Just the Nicest Couple – Book Review

Title:- Just the Nicest Couple

Author:- Mary Kubica

Date published:- January 10th 2023

No. of pages:- 320 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3/5

Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband…

Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.

Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.

This is the third (or fourth? I forgot) Mary Kubica book I have read. As to this day, Local Woman Missing is her favorite thriller. And still it is. Because Just the Nicest Couple didn’t really live up to my expectation.

Synopsis – Lily Scott confesses to her husband Christian that her friend Nina’s husband Jake Hayes had made a pass at her while they coincidentally met at the part and Lily hit Jake with a rock before fleeing the scene. Lily believes that Jake is dead her clothes were covered with Jake’s blood. Christian vows to help his wife by browsing everywhere in the park to look for Jake. Christian would do anything to protect his wife and prevent Nina from discovering that Lily has something to do with Jake’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Nina was feeling guilty about a fight she had with Jake and the next day, when Jake didn’t return home, and not even to his own work, Nina gets concerned and worried and would do anything to find her husband back.

Good points – The story is mainly told in the POVs of Christian who is the husband of Lily Scott and Nina who is the wife of Jake Hayes, who goes missing in the story. We get to see the thoughts of each of these characters and Christian’s and Nina’s loyalty towards their respective spouses. The writing of the story was overall great.

Bad Points – The story it seems is direct. Unlike Local Woman Missing, where you never know who the actual killer/suspect was, in this one, it seemed to be direct. I feel I kind of predicted what the ending was going to be like. There wasn’t much suspense in the story and not much of twists and turns in the story. As such, I didn’t really enjoy this book as I thought I should. The characters in my opinion were not really likable. Also, there was this someone stalking Nina scene and I thought that part of the story was completely unnecessary and unrelated to the overall plot of the book.

Overall review – This is a slow burn domestic thriller. This wasn’t in my opinion Mary Kubica’s best novel. However, it was OK thriller overall.

Verdict – Overall, this book worth 3 stars. If you haven’t read Mary Kubica’s books yet, then I highly recommend Local Woman Missing which was in my opinion a good thriller. This book is not recommended for the ones who haven’t read Mary Kubica’s books.