Murder, They Wrote

Besides kicking a dog, there is no more effective way for a fictional character to provoke instant judgment than for a pregnant woman to smoke and booze it up. Well, maybe she could shoot heroin or skydive, but you get the idea—it’s a bad look.

Working that look in Greenwich Park is loud, flashy, inappropriate Rachel, whose attendance at a dreary London prenatal class jolts Helen Thorpe out of the lonely slog that her long-desired but high-risk pregnancy has become. Anxious, genteel Helen could use a friend, even if said friend wears sequined miniskirts and purple nail polish and declares, “Our mums all got smashed when they got pregnant,” before knocking back a glass of wine.