When Kimberly McCreight burst onto the literary scene in 2013 with RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA, it was obvious that she was going to be something special in the psychological thriller genre. Along the way, her books have garnered Edgar, Anthony and Alex award nominations while continuing to gain her well-deserved readership across the globe.

McCreight’s latest, SOMEONE ELSE’S HUSBAND, is a memorable and puzzling novel that reads like an onion. Each layer of detail is subtly peeled away, daring readers to put everything together to figure out what is really going on. I doubt even astute thriller fans will be able to sort this plot out as it is quite ingenious and reads addictively.

"McCreight fuels SOMEONE ELSE’S HUSBAND with a fiery storyline that keeps readers guessing and surprises coming right up to the grand finale. Another great summer beach read has arrived!"

The book opens with a Prologue featuring a nameless narrator who is discussing the possibility of “getting away with it” and the nature of the word premeditated. It is obvious that this killer will be featured later in the story and revealed in the finale. The rest of the novel switches back and forth between characters like Gretchen Falk, a Park Avenue socialite; Richard Falk, her wealthy husband; and Frankie Callahan, a young painter who may have been more than friends with Richard.

That SOMEONE ELSE’S HUSBAND has more than a passing resemblance to Scott Turow’s PRESUMED INNOCENT cannot go unsaid, but the results may be far different from the plot twist that made that novel a classic. Richard had met Frankie during a climbing expedition of Mount Kilimanjaro, in which a member of the party was killed. Whether it was because of that tragic death or just the shock of it, the bond that formed between Richard and Frankie became intense and would remain so right up until the point where Frankie was brutally murdered, her body dumped in a famous Manhattan park and an eyewitness who placed a blood-covered Richard at the scene.

Gretchen and Richard have their apartment ransacked by the police as they are brought down to the precinct. She tries to get their attorney to have Richard released, an option that is instantly taken away after he freely gives testimony to the detectives that makes him the prime suspect. There is much more going on beyond what seems like a cut-and-dried murder case. Frankie had reported to an attorney friend of Richard’s that she needed help dealing with an ex who had become a dangerous stalker. The issue is that the evidence, from eyewitness testimony to damaging text messages, makes it look bad for Richard.

Gretchen and her three grown children bond over this and find it hard to believe that Richard could have done such a thing. Reality is sobering for them, as evidenced by the judge who dislikes the wealthy and remands Richard to prison for the length of the trial. Gretchen may live life with her head in the clouds, but she puts on a good act of being blind to her husband’s flirtatious nature and possible infidelities. She now must face that with this case, even though she knows in her heart he could not have done it.

The love triangle that is revealed drives the plot and both the police investigation and murder trial forward at a blistering pace. McCreight fuels SOMEONE ELSE’S HUSBAND with a fiery storyline that keeps readers guessing and surprises coming right up to the grand finale. Another great summer beach read has arrived!