Turmoil erupts at
a posh Nantucket beachfront estate when a member of a wedding party is found
dead on the morning of the nuptials.
In The Perfect Couple, Elin Hilderbrand
(Winter Storms) dishes up a mysterious and superbly crafted
whodunit, wrapping it around a story of domestic bliss gone awry.
As is her trademark, Hilderbrand sets her novel in Nantucket--assembling
a large cast of characters who gather on the island for the sultry July wedding
of 20-somethings Celeste Otis and Benjamin Winbury. Celeste is a shy,
down-to-earth, middle-class zoologist whose parents have what she considers the
perfect marriage. Her caring and attentive, well-to-do businessman fiancé,
Benji, is the offspring of a successful mystery novelist mother and a
notoriously philandering father. With Celeste's mother battling cancer, the
Winburys generously offer to host the event at their posh beachfront estate,
Summerland. But on the morning of the wedding, the body of the maid of
honor--the bride's best friend--is found floating in the surf. Was her death
accidental or the result of foul play?
Hilderbrand peels back layers of her suspenseful story by tracing the
details of a suspected murder investigation, chronicling Benji and Celeste's
relationship and revealing the hidden lives and agendas of others. As the
Nantucket chief of police probes wedding attendees for answers, the integrity
of many comes into question, along with Celeste's true feelings for her
husband-to-be. A rapidly snowballing plot shifts suspicions as Hilderbrand
displays a riveting grasp on insidious domestic rivalries and the secrets
embedded in the human heart that can lead to unexpected, shattering
consequences.
Publication Date:
June 19, 2018
NOTE: This review is a reprint
and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To
read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (July 13, 2018), link HERE