Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild

★★★★☆

Ruby Simon is a Yale-educated, happily married psychotherapist living in her hip hometown of Miami with her diabetic husband Jason and their two pets. One day she suddenly finds herself in an interrogation room accused of murdering Jason.

Opening with a scene from when she was five, the book reveals Ruby’s murderous history through flashbacks as she sits calmly through an interview with a Miami homicide detective, accusing her of the one crime she didn’t commit. 

Rothchild weaves a suspenseful tale, skillfully creating empathy for Ruby, a character she blatantly tells you on the book jacket is a killer. We know from the beginning that Ruby is capable of the worst, but we also get to see her as a loving sister and wife, a loyal friend, a protector of animals, and a compassionate therapist. With each chapter, cleverly titled with one word, we yearn to know which one of the portrayals is the real Ruby.

“I understood then that you really love something, there’s really no dilemma at all.”

Sascha Rothchild, Blood Sugar

While this is Rothchild’s debut novel, she is an experienced screenwriter, having written scripts for shows such as The Babysitters Club and The Carrie Diaries. Her background as a screenwriter comes through in the way that small, seemingly insignificant details end up being relevant to the plot.

Blood Sugar reminded me of the Netflix series “You” and the book “My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Like both of these works, Blood Sugar justifies revenge murder while humanizing an unremorseful murderer through an exaggerated series of events.

If you like either of these works – or are a fan of seductive thrillers set in a city with a distinctive vibe – chances are you’ll be drawn in by Blood Sugar.