Told through multiple points of view, as well as formats beyond simple prose (such as grand jury testimony, inner-company communication memos, and emails), Kimberly McCreight’s newest thriller will satisfy those who are already fans of her work, as well as delight those who are new to her books. Everything that readers loved about Where They Found Her and Reconstructing Amelia is again found in A Good Marriage. McCreight’s storytelling is fantastic as she weaves multiple storylines together and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from the first page to the last.
We first meet Lizzie, who works long hours as a new attorney at an elite law firm. She is struggling to deal with an alcoholic husband as their life, collectively and individually, seems to be falling apart. Lizzie also has secrets she is keeping.
Out of the blue, Lizzie receives a call from Zach, an old law school acquaintance, who has been arrested for the murder of his wife, Amanda. He needs an attorney and remembers Lizzie’s skills from law school. Zach and Amanda both had secrets they were keeping as well.
In spite of her best efforts to decline, Lizzie ends up taking Zach’s case and following the information she is given ends up examining a very dark side of a very fancy neighbourhood. Zach and Amanda’s friends and their spouses also have secrets to keep.
McCreight includes several different types of marriages in this story, but all of them at some point will make the reader think about just what an actual good marriage really is, and what it might look like from the outside as well as the inside.
As the reader, we have Lizzie telling the story as it happens, but we also have Amanda telling the story of the last few days of her life, though she is of course unaware that that is what they are. We also get part of the story through grand jury testimony and though emails. Collectively, we get a fascinating, suspenseful tale that weaves together multiple events and storylines.
This is definitely a book that is almost impossible to put down once you have picked it up. You’ll gasp, you may blush, you may cry, and you may cheer, but you will still not be able to stop reading!
A Good Marriage is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 5th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent in this riveting novel from the New York Times best-selling 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 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 Riker’s 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 is 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 their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Grace Hall private school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she is left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.
