Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced reader copy of The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen. This book is available in the US on August 4, 2026!

The Story

The newest next thriller from #1 Bestselling Author Sarah Pekkanen combines a decades-old mystery with spine-tingling paranormal elements in this twisty novel of the seen and unseen.

Extrasensory perception.
The Gift.
A Sixth Sense.
Or something else….

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history. Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era – no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet. Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines – Betty’s 1960s era of 5 o’clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley’s quest to uncover the truth about the missing women – old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years.

My Thoughts

I accidentally ran into Sarah Pekkanen in the hallway at The Creepy Retreat back in February. She was so chill that I thought she was another attendee and we were just walking to the happy hour together (I also mis-said the title of her book that I had read and loved…it wasn’t my finest moment, but I was star-struck!).

Sarah Pekkanen is one of the kindest women I have ever met, so it is always a SHOCK (in the best way) to read the stories she writes, and The Women in White is no different.

The usage of dual timelines worked as it brought you through the full story of these incredible women. It wasn’t so much told as “flashbacks” with Betty telling the story of her past, but rather timelines moving in parallel.

Your heart was actively breaking for these women, and you just wanted to dropkick their husbands (where they existed). The idea of extrasensory perception (call it a woman’s intuition) is super interesting, and the psychological element was an added bonus.

If you’re a “fan” of abnormal psychology and strong women, I highly recommend picking up The Women in White.

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