A gardener with a troubled past unravels after the sudden death of her employer in Mary Dixie Carter’s spare and elliptical psychological thriller, MARGUERITE BY THE LAKE.

The none-too-subtly named Phoenix had carved out a simple but satisfying life for herself following a difficult childhood and adolescence. Her mother abandoned the family when she was a baby, and her father died of a heart attack, leaving Phoenix and her brother, Curtis, to be raised by their stern and judgmental grandmother until she dies in a car accident. Now, more than a decade later, Phoenix is a skilled gardener working on the estates of the local elite, though her lack of a landscape architecture degree hampers her career prospects.

"...a thoughtful meditation on class differences and the power imbalance between the wealthy and the less so.... Carter excels at conjuring an unsettling scene as Phoenix becomes increasingly convinced that the late Marguerite is haunting her."

Phoenix's most impressive client is Marguerite Gray, a posh Martha Stewart-esque lifestyle guru who has built her brand around an iconic painting of herself --- Marguerite by the Lake --- by acclaimed artist Serge Kuhnert. But Phoenix and Marguerite's cordial professional relationship turns frosty when Phoenix saves Marguerite's husband, Geoffrey, from a tragic accident during a garden party, leading to an affair between the rescuer and the rescued.

Then Marguerite dies in a tragic accident that many close to her --- including her whip-smart law student daughter, Taylor, and local detective Rachel Hanna --- suspect might not have been so accidental. Phoenix alone saw Marguerite fall from the cliff (or so she thinks), and there’s no conclusive evidence of foul play. After Marguerite’s death, Phoenix insinuates herself into life at Marguerite’s luxurious estate, Rosecliff. Yet the more involved Phoenix becomes in the day-to-day running of Rosecliff, the less stable she becomes. As the book progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that she is far from a reliable narrator of events.

Carter's sophomore novel, following THE PHOTOGRAPHER, is a thoughtful meditation on class differences and the power imbalance between the wealthy and the less so. At first, Phoenix insists that she harbors no ill feeling toward her boss. “It wouldn’t have occurred to me to be resentful or jealous of Marguerite Gray,” she claims early in the novel. But as the book progresses, Phoenix dwells on how Marguerite passed off her talented staff’s work in Rosecliff's gardens as her own. “I’d just given her everything… She probably thought she had a right to my knowledge,” she thinks bitterly as she flips through one of Marguerite’s gardening books.

In the wake of Marguerite’s death, Phoenix believes that she finally can step into the spotlight herself. But she is soon disabused of that notion as she finds herself locked in a power struggle with a suspicious and grieving Taylor. A desperate Phoenix realizes that no matter how much of Marguerite’s success was due to her hard work, she will be a permanent outsider. There are echoes of Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA as Phoenix struggles to assert herself as the new mistress of Rosecliff, especially in Phoenix's tense relationship with the housekeeper Gilda (though Gilda is less menacing than Mrs. Danvers, and it remains ambiguous how many of Gilda's slights exist only in Phoenix's head).

MARGUERITE BY THE LAKE simmers with secrets, though revelations are not always forthcoming. We do learn more about the complicated relationship between Marguerite, Geoffrey and Serge. But other intriguing plot threads are left half-explored, including Phoenix's fraught relationship with her brother and hints of financial malfeasance threatening Marguerite's business empire. Geoffrey’s motivations for pursuing a romance with Phoenix are also difficult to grasp.

This is a novel heavy on gothic atmosphere. Carter excels at conjuring an unsettling scene as Phoenix becomes increasingly convinced that the late Marguerite is haunting her. The famous painting itself seems to shift and move, and there are constant hints of the formidable woman’s presence in her former home. “The sound of her breath followed me…. Marguerite wanted to silence, suffocate, smother me,” Phoenix thinks as her sanity starts to fray.

Readers who crave a tidy ending will come away disappointed. By the book's conclusion, Phoenix has wandered into the psychological wilderness, and that's where Carter leaves her, lost and unable to find her way out.