A Good Marriage

March 15, 2020
A white-collar criminal defense attorney takes on the case of a millionaire accused of the brutal murder of his wife in McCreight's new thriller. It's only been a few months since Lizzie Kitsakis joined the prestigious New York law firm Young & Crane. It's not her dream job, but her husband Sam's alcoholism has put them in a precarious financial position, and she can't afford to be picky. When her college friend Zach Grayson, now a millionaire, calls her from Rikers, he tells her he's the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of his wife, Amanda, and is being held on an assault charge with no bail while awaiting indictment. He wants Lizzie, and no one else, to represent him, and she's surprised when her boss tells her to take the case. Lizzie believes Zach is innocent, and by all accounts, Amanda was a devoted wife and a wonderful mother to their son, Case, who is away at camp. No one can think of a motive for her murder. However, the events leading up to the case are fodder for a gossip-obsessed press: Zach and Amanda reportedly attended a party the night of her death, at which parents of students from the upscale Brooklyn Country Day school let loose while the kids were away at various summer activities. The hostess even encouraged couples to use her upstairs rooms for a bit of partner swapping. Meanwhile, someone has hacked into the records of Brooklyn Country Day families, digging up dirt and threatening blackmail. Then Lizzie discovers Amanda's journals, and it becomes clear that her life and marriage may have been darker and more complex than they appeared. Lizzie knows a bit about keeping secrets, and as she gets closer to the truth, she wonders if Zach might not be so innocent after all. McCreight's law credentials lend authenticity to the legal proceedings and to Lizzie's high-stakes tango with a formidable assistant district attorney eager to put her in her place. Lizzie's narrative alternates with one that details Amanda's movements for a few days before her murder, and McCreight expertly weaves multiple plot threads with a few sly red herrings, paving the way to a series of surprising, and satisfying, reveals. A smartly plotted and altogether successful union of legal thriller and domestic suspense.

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Starred review from March 23, 2020
Bestseller McCreight (Reconstructing Amelia) expertly blends domestic drama with a gripping murder mystery. Lizzie Kitsakis, a senior associate at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, receives a phone call while working late one night from Zach Grayson, an old law school friend who’s being held at Rikers for assaulting a police officer. Zach reveals that he’s also the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, Amanda, in their swanky Brooklyn brownstone. Insisting that he’s innocent, Zach begs Lizzie to represent him as his defense attorney. Reluctantly, Lizzie takes on the case and soon unravels secrets of childhood abuse found in Amanda’s journals and of a loveless marriage after speaking to Amanda’s circle of neighborhood friends. Meanwhile, Lizzie’s alcoholic husband, Sam, recently had a car accident and must pay a large settlement. The two plots intertwine when Lizzie discovers a missing earring in Sam’s messenger bag that belongs to Amanda. Filled with credible plot twists and realistically flawed characters, McCreight’s page-turner presses readers to question everything they think makes a “good” marriage. This will stay with the reader long after the finish. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME.

April 1, 2020
While she contemplates the precarious future of her marriage, the last thing attorney Lizzie Kitsakis needs is a desperate plea for help from a prisoner. A car accident caused by her alcoholic husband, Sam, landed the couple in financial distress, causing Lizzie to give up her dream job as a federal prosecutor to join a corporate law firm for more money. When her old law-school friend Zach Grayson calls from Rikers Island asking to Lizzie to defend him for assaulting an officer and for the probable future charge of killing his wife, Lizzie believes her firm will say no. But she gets permission to defend Zach, who found his wife, Amanda, dead in their Brooklyn home after a raucous party held when kids were away at summer camps. So Lizzie digs for information in the upscale Park Slope neighborhood, calling on old contacts for help and uncovering secrets pertinent to Amanda's death and to her own marriage. McCreight fashions a plot with so many twists and turns that little is what it originally seemed, combining psychological suspense, murder investigation, and a legal thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2019

Compelled to trade work as a federal prosecutor for brutal hours at an elite law firm after her marriage cracks, Lizzie is shocked when old buddy Zach rings to say that his wife, Amanda, has been founddead at their Brooklyn brownstone and that the police see him as the culprit. As she digs into what happened, Lizzie comes to realize that Zach and Amanda--and, indeed, all their Park Slope friends--aren't what they seem. From the New York Times best-selling author of Reconstructing Amelia; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

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