obsessed With 'The White Lotus'”
“A searing contemporary take on Daphne du Maurier's classic neo-Gothic Rebecca . . . Not to be missed, and definitely not to be imitated.”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
“Shiver-inducing . . . Carter brings readers into Phoenix’s fraying mind, wringing some delightfully gothic fireworks out of her struggle to avoid detection and stake her claim as the new mistress of Rosecliff. The result is a winning homage to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.”—Publishers Weekly
“A psychological thriller that immerses readers in a world of wealth, intrigue, and the dangerous consequences of buried truths. With Carter’s evocative prose, the slow-building tension keeps readers on edge, drawn into a haunting narrative where the line between sanity and madness blurs. In this world, one may discover that the hell they create for themselves can be far worse than the truth they fear to uncover.”—The Best Thriller Books
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