A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight-- 5 Stars!!

A Good Marriage

A lawyer gets drawn into a murder mystery where an old friend is the primary suspect.

Lizzie is dealing with her own issues and marital problems when she gets a call from an old friend from law school.  He's incarcerated in Rikers and is the prime suspect in the murder of his wife.

When she starts digging into the details, she sees Zach and Amanda as a well-off couple, living in a ritzy section of Brooklyn, rubbing elbows with the parents of the kids at the exclusive school they send their son to.

But things aren't perfect once the curtain is pulled back.  Amanda and Zach barely seem to know each other.  Amanda had a troubling childhood.  And the nieghbors/friends all have their secrets too....

Thank goodness for this book!!!  It got me out of a terrible slump where I just couldn't get interested in ANYTHING.  This book is just what I needed during this blah time in my life.

It starts out with Lizzie, a lawyer with her own marriage troubles, getting a call from a former law school friend who is about to be arrested for the murder of his wife.  She doesn't think the Zach she knew would do something like that, but law school was a long time ago, and how well do we really know people anyway?

It turns out that Zach's deceased wife, Amanda, came from a truly troubled background.  One that few knew about (including Zach).  Has someone from that past come back to hurt her?

As we alternate chapters between Lizzie's investigation and Amanda's life in the days before she died, we get to see that relationships are complicated, everyone has secrets, and you can be lonely even if you're married.

I'm so happy that this author is back to Adult Mysteries.  She's so good at them.  Some authors are just great at weaving multiple storylines together without it feeling forced, and Kimberly McCreight is one of them.  I loved how Amanda's past and present came together, how every character in this book was there for a reason-- they all played a part, they all connected the dots.

The characters in this book weren't very likable.  To be honest, I'm not sure I rooted for a single one.  They all had secrets and issues and personality flaws.  BUT, I also kind of liked this??  I don't have to love the characters to want to know what is going to happen to them.  Also, I really liked the way this book delved into the idea of marriage and how relationships really are instead of how they are perceived.

The added bonus of included police reports, trial transcripts, emails, etc. just gave it a little something extra.  Kimberly McCreight has included these in all of her Adult books, and I've loved them each time.

The only bad part of this book was that it was over.  I didn't want it to end because it kept my attention so well.  And I didn't guess the ending-- which, YAY!!

OVERALL: If you like Mysteries, READ IT.  Kimberly McCreight has cemented her place as one of the great storytellers for me.  She weaves a mystery like only few can.


Date Published: 5/5/2020
How I got this book: Thanks to HarperCollins and ALA for or providing me with an advanced copy to read and honestly review.
Publisher: Harper

Add it to your To-Read List!!

My Rating: 5/5

Character: Amanda Lynch/Grayson
Book: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

• Sydney is so lucky that she meets a group of friends that help her through such a stressful time in her life.  When Amanda got to Brooklyn, she was on her way to having that same kind of group and I think she was hopeful she would eventually get the connections that she craved.