Getting Away with Murder by Shari Lapena: A deliciously entertaining domestic thriller

Sometimes you don’t need a novel that changes your life. Sometimes you just want a fast-paced thriller that grabs you from the first chapter and refuses to let go. Getting Away With Murder by Shari Lapena is exactly that kind of book—a thoroughly entertaining psychological thriller with an irresistible premise and enough twists to keep the pages turning until the very end.

Jill and Ted have built the perfect life—or at least the perfect image of one. Their gorgeous New York brownstone is more than just a home; it’s the centerpiece of the identity they’ve carefully constructed. When Ted loses the fortune that has been financing their lifestyle, they refuse to accept the possibility of losing everything they’ve worked so hard to acquire.

Their solution? Murder. If Ted’s wealthy brother dies, they’ll inherit enough money to keep their dream alive. It’s a simple plan. Or so they think.

Shari Lapena has never pretended to write literary fiction, and I don’t think this novel is trying to be anything more than a highly entertaining thriller. For what it sets out to accomplish, it succeeds remarkably well. The writing is clean and engaging, the pacing is excellent, and the central premise is unique enough to distinguish it from the countless domestic thrillers currently on bookstore shelves.

This is the kind of novel that’s easy to recommend to readers who simply want a fun ride. You don’t have to spend time unpacking layers of symbolism or analyzing complex themes. Instead, you can settle in and enjoy watching an increasingly complicated situation spiral out of control.

Of course, getting away with murder isn’t quite as simple as Jill and Ted imagine. The interesting question isn’t just whether they’ll be caught. It’s what happens if they aren’t. Killing someone is one thing. Living with yourself afterward is something else entirely. Living with your spouse after you’ve both crossed that line together introduces an entirely different set of problems. Once you’ve seen what your partner is truly capable of, can you ever look at them the same way again?

Or perhaps the bigger challenge is surviving your partner’s incompetence. As the novel progresses, Jill’s growing contempt for Ted becomes one of its most entertaining elements. Much of that resentment stems not from the murder itself but from Ted’s increasingly clumsy handling of everything that follows. What was supposed to be the perfect crime slowly becomes a series of avoidable mistakes, and watching Jill’s confidence in her husband deteriorate adds an extra layer of tension—and dark humor—to the story.

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The novel also does an effective job using the couple’s beloved brownstone as more than just a setting. In many ways, the house is the entire motivation behind the crime. Jill and Ted don’t simply love their home; they see it as proof of who they are. Losing it would mean losing the life they’ve convinced themselves they deserve.

Ironically, the very house they murder to protect gradually becomes its own kind of prison. Whether the legal system ever catches up with them almost becomes secondary. Their guilt, paranoia, and collapsing relationship trap them inside the life they were so desperate to preserve. Even if they escape prosecution, they may not escape the consequences.

One aspect of the novel genuinely made me laugh every time it appeared. Jill and Ted repeatedly refer to other people as criminals, discussing suspicious behavior and moral failings as though they themselves occupy some higher ethical ground. It never seems to occur to either of them that they are, in fact, the criminals. They’ve murdered a man in cold blood for financial gain, yet they continue judging everyone else with complete sincerity. That disconnect becomes one of the book’s funniest recurring jokes.

While Getting Away With Murder won’t leave readers contemplating profound philosophical questions, it doesn’t need to. This is an expertly crafted suspense novel that delivers exactly what thriller fans want: compelling characters, mounting tension, satisfying twists, and a conclusion that rewards sticking with the story.

If you’re looking for an addictive summer thriller that’s easy to binge over a weekend, this one deserves a spot on your reading list. Have you read Getting Away With Murder, or is it on your summer reading list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Related Content

• Shari Lapena: Murder mysteries and a pony named Nutmeg (Horse Sport)
• An exclusive interview with Shari Lapena (She Writes)
• Shari Lapena and the art of disrupted domesticity (Crime Reads)
• Interview with Shari Lapena (The Strand Mystery Magazine)

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