Review by C.J. Bunce
Hard Case Crimes is bringing back more works by Joyce Carol Oates with a new collection called Second Nature, coming to bookstores September 22, 2026, and available for pre-order now here at Amazon. The hefty volume contains two novels and two short stories originally released under the pen name Rosamond Smith. First in the volume is Double Delight first published in 2000. Written in the style of Midcentury crime noir, it’s a blend of Sunset Boulevard, Vera Caspary’s Laura, with the uncomfortable vibe of Cape Fear. It’s a moody character portrait of Terrence Greene, a lifeless, mild-mannered businessman, whose experience as a juror in a minor criminal case upends everything, propelling him into the world of a kooky family of con-artists–and maybe even murder–as he becomes infatuated and eventually obsessed with the victim of the court case.
Terrence seems bored but attentive to his job as executive director of a private foundation that, sort of like the National Endowment for the Arts, selects candidates for grants. In his role he moves a lot of money around with little oversight, which will be useful to him later. Terrence has a wife named Phyllis, two older kids (a boy and a girl) and a younger daughter who he seems to prefer over everyone. Except his dog, who passed away at the beginning of the novel. Terrence shows all sorts of signs of depression, he’s suicidal, at the beginning of a mid-life crisis when he receives a summons for jury duty.
Phyllis tries to talk him out of “wasting his time” with jury duty, advising him nothing good can come from it. But Terrence is eager to do his part. He shows up and is surprised to be juror #5, and soon he’s elected foreman. On trial is a man accused of assaulting Ava-Rose Renfrew, an attractive, believable victim. Over several days Terrence does a yeoman’s job as foreman, allowing everyone to speak, and several men are obviously biased against women, fully believing Ava-Rose made up the accusations. But Terrence keeps watching Ava-Rose and thinks he knows better. He uses his persuasive skills to get a unanimous conviction.
After his dog dies, Terrence is inconsolable, and he finds his way to the residence of Miss Renfrew. Soon he befriends her aunt. Next he’s watching Ava-Rose at her job conducting palm readings at the local mall. His infatuation comes to a head when he sees Ava-Rose being harassed by a man after work, a man who doesn’t like Terrence’s interference. He’s bigger and lays into Terrence. But it all works out for Terrence as he gets to meet Ava-Rose and soon gets to know her, not hiding the fact that he was on her jury.
To the reader, Ava-Rose doesn’t seem all that special. But to Terrence she is everything. Terrence is a cheat, and it turns out has wife has been a cheat, too. But as Oates tells it, that’s just par for the course in the suburbs of Trenton, New Jersey. Terrence’s devotion escalates quickly. After a strange rape scene that doesn’t fit with the vibe of the rest of the novel, Terrence is living a double life, using money from work to upgrade Ava-Rose’s home, even buying a Christmas tree for her family, and new cars for the family.
I couldn’t help hearing the all-knowing, calm, yet unreliable narrative voice of Laura’s Waldo Lydecker as I became sucked into this story. Oates’ handling of Terrence and Ava-Rose mirrors Lydecker’s pursuit of Laura in that this isn’t about lust or sex as much as filling a gap in Terrence’s life. He really just wants to be useful. He wants attention. He wants to be needed by someone, and at home he only gets that from his young daughter. But she gets displaced quickly by Ava-Rose’s dog.
Not since the Comfort crime family of Max Allan Collins’ Nolan novels will you have met such an unusual family. Oates’ success in creating the novel’s antagonists is setting their dialogue in the realm of Father Knows Best or My Three Sons–everyone sounds earnest enough. Everyone seems to care about each other. Would readers in rural America or from lower income families read this story and find them not to be villains at all? After all they’re just looking after their own. Right? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Holly Mae Renfrew seems like the lost sister of the diabolical pair in Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace. Holly Mae is Ava-Rose’s aunt who lives with Ava-Rose, the twins of Ava-Rose’s sister (who Ava-Rose has always watched over), Ava-Rose’s cousin Chick, and her Cap’n-Uncle Riff. But then Ava-Rose’s sister shows up and Terrence learns nothing is what it seems.
But it’s too late for Terrence. He’s already done the unthinkable for Ava-Rose. And it doesn’t stop at embezzling funds to feed his fantasy. Is Terrence willing to commit murder to protect Ava-Rose? More than once?
Oates’ novel doesn’t contain all that much new for the genre, but her writing will keep readers engaged until the end in only one or two sittings. Where is she taking this man? Like William Holden’s character in Sunset Boulevard, you’re forced to follow a protagonist whose decisions are uncomfortable to watch. You’re not sure what to expect from the story. Who are the good guys and who are the bad? My only disappointment was an ending, which didn’t match the rest of the story for me.
Claudia Caranfa provided the art for the cover.
It’s a fascinating character study by an author who knows how to keep you engaged. Find Double Delight along with the novel Nemesis and two short stories in the new compilation edition Second Nature, available for pre-order here at Amazon, arriving in bookshops September 22, 2026. Second Nature is the second of three Rosamond Smith two-book editions coming from Hard Case Crime. Check out the first in the set, Double Trouble, here, and Mirror, Mirror, coming next year in time for the 40th anniversary of the first Rosamond Smith novel. The books reflect the author’s fascination with doubles, twins, dual personas, and the like, each carrying a play on the theme, which also reflects her use of a secret persona or pseudonym, Rosamond Smith, when the novels were first published.
