Jo Piazza, the bestselling author of THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE and the creator of the “Under the Influence” podcast, tackles #tradwife culture head-on in EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU. This bitingly incisive thriller is about estranged best friends and the grisly murder that brings them together.

Whether you’re social media-savvy or a total Luddite, there’s no escaping influencer culture --- the gorgeous, toned women who never seem to gain a pound or suffer a bad hair day, the #SponsoredBy ads that tell you exactly which products you need (and can’t afford), and the perfect, unattainable life that is promised if you just “like and subscribe.” But even amid its trappings and dangers, a new trend has emerged as one of the most insidious of all: trad wives.

June Cleaver meets “Little House on the Prairie,” trad wives cook, clean, submit to their husbands, and claim that women who work in the corporate world have been sold a lie. They represent a male fantasy that smacks of false nostalgia for a different century. But despite their “homegrown” aesthetics and mantras, in the world of EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU, they are also something far more interesting: CEOs, breadwinners…and liars.

"Jo Piazza dazzles in EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU, pairing a witty, inviting tone with a pulpy, seedy mystery full of sharp twists --- a combination as fun as it is clever."

Like anyone with a cell phone, Lizzie likes to indulge in some harmless scrolling before she goes to bed. But lately she is focused on just one profile: @BarefootMamaLove --- aka Rebecca Sommers, aka Slutty Bex. Although Lizzie and Bex attended a prestigious college and even rushed a sorority together, it was no secret that their placement in the school was thanks to scholarships and work-study programs, and even their admittance in the sorority was an act of tokenism.

Lizzie may not be a college student anymore, but as the wife of an unemployed husband, the mother to two toddlers, and a struggling journalist in a world of media shutterings, she still feels like a hungry twenty-something, unsure of which clothes suit her ever-changing body and how the heck to get her hair to flip just right. But Bex --- now Rebecca Sommers --- has taken a very different course. An influencer with 11 million followers, Rebecca lives in a renovated farmhouse with her wealthy husband and six beige-wearing children, chronicling her homesteader, homeschooling life in exchange for lucrative brand deals. Per her Instagram, no one in her family ever wears shoes, but their feet never get dirty. She makes her own cheese and bread, but she never struggles to squeeze into her dresses.

One night, as she is admiring Rebecca’s insta-famous goat and chickens, Lizzie receives a direct message from her former best friend, who ghosted her after college. As it turns out, Rebecca also been has insta-stalking Lizzie and has a proposal. In a few days, she plans to make a huge announcement at MomBomb --- the number-one conference for female influencers --- and she wants Lizzie on the scene to break the news. Lizzie isn’t quite sure if it’s morbid curiosity or ambition, but the answer is an immediate yes, and she is soon swept into the world of influencers.

MomBomb boasts panels and presentations on everything from growing your business to courting advertisers and even using AI. Lizzie, though, is much more fascinated by the women themselves, who are like Instagram posts come to life. But without the softening of filters, she also sees their raw edges: their cattiness, their jealousies, and the double lives they lead. Still, no one is more duplicitous than Rebecca.

In alternating chapters, we see the Rebecca behind the Instagram, a smart, resourceful woman who spends an entire day filming a week’s worth of content. The posts run the gamut: a “Get Ready With Me” video that starts with a no-makeup makeup look; the children she wakes up, feeds and puts back into bed in matching pajamas to be filmed waking up again; the farm animals she lovingly tends to, even in designer dresses, never ruffling a hair or staining a hem.

However, these posts hide a darker truth: Greyson Sommers, the husband Rebecca once believed was straight out of a fairy tale, has become adulterous and abusive, and she has the receipts and black eyes to prove it. Her plan to launch her latest brand deal at MomBomb is dual-edged: the exposure will be lucrative, but she also believes that revealing her big news in such a public way will prevent Greyson from retaliating, especially as he is preparing to run for office. A politician can’t exactly forbid his wife to work, especially when it involves showing off their conservative values and picture-perfect life.

But just as Lizzie is close to breaking Rebecca’s news --- and, she hopes, learning why their friendship fell apart --- Greyson is found murdered on their ranch. His torso is cut and flayed, an act so violent that it must be deeply personal, and Rebecca goes missing. As the last person to see and speak to her, Lizzie is thrust into the spotlight as investigators try to track down their top suspect.

Forced to report on the murder, Lizzie dives headfirst into the world of influencers and discovers a sordid underbelly: jealousy and backstabbing, wild orgies and “soft swinging” scandals, each of which could upend entire careers. Paired with clues left for her by Rebecca, these revelations speak to a much darker side of influencer culture…and a number of people who might want to topple Rebecca’s empire. In order to find her and clear her name, Lizzie will have to figure out who Rebecca has become and just how far she has strayed from fun-loving, provocative Bex.

Jo Piazza dazzles in EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU, pairing a witty, inviting tone with a pulpy, seedy mystery full of sharp twists --- a combination as fun as it is clever. She writes strong, very intentional female characters, each of whom represents a different vision of womanhood. She also strikes a careful balance here in that she is never deliberately cruel to or judgmental of those she pokes fun at, but she is still perfectly comfortable teasing them or laying bare the ridiculousness of their career paths.

Add to that Piazza’s deliciously ripped-from-the-headlines plot, and you have the makings of an edgy, juicy thriller that doesn’t let up until its explosive end.