Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead is a sharp psychological thriller about secrets, ambition, and survival

Some thrillers grip you not just with their twists but with the way they expose the lies we tell ourselves to get by. Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead (releasing October 28, 2025, available now for pre-order on Amazon) is one of those novels.

Rita Meade is an ambitious crime reporter still riding the wave of her acclaimed docuseries on the Broken Bayou serial killer. But when a skull turns up in the Louisiana forest where she once attended the troubled Poison Wood Therapeutic Academy for Girls, the story hits too close to home. The murder conviction of her former classmate’s killer is unraveling, her father—the judge who presided over the case—is in failing health, and returning to the woods means confronting long-buried secrets. As Rita investigates, what she uncovers threatens not only her career but also her family, her relationships, and her sense of self.

One of the aspects I most appreciated about this novel is the way Moorhead resists tired stereotypes. Rita’s stepmother isn’t written as the greedy interloper so common in thrillers; instead, she feels like a three-dimensional person with her own mix of flaws and strengths. Even the young reporter sent to replace Rita on the Poison Wood story—a setup that in many novels would make her a rival or saboteur—turns out not to be the backstabbing caricature we’ve been trained to expect. It’s refreshing to see a book where women aren’t automatically portrayed as enemies.

Another important thread running through this story is the way wealth and privilege can twist family dynamics. Again and again, we see how affluent parents sidestep responsibility by sending their daughters away to “therapeutic” schools instead of doing the hard work of parenting. The girls’ so-called “bad behavior” is often nothing more than a cry for help—ignored by the very parents who created the circumstances that pushed them there. Rita herself didn’t do anything serious enough to deserve being sent away; her youthful misstep was minor, yet her father still decided she should be someone else’s problem. Is it any wonder that when these vulnerable girls are clustered together, they get into more trouble rather than less?

That critique sits alongside one of the novel’s other central themes: secrecy. Throughout the book, characters struggle with the consequences of what they’ve hidden—whether out of shame, ambition, or fear. Time and again, Moorhead shows that burying the truth only compounds the damage. When revelations finally come to light, they sting, but they also free characters from the weight of carrying lies.

Poison Wood is a taut psychological thriller with well-drawn characters, layered family dynamics, and a story that asks tough questions about ambition, loyalty, and truth. It’s a novel that stays with you for how real its people feel—not because they’re perfect, but because they’re complicated.

Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead releases October 28, 2025, and is available now for pre-order on Amazon.

Have you read Jennifer Moorhead’s Broken Bayou or are you planning to pick up Poison Wood? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear what you think!

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• Genre hopping with debut author Jennifer Moorhead (The Wickeds)
• Motherhood and writing novels (Jennifer Moorehead)
• Author R&R with Jennifer Moorhead (In Reference to Murder)
• BROKEN BAYOU by Jennifer Moorhead, EXCERPT (Women Writers, Women’s Books)

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