Getting Away with Murder

Jill and Ted live in a New York brownstone they have furnished with great care and money. It has a grand mahogany staircase and a state-of-the-art kitchen, and it reflects their taste and standing. They love it the way other couples love their children.

Then Ted's inheritance runs dry and a bad investment leaves them short. Losing the house and the lifestyle that goes with it is unthinkable to both of them. They settle on a plan that seems obvious to them: a wealthy relative, from whom they stand to inherit millions, has to die.

This is a psychological thriller, the tenth from Shari Lapena. It follows a married couple who set out to commit murder together and stay free afterward. The tension comes from the terms they must meet: they have to trust each other completely, neither can slip, and nothing unexpected can happen.

The pace is quick and the tone is cold and domestic, with the crime planned from inside a very comfortable home. Readers get the pressure of a scheme that depends on two people holding their nerve.