Thriller set WASHINGTON DC and WEST VIRGINIA

20th November 2025

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino, thriller set in WASHINGTON DC and WEST VIRGINIA.

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino is set in Washington DC. It is a very difficult book to categorise, but it’s a thriller with a twist and it deals with relationships, family and just a teensy bit of crime! The author’s journalism career allows her to write knowledgeably and convincingly about homes: interiors, exteriors and the world of real estate in the USA. That – and the particular torture involved in buying and selling houses.

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Margot is a thirty-something PR director and former journalist. She is married to Ian, and they are trying for a baby. It is Margot’s firm belief that she can attain her ideal life, if only she can improve her situation slightly. Ian’s parents seem to Margot to model the way she wants to live and that involves a close family, with a baby and a beautiful home. This contrasts with her own unsettled and unhappy childhood. But her dream of perfection is rapidly becoming “no house, no baby”, as both the property market and her own fertility are proving problematic. Whenever they bid on a house, they are outbid and they are reaching the limit of what they can afford, even with two salaries. When Margot gets a tip from her property agent about a wonderful property in the best neighbourhood, she knows she has to do something to get it – preferably before it is officially listed for sale. But how far will a person go to achieve their dreams?

Margot narrates her own story, with insights into her (often scary!) thought processes, as she rationalises what has become her obsession, including covertly investigating this dream property and its owners. I can honestly say that I hardly drew breath from start to finish. Kashino stated, in a recent promotional event, that she wrote the book very quickly, so maybe that’s what lends it the momentum and tension that is so successful. At any rate, it dashes along at breakneck speed as Margot begins to take risks with both her relationships and her job, and her situation becomes more and more precarious.

The setting is obviously very important in a book about property. As the book starts, Margot and Ian are living in a cramped flat, which is her motivation for moving. The author contrasts the less-than-desirable areas in America’s capital city with the safer, cleaner and more beautiful neighbourhoods that command the highest prices – and a great deal of competition among home buyers. There’s an additional contrast with the relative remoteness and wildness of West Virginia, where Margot feels more unsafe than she does in the city. Kashino doesn’t translate anything for a British audience, so I did have to look up a few things, mostly related to ways of making coffee! The process of home-buying seems slightly different but there’s no difficulty in following what’s going on. I loved the promotional ‘flyer’ provided with my proof copy, which had a photograph of a house that might just be Margot’s dream property, as if it were actually on the market. I recommend this book without reservation.

Sue for the TripFiction Team

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