On a Quiet Street

On a Quiet Street (2022) is a domestic psychological thriller by Seraphina Nova Glass. Glass has written a number of similar thrillers with female protagonists unearthing terrible secrets including Such a Good Wife (2021) and Someone’s Listening (2020). On a Quiet Street was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Paperback Original in 2023. The fast-paced thriller tells the story of Paige, a woman searching desperately for the murderer of her son, Caleb, and her neighbor, Nicola, a woman attempting to escape her abusive marriage. With the support of another neighbor, Cora, the women confront the abuser and uncover the truth of Caleb’s death.

This guide uses the 2022 Graydon House paperback edition of On a Quiet Street.

Content Warning: The source material features addiction and graphic depictions of violence and domestic abuse. It also contains offensive language about mental health conditions, which the guide replicates in quotation only.

Plot Summary

Nicola Dawson is a 20-something English waitress at a resort in France when she meets Lucas Kinney, an older man who works as a judge. He sweeps her off her feet and they marry soon after. They move to a gated community in Oregon. After they are married, he begins to abuse and control her. He even changes her name to Georgia to make it harder for friends and family from her past life to find her. As Lucas’s violence and control escalate, Nicola has an affair with her neighbor, Caleb Moretti, as an escape. Nicola gets pregnant and has Caleb’s child, whom she names Avery. Caleb is addicted to drugs, and he threatens to tell Lucas about their affair and the child unless Nicola steals money to feed his addiction. One day, in a drug-fueled rage, Caleb fires a gun at Nicola. She panics and hits him with her car, killing him.

One year later, Caleb’s mother, Paige, is still determined to find out who killed her son. The police have ruled it an accidental hit-and-run, but Paige is convinced that someone in the neighborhood intentionally killed him. Paige and her husband, Grant, have separated following the murder, although Grant still helps to take care of Paige and their house. One evening, Paige’s best friend and neighbor, Cora, comes over and tells Paige that she suspects that her husband, Finn, is having another affair. Paige volunteers to investigate Finn on Cora’s behalf.

While Paige investigates Finn, Cora works to befriend Nicola, whom she believes is a recluse. Nicola is plotting her escape from her abusive husband, Lucas. She asks Cora to watch Avery while she goes into town to attempt to get money out of a bank account of which Lucas is unaware. She is unsuccessful in getting the money, but she manages to get an ID and a watch which she hopes to pawn. When she returns, she learns that Cora told Lucas about Nicola’s trip into town because she was watching Avery. When Lucas arrived to pick up Avery, he was angry, which made Cora suspicious of him.

A few days later, Nicola makes another escape attempt. She asks Cora for a ride into town. She goes to a pawn shop and tries to sell the watch, but it is fake and worthless. Desperate, Nicola steals a ring, but she is arrested. The police contact Cora, and Cora arrives to bail Nicola out. On the ride home, Nicola reveals to Cora that Lucas holds her captive in their home. Cora lets Nicola hide out in a mother-in-law house on their property. That afternoon, Paige comes over and presents the results of her investigation to Cora. Paige has gained access to Finn’s day planner and laptop by manipulating him. She found evidence that Finn was cheating with multiple women. She also found out that Finn had been in regular contact with Caleb, sent him large amounts of money, and was planning to meet with Caleb on the day of the murder.

Paige turns the evidence over to the police, and they arrest Finn on suspicion of Caleb’s murder. That afternoon, Cora looks on her daughter’s laptop and finds a video of the scene of the crime. In the video, she sees the Kinneys’ car drive away. Cora confronts Nicola with the video evidence, and Nicola confesses to the crime. She also reveals that Avery is Caleb’s daughter. Paige decides that they will frame Lucas for the crime by having Finn testify that Lucas gave him a ride in that car in the hour before the murder.

Following Finn’s false testimony, Lucas is arrested. When Finn is released from jail, Cora serves him with divorce papers and does not allow him to return to the family home. She learns from him that Lucas is already out on bail. Cora drives back to Paige’s house.

Lucas goes to Paige’s house and attacks Nicola. He begins to drag her back to his house when Paige comes outside with a shotgun and shoots him. Before the police arrive, Nicola takes the gun from Paige so that it appears as if Nicola shot Lucas in self-defense.

A few months later, Paige has reunited with her husband, Grant. Cora has moved to Florida to be close to her daughter, Mia, who is starting university in the fall. Nicola has returned to her native England with Avery. She receives a large check from Lucas’s life insurance and celebrates her freedom.