I’ve been a fan of Joy Fielding’s books for decades, although I hadn’t read any recently. “Jenny Cooper Has a Secret” reminded me of why I loved her books and why I need to read the ones I haven’t. Fielding is a master at creating main characters who are regular people, just like us, and whom we really connect with. They aren’t spies, detectives, super heroes, law enforcement, or famous. In her newest novel, the main character is Linda Davidson, a widow of two years who lives in Florida.

Her youngest daughter Kleo and Kleo’s manipulative husband have moved in because Kleo is working on her doctorate and not working, and Mick, the husband, is starting a new business. And they thought Linda could use the company. Linda does not appreciate the company, especially when Kleo and Mick argue incessantly.

Linda has been visiting her friend Carol, who is living in an memory care facility, but Carol rarely recognizes Linda even though they’ve been best friends since childhood. One day, on her way to visit Carol, Linda is stopped in the hallway by a diminutive ninety-year-old woman who says she has a secret. She tells Linda she kills people. But it’s also apparent that this woman, Jenny Cooper, has dementia. Linda doesn’t believe her.

But when Linda goes back home after her heartbreaking visit with her friend who merely smiles and nods to everything Linda says, Kleo and Mick are arguing, yet again. So Linda keeps visiting Carol, but she also spends time with Jenny Cooper, whom she grows to like as do we. Jenny Cooper hasn’t had an easy life, but she seems to have made her life easier by killing those in her way. Or did she?

Do Jenny’s ramblings reflect the musings of a serial killer or is she just a harmless old lady having fun with Linda? Or does she believe she’s done these things but they are all in her mind? As Linda grapples with those facts, there is a death in the facility. Deaths are not unexpected in memory care facilities, but with Linda’s newfound information about a possible serial killer living there, she wonders.

How is it that Fielding makes talking about murders and killing almost humorous? Jenny Cooper is to all appearances a sweet, eccentric old woman, but there’s glimpses of a razor-sharp intellect. There’s also her background as a pharmacist. And just before the resident died, Jenny Cooper had gone missing. She went to the drug store.

But the story isn’t just about Jenny Cooper. There is Carol’s husband Lorne, who seems more interested in Linda than a man with a still-alive wife should. And there’s the ever-growing anger that has taken root in her daughter’s marriage to Mick, who disappears in the evening, drinks too much beer, and seems to want to sabotoge his wife’s work.

The ending isn’t some unexpected twist. It’s something that’s hinted at and that we have wondered about. And let’s be honest, it’s what we want to happen. At least I did. Does that make me a bad person? That’s why this could be a fantastic choice for a book club. Death, dementia, marital problems, abuse, and humor. While they don’t seem to go together, in Fielding’s extremely capable hands, they combine into a perfect read.

My review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.