Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
Buy Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Thrillers
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: It could have been just another of those stories where people get into a tangle because they prefer not to be honest about what's happened but it turns into so much more. Recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 368	Date: January 2023
Publisher: HQ
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1848458437
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The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not.

Just the Nicest Couple is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake Hayes. The connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra. The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing. Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wives. Lily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant. She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public.

One afternoon, Lily ran into Jake in Langley woods and he made a pass at her. He and Nina had been having problems, caused by all the time she felt that she had to spend with her mother - and Lily was particularly gorgeous. Jake didn't appreciate being rejected and Lily ended up hitting him with a piece of rock. When she eventually told Christian about what happened she admitted that she might have hit Jake more than a couple of times and her clothes were badly blood-stained. Christian's frightened - Jake hasn't been seen since that day. If he died of his injuries, Lily could still be charged with manslaughter. He couldn't bear to lose her - and what about the baby?

For a while, I was worried that this was going to turn into another of those stories where something goes wrong and rather than be upfront and sort it out, there's a cover-up which turns out to be far worse than the original problem. But - I needn't have worried - this is Mary Kubica and she is a safe pair of hands when it comes to this type of story. Her characters are excellent with just enough doubt about each of them to make you wonder, blanched against various factors which evoke your sympathy. You're going to swing back and forth until the final page because all is definitely not as it seems.

It's a cracker of a story and I got through it far too quickly. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

For more from Mary Kubica, we can recommend Local Woman Missing and Every Last Lie.

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