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A LIFE IN GOOD BOOKSBookWayfinder

WHEN THE CASE IS PERSONAL

Books like The Perfect Marriage

Start with A Good Marriage for another lawyer handling a murder case involving a man close to her. Lizzie Kitsakis helps an old friend while her own marriage is under strain. For a broader connection, The Wife Between Us questions first impressions of a wife and her replacement. The Silent Patient follows a psychotherapist trying to understand a woman's silence after her husband's death.

Marvin Smit · Owner & editor

Updated · Our approach

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About The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

Read the book overview, or explore the sources behind its premise.

AT A GLANCE

Compare your next read

A Good Marriage keeps the lawyer and murder-defense setup. The other recommendations follow marriage assumptions and a therapist's investigation.

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Suggested books compared by setting, central relationship and what to choose each one for
BookSettingCentral relationshipChoose it for
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight, paperback cover
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A Good MarriageKimberly McCreight
Rikers and a Park Slope, Brooklyn social circleA lawyer and an old friend who is the main suspect in his wife's deathThe closest match: a murder defense beside a strained marriage
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, paperback cover
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The Wife Between UsGreer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
A former marriage and the relationship that follows itA former wife and the younger woman who seems to replace herA broader pick: first assumptions about a marriage, questioned
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, paperback cover
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The Silent PatientAlex Michaelides
A secure forensic unit in North LondonA psychotherapist and a patient who stopped speakingA broader pick: a death in a marriage, examined afterward
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight, paperback cover
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A Good Marriage

by Kimberly McCreight

Paperback edition

  • Published
  • 400 pages

A puzzle to unravel

Why this connection?
This is the closest legal-defense match. Lizzie Kitsakis is a lawyer, and her old friend Zach Grayson asks for her help from Rikers after his wife, Amanda, dies. He is the main suspect, so, as with Sarah and Adam, a lawyer takes up the case of a man close to her.
What is different?
Zach is a friend, not Lizzie's husband, and the dead woman is his wife rather than his lover. Lizzie's own marriage is in trouble at the same time, and the investigation spreads into the Graysons' Park Slope social circle.
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The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, paperback cover
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The Wife Between Us

by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Paperback edition

  • Published
  • 432 pages

Secrets at home

Why this connection?
Pick this if Sarah, Adam and Kelly as a triangle interested you more than the legal case. The Wife Between Us also starts with a man and two women: a former wife and the younger woman who seems to be taking her place. Its publisher openly warns that your first assumptions about them may be wrong.
What is different?
This is a broader choice. Its premise centers on assumptions about a marriage rather than a legal defense. Choose it for the apparent roles of wife and replacement, and how those women are seen.
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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, paperback cover
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The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides

Paperback edition

  • Published
  • 368 pages

A puzzle to unravel

Why this connection?
Choose this if you want another death tied to a marriage and an open question about what really happened. Painter Alicia Berenson stops speaking after her husband's violent death, and psychotherapist Theo Faber wants to learn why she stays silent.
What is different?
The professional is a therapist, not a lawyer, and the person at the center is his patient, not a husband he must defend. It is set in a secure forensic unit after the death; choose it for the aftermath and a patient's silence, not for a legal defense.
See books like The Silent Patient
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Another way into your next book

Verity by Colleen Hoover, paperback cover
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Inspired by: Verity by Colleen Hoover

SECRETS BEHIND THE FRONT DOOR

Books like Verity

Find books like Verity for a newcomer in a secretive home, letters from a troubled marriage or a couple whose public image hides a different private life.

Explore this guide : Books like Verity
Never Lie by Freida McFadden, paperback cover
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A suggested starting book: Never Lie by Freida McFadden

FOLLOW THE KIND OF MYSTERY YOU LOVE

Authors like Ruth Ware

Explore authors like Ruth Ware through three starting books: Freida McFadden for isolation, Alice Feeney for marital secrets and Paula Hawkins for a witness mystery.

Explore this guide : Authors like Ruth Ware