A Good Marriage

by Kimberly McCreight

[Kim Deister]

I could not put this book down. This was my first by the author, but now that I’ve discovered her, I need to read EVERYTHING! This was one of those books that just wouldn’t let me go.

I’m a sucker for legal thrillers, coming from a long line of attorneys, so this really fed that love of the genre. The legal feel of it was not just in the narrative but also in the snippets of testimony transcript between some of the chapters. There were also memos here and there between chapters, detailing an investigation into an incident at a posh day school in Park Slope. These two things set up the dual storylines throughout the book, storylines that the reader knows are connected. The question is how?

The entire book takes place over the course of barely more than a week, told through the alternating viewpoints of Lizzie and Amanda. Amanda’s story is in the past, told by her in the days leading to her death. Lizzie’s story is in the present, reluctantly investigating the death on behalf of a former friend from her own past.

There are so many twists, so much deceit, that it often feels like the pure, unvarnished truth may never be found. Adding to the mystery is the fact that the two narrators are rather unreliable, as are most of the other characters involved in the situation. It makes it impossible to get a handle on who is guilty, or of what. That makes the story completely unpredictable and utterly engaging.

My recommendation: If you love thrillers, legal dramas, and mysteries, this is definitely the read for you. It was so absorbing, so intriguing. A truly fabulous book!