A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight was an entertaining and suspenseful read. Part mystery, part legal thriller, with many little twists throughout.

I recently swore off domestic thrillers after being frustrated and annoyed one too many times, but I made an exception for Kimberly MCreight’s latest because I’ve enjoyed all of her previous work.

Unfortunately, I wish I had stuck to that and skipped this one. It’s a veritable kitchen sink of all of the things I dislike about the genre: Weak protagonists, a cop-out solve, and loads and loads of icky abuse plot threads, including child rape.

McCreight has done well in her previous offerings with not stooping to going for shock value or writing voyeuristic sexual abuse plotlines, but all that changed in this book.

Certainly it’s possible to address such topics and produce a good novel when including them. It just didn’t happen here.

Instead, this book felt seedy. Combine that with weak protagonists, a cheap solution to the mystery, and the victimiest victim you ever did see, and the story is a huge letdown. I expected better from McCreight based on her previous work.

Lizzie Kitsakis is shocked when an old friend from college reaches out to her in need of a lawyer. Not just any lawyer, but a defense attorney. Zach Grayson is a successful, wealthy tech genius, and his wife, Amanda, was found dead in their Brooklyn home. Zach is the prime suspect and he needs Lizzie's help. Lizzie is a prosecutor at heart hesitant to take the case for many reasons. But she agrees to help him get out on bail. As Lizzie starts investigating Zach and Amanda's life in their exclusive Park Slope neighborhood she discovers that not only did they have their secrets, but the entire neighborhood has a dirty little secret that nobody talks about outside of "the party." With every secret that is revealed Lizzie finds herself getting deeper and deeper into their lives. But then she discovers a connection between Amanda Grayson's murder and her own husband, Sam. Will Lizzie be able to prove that Zach Grayson didn't kill his wife?

A Good Marriage was an absolutely twisted read and I loved every minute of it! There are just so many scandalous secrets revealed. I think it was the details of the party that shocked me the most. All of these high-class couples doing something so -kinky. I felt bad for Lizzie. She was trapped in a job she didn't really want because she was trapped in a marriage with an alcoholic. She had great investigative skills and uncovered some seriously shocking details about the Grayson's marriage. I don't want to give anything away, but it was truly scandalous by upscale neighborhood standards. I think that Lizzie was doing the best that she could with both her marriage and her career. And I also think she learned a lot about herself while working the case. There were a lot of twists revealed at the end, but it was still wrapped up in a reasonable fashion. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - Even though the title of this book is A Good Marriage there were very few couples in this book that had a good marriage. However, the book is an absolute thrill ride from start to finish.

Details:
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
On Instagram
Pages: 400
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: 5/5/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

A good marriage is all about give and take. Each person must be willing to make compromises. What happens when one person is unwilling to change? Some marriages are not as perfect as they seem in Park Slope. This thriller explores how secrets affect marriage and kept me wondering until the very end. From day one, I couldn't wait to see how this would end. It did not disappoint.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book I was engaged for most of the book and it was a page turner. My only issue was the ending. It was to tidy up. How did killer figure out how to stalk Amanda? How all of the characters stayed connected?

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight.

Lizzie is a lawyer who is in a marriage that becomes more and more worrisome everyday. So she finds a good distraction when she is called by an old law school friend, Zach, who is in prison for assaulting an officer. But more than that, his wife has just been found murdered. Even though Lizzie is determined NOT to represent him, she can't help but get drawn into this intriguing case. But what Lizzie doesn't realize is that she might be more connected to it than she ever realized.

This is told by two perspective, Lizzie, and Zach's wife Amanda. It's immediately compelling, and even though it moves at a slower tempo, I was fully invested in the story. I loved the slow reveals and unraveling and we turned several corners that I was not expecting, which I LOVE. Great summer read.

This was a compulsive murder/ domestic suspense/thriller novel that actually profiled two marriages.  The marriage of the murdered woman and the marriage of the investigating officer.  Of course what made them interesting was that neither was as it appeared on the surface.  The book is full of interesting twists and developments as it moves between present day to back stories of the key players.  The characters are interesting, and I kept wondering what the big secret was behind the old friend who was accused of the murder.  This book kept me on my toes guessing throughout and was expertly developed.  For the number of pages it is, this book seemed to go at a fast pace for me.  This is a great escape for anyone looking for the next thrill.

—a g o o d m a r r i a g e—⁣
How good are you at guessing twists?⁣
—⁣
A Good Marriage is better than good. It’s pretty darn great. I have read another book by @kimberlymccreight and loved it (Reconstructing Amelia!), so I was pumped to read this (thank you @netgalley and @harpercollins for the digital copy!)⁣
—⁣
AGM is a tense, tightly constructed whodunnit, featuring flawed and complex characters, all of whom seem trustworthy but probably shouldn’t be trusted. It is a quick read yet it is one that you will want to savor. I pride myself on guessing twists and while some of the many twists in this book I was able to guess, I was ultimately very surprised by the outcome and delighted by the not-too-rushed but still enthralling climax. ⁣
—⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: reading about bad people and flawed/complex relationships, multiple perspectives, 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 season 1, Brooklyn. ⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡: your fanciest Malbec /or/ a pot of NYC diner coffee⁣
—⁣
CW/TW: abuse/rape mentioned, murder, alcoholism ⁣
4.5⭐️⁣
—⁣

This book starts with a young woman lawyer with dead parents, married to the WSPY alcoholic husband who is excommunicated from his millionaire parents, they live in Brooklyn and are about as interesting as vanilla pudding. Then McCreight takes us on a wild ride that has more twists and turns than the best rollercoaster ride you've ever been on. Paying attention is key to all the nuances of the story which takes you right up to the solution on the last page. It is page turner and I know millions will enjoy it as their "beach read" this summer. Thank you Charles Scribner's Sons for the ARC.

What started out as a pretty standard murder mystery/thriller picked up speed once the characters were all established and they all began to interact with one another. It is definitely the characters themselves who give life to this story and make it interesting, as none of them are predictable. The plot is layered and twisted, with each new revelation coming logically and at just the right time to make the story flow.

There were some minor distractions as far as setting. For one, the descriptions of life in the elite areas of Brooklyn, with contrasts/comparisons to Palo Alto, didn't quite ring as realistically as what I know of those places. Some of the characters describing these places would qualify as unreliable narrators, so it makes sense that the descriptions don't quite mesh. A bigger distraction is that the premise of the big party was far-fetched and gimmicky. I'll be vague to avoid spoilers: it's just not plausible that the chosen guests of this party would be parents who are only acquainted with each other through the school's PTA, especially when everyone was so concerned otherwise about their privacy being violated. It especially makes no sense that the murder victim, an extremely self-conscious newcomer who wonders constantly what everyone thinks of her, would go to that party. The concept just seemed to be crafted more for shock value than for any real value to the story.

All that said, I did still really enjoy this book. It was a fast-paced read with a satisfying ending. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for review.

“Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent”? Sign me up! Kimberly McCreight, author of Reconstructing Amelia, has written another one of those books you start reading and CANNOT STOP. I loved it. Harper Collins and NetGalley provided me with a copy of A Good Marriage in return for this honest review, and I’m super grateful!

Lizzie Kitsakis is an attorney at a high-powered law firm in New York, having given up a job she loved as a federal prosecutor. She has an unemployed husband whose drinking has led to them getting into financial trouble, and she basically sold out to join this firm. Working late one night, she gets a call from an old law school buddy, Zach Grayson, who has landed in Rikers Island, accused of murdering his wife Amanda. Zach is sort of the Mark Zuckerberg type, having gotten insanely wealthy in tech, and although Lizzie hasn’t been in touch with him for years, she agrees to help him.

Zach and Amanda live in Brooklyn and are linked with a whole group of parents who all send their kids to the Brooklyn Country Day School, where some hacking has led to all sorts of juicy information getting out, and huge fears that the truth about the group’s members’ “leisure activities” and intermingling will be revealed. Marriages that seem rock solid aren’t, and others really are, even if they might not always LOOK like it. Lizzie explores all the relationships at the same time she is looking at her OWN marriage.

Lots of juicy plot twists and interesting characters. I think fans of both Big Little Lies and Presumed Innocent really would enjoy this, and it would make a great miniseries. Great escapist reading, perfect for pandemic-forgetting. Four stars.

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight is a murder mystery involving two individuals who were great friends in law school. Lizzie is now working as a newly hired attorney for a firm when she gets called by Zach. He tells her he found his wife dead and he's in jail on suspicion of causing her death. Against her better judgement, Lizzie takes Zach's case on and from there all of the hidden mysteries start rolling out as Lizzie works to determine what really happened. Lots of secrets and hidden motives unfold in this tale. Read and enjoy!

A twisty murder mystery! Fast paced and thrilling! I liked that the storyline had depth and reeled you in from the start.

Once I got going I couldn’t put this one down. Who doesn’t like a good murder, and the dirty secrets of the rich. It had just the right amount of intrigue and pay off. I really enjoyed having the court proceedings interspersed with the flashbacks. I felt mostly satisfied by the ending but of course since I liked it, I wanted more! Definitely recommend. Quick thriller.

Lies and deceptions make this a tale of domestic suspense with twists and turns. A definite chose for a summer read.

This book was amazing! I have loved all of Kimberly McCreight's books, but she out did herself this time. She can really throw you for a loop! I thought I had it figured out two different times and yet she can give you a twist and make the story even better. Such a great thriller from an amazing author!

Lizzie is ambitious and bright, working her way up as an attorney at an elite NYC law firm, while simultaneously trying to breathe life into her dying marriage. All of that changes one day when she receives a call from Zach Grayson, an old friend-turned-millionaire. His wife Amanda has recently been discovered dead in their home, and Zach is naturally the prime suspect. Lizzie grudgingly agrees to help Zach, seeking to find truths that may save him from a life in prison. As she begins to defend him, she becomes entrenched in discovering the real story about the glamorous lives of the Brooklyn high-society scene....and soon begins to discover that more families than not have something to hide. What really happened on the night that Amanda died? Someone in Zach and Amanda's close-knit circle holds the key to the true events, but can Lizzie discover the truth before Zach is left to pay the price?
Wow....just wow. This is one of those books that reinforces how glad that I am to be straight middle class and boring in Anytown, USA. These richie-riches have some dark secrets and a lot to hide, and it becomes abundantly clear that money cannot buy happiness. Definitely a gripping page-turner that you won't want to miss!

Fast-paced thrilled with lots of twists and turns to keep the reader interested. Another good read by Kimberly McCreight.

This was a great thriller that kept me guessing as I was reading! Lizzie is working in a high priced law firm in order to help pay a lawsuit against her husband. Late one night she gets a call from an old friend from law whose wife was murdered and he is going to be charged with the murder. He needs a lawyer. Lizzie really doesn't want to defend him, it isn't her specialty, but when she talks to Zach, she finds herself agreeing to defend him.But as she starts to investigate the case. she has more questions and doesn't know quite what is the truth. This was the third Kimberly McCreight book I have read and I would highly suggest all of them.

This book is a twisty-who done it-domestic thriller!! Love it!! Another great read from Kimberly McCreight!!