Title: A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
Publisher: Harper
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense, Legal Thriller
Length: 398 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, in which a woman’s brutal murder reveals the perilous compromises some couples make—and the secrets they keep—in order to stay together.
Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when she gets the call. Grueling hours are standard at elite law firms like Young & Crane, but they’d be easier to swallow if Lizzie was there voluntarily. Until recently, she’d been a happily underpaid federal prosecutor. That job and her brilliant, devoted husband Sam—she had everything she’d ever wanted. And then, suddenly, it all fell apart.
No. That’s a lie. It wasn’t sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie’s marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes.
The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help—even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach’s the primary suspect.
As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren’t what they seemed—and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she’s left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.
Review:
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight is a clever mystery that is also a riveting legal thriller.
Lawyer Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when Zack Grayson, an old law school friend, unexpectedly calls her for help. He is current being held without bail at Riker’s Island and oh, by the way, his wife, Amanda, has been murdered. Lizzie reluctantly agrees to help get him out on bail, but Zach is soon formally charged with murder. Although she tries to convince him to hire another attorney, Zach coerces her into remaining on the case. Wanting him out of her life for good, Lizzie knows the only way to get the charges dropped is to find the real killer. When she discovers stunning evidence, has Lizzie found the murderer?
Lizzie is not at all happy with the unexpected trajectory of her career. She is exceptionally good at her job but she cannot help but be resentful of husband Sam Chadwick for forcing this change. Their marriage has been rocky for quite some time but she continues to ignore Sam’s problems. Will her marriage survive when she learns shocking information about her husband?
Lizzie’s lack of enthusiasm working for Zach is tempered by her conviction that he is innocent of the charges against him. She immediately hires family friend, private investigator Millie Faber, to take care of the forensic portion of her investigation. Lizzie begins questioning Amanda’s closest friends, Sarah Novak and Maude Lagueux. Amanda and Sarah worked at the charitable foundation set up by Zach. While the women do not have much in common, their children attend the same school, Brooklyn County Day. Despite the friends spending quite a bit of time together, Lizzie quickly discovers Amanda did not reveal much about herself. But the one thing both Sarah and Maude agree on is that their friend’s marriage was hardly close and neither of them like Zach. Interesting details, but does any of this have anything to do with Amanda’s murder?
Answers to that question might just lie within the pages of Amanda’s journal. Lizzie learns very troubling information about Amanda’s life in the weeks leading up to her murder. Against Millie’s advice, Lizzie strikes out on her own hoping to find evidence that will exonerate Zach. She learns very surprising facts about Amanda’s past that completely change Lizzie’s perspective about events in the present. But will any of this new information lead to Amanda’s killer?
A Good Marriage is a taut, multi-layered mystery that is quite engrossing. The storyline is complex and engaging. The characters are well-drawn with appealing strengths and relatable flaws. Interspersed with Lizzie’s investigation are intriguing chapters that detail the grand jury and the days leading up to Amanda’s murder. With brilliant red herrings and cunning misdirects, Kimberly McCreight brings this captivating mystery to an absolutely jaw-dropping conclusion. Fans of the genre do not want to miss this suspenseful mystery.
