[Review] Getting Away with Murder - Shari Lapena

Summary: Jill and Ted adore their New York brownstone the way others adore their children. They have carefully, expensively, made every inch of it their own. It reflects who they are, their status and tastes. With the grand mahogany staircase and state-of-the-art kitchen, it is the stuff of glossy magazines and real-estate dreams. It is their sanctuary.

So when Ted’s inheritance runs out and he makes a bad investment, they panic. How can they protect their beloved home and enviable lifestyle? 

The answer is obvious. Or at least, it is obvious to Jill and Ted. The death of one wealthy family member—from whom they stand to inherit millions—could solve all their problems. Together, they will get away with murder.

As long as they trust each other.
As long as neither makes a mistake.
As long as there are no surprises… (Pub Date: Jul 28 2026)

Ted has gotten himself in a financial pickle that might lose him the house he and his wife adores so much. And his rich brother refuses to help him out of the mess. Knowing he's been included in his brother's will, he and his wife plan the perfect murder to get them out of all their troubles. Only it might attract some much worse.

Reading this book made me think of why some ideas seem different. For this book's, even though it isn't the most different idea ever, having the murderers as the main characters is still unconventional. And I concluded that one of the reasons is that you must make sure it's engaging enough. Maybe they have a very good motive, maybe they're charisma royalty, maybe the main character is a very good plan with lots of twists. But when you get a regular story and just invert your focus to the culprits, it becomes harder to relate. Who am I cheering for so this book matters to me? I think this was the problem for me. Too many people have already told this story from the detective's point of view, or even from the person who suddenly gets involved, but this is still a better focus than the rich couple who simply didn't want to lose their house. I don't think it would have made it much better, but they're not even so evil, they're just spineless, sometimes dumb, even though they've planned to kill a family member—who may have deserved to die like that, to make matters worse. The result is lukewarm.

 

But even if lukewarm, the chapters were short, ending with a hook, so I caught myself wanting, or maybe, needing to read more just to find out more. It is a page turner even if you're actually hoping against all of the characters, bad guys, good guys alike. 

 

This was my first book by this author, but the technique behind it made me curious about how that works on more likeable characters. So I'm definitely going to read more.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.