Pretty Things    by Janelle Brown Order:  USA  Can Random House, 2020 (2020) Hardcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Janelle Brown's Pretty Things follows two very different young woman, whose pasts intersected once, and whose lives will soon overlap once again, with dark consequences. Nina Ross's childhood was marred by her mother's profession. Mom is the ultimate con artist. Nina tried to avoid that life in adulthood. But her liberal arts degree did not pay the bills, and her mother's recurring cancer left her with what seemed like no choice. Now, she works with her lover, Irish Lachlan, whom she met through her mother - and she is very good at what she does. Nina and Lachlan, a skilled confidence man, steal from the wealthy young in Los Angeles. Vanessa Liebling, on the other hand, grew up in privilege. She has become an Instagram influencer, flown around the globe to pose in exotic locations, wearing 'dresses that cost more than the annual income of the women who sewed them.' But Vanessa's life is not as glamorous as it appears on the surface. After family tragedy and a broken engagement, she hides away in the family's mountain estate of Stonehaven. She seems the perfect mark to Nina and Lachlan. As Vanessa falls hard for Lachlan, Nina recalls her relationship with Vanessa's brother Benny and what happened to her younger self at Stonehaven. Just when the reader starts to feel sure of where this story's going, it twists away in a new direction. Secrets are uncovered and both women discover strengths they didn't know they had. Pretty Things will keep you flipping pages long past bedtime. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews