A Good Marriage

I am a huge fan of Kimberly McCreight and her murder mysteries, so I was beyond excited to dive into her latest novel.

When Lizzie was last happy, she was a prosecutor and married to Sam, and now she’s forced to work in an elite law firm where she doesn’t want to be. Now, an inmate, who also happens to be a former friend, is asking her for help. The help? Her friend, Zach’s, wife is found at the bottom of the stairs, and he is the suspect. All is not as it appears with Zach and his wife, Amanda... and what Lizzie is about to experience will question everything she thinks she knows about “good marriages.”

As I started this book I had a goal like always…Try to work out the twists and turns, figure out the red herrings, and attempt to solve the case early in the story. I did my super sleuthing and came up with some ideas that I personally thought were firm and sound. As I compiled my list of prime suspects, McCreight kept adding suspects and psychological layers as to who may have wanted Amanda dead. Was it someone from her past, or present? As I dove deeper into the sup-plots, twists and turns (some characters were seriously twisted) secrets were revealed.

I loved that this was a mystery that I was constantly trying to solve...I failed by the way. McCreight managed to keep me guessing all the way until the end when one big clue popped up (by then the cat was out of the bag). Then, it all came together nicely...well not for the deceased.

I seriously don’t know how McCreight comes up with such great plot lines, nor how she develops characters with real personalities that are also complex and strong. The two primary narrators, Amanda and Lizzie, are fully realized characters, as are many of the secondary characters that we see through their eyes.

What elevates this book from good to great is the examination of marriage that both narrators engage in. Lizzie’s marriage to Sam is rocky, and as she begins to investigate Amanda’s death, she can’t help but compare her marriage to what she learns about Amanda and Zach’s, as well as the marriages of Amanda’s two closest friends, Sarah to Kerry and Maude to Seb. All four marriages are different, and everyone of them has their own secrets. Is it as simple as one character’s observation that “a good marriage is the one that survives”?

A Good Marriage is a fast paced, intense, beguiling, legal thriller. You will find yourself caught up in the lies and deceptions. I highly recommend grabbing this book if you are looking to get caught up in and exciting read!