"Fine prose, incisive observations" - review of EL DORADO DRIVE

EL DORADO DRIVE by Megan Abbott (Virago, June 2025)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

When Harper moves in with her sister Pam, she’s surprised to find Pam doing so well financially after her messy divorce. After all, Pam’s ex-husband wiped their bank accounts, even stole from their kids. But Pam managed to find her way back—thanks to the Wheel.

Twice a month the women of the Wheel meet. New members bring cash to add to a pool and then gift to one lucky member. It’s all about giving back. Lifting each other up—as women should, as they must. When Harper is invited, with the promise of an end to her financial burdens, the sisters inadvertently unleash a darkness lurking within the group. If they’re not careful it might just get them killed.. 

American screenwriter and novelist Megan Abbott is a modern queen of feminist noir, who has proven herself a virtuoso at exploring the cracks and crevices in female lives.

From gangster moll and protégé in her Edgar Award-winning Queenpin to exposing the darker side of All-American cheerleading in Dare Me (which she adapted into a hit Netflix drama) or ballet-loving sisters in The Turnout, Abbott has a deft touch for bringing inner messiness – ambitions, desires, jealousies, and frustrations – to the page.

She again delves into sisterhood and complex family relationships in her latest excellent thriller El Dorado Drive, where the Detroit native ‘returns home’, in a way, with a tale of three middle-aged sisters, Pam, Debra, and Harper – all in dire financial straits for various reasons – who join ‘The Wheel’. An exclusive women’s club promising wealth and empowerment, that proves irresistible for the once upper middle-class sisters who are looking for a return to the wealthy lives they feel they deserve – or at least a lifeboat from their current troubles. 

A women’s club designed to uplift women, but turns fatal.

Set against the global financial crisis and downfall of Detroit’s auto industry, El Dorado Drive is elevated ‘domestic noir’, skipping along on Abbott’s fine prose, incisive observations, and compelling characterisation. A subversive, dark and clever thriller illustrating that old biblical chestnut: the love of money is the root of all evil. Very, very good.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.