The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

Synopsis

“When a prominent Manhattan lawyer is murdered, two estranged sisters—one the dead man’s widow, the other his ex—must set aside mistrust and old resentments . . . but can they escape their past?

Though Chloe was the younger of the two Taylor sisters, she always seemed to be in charge. She was the honor roll student with big dreams and an even bigger work ethic. Nicky was always restless . . . and more than a little reckless—the opposite of her ambitious little sister. She floated from job to job and man to man, and stayed close to home in Cleveland.

For a while, it seemed like both sisters had found happiness. Chloe earned a scholarship to an Ivy League school and moved to New York City, where she landed a coveted publishing job. Nicky married promising young attorney Adam Macintosh, and gave birth to a baby boy they named Ethan. The Taylor sisters became virtual strangers.

Now, more than fifteen years later, their lives are drastically different—and Chloe is married to Adam. When he’s murdered by an intruder at the couple’s East Hampton beach house, Chloe reluctantly allows her teenaged stepson’s biological mother—her estranged sister, Nicky—back into her life. But when the police begin to treat Ethan as a suspect in his father’s death, the two sisters are forced to unite . . . and to confront the truth behind family secrets they have tried to bury in the past.”

-Synopsis from Goodreads

Review

I have been wanting to read an Alafair Burke book for a while now, so I was over the moon when Goodreads notified me that I’d won this giveaway for her new standalone novel, The Better Sister. Thank you, Goodreads 🙂

There are a few reasons as to why I really liked this book. First, the fact that I wasn’t able to guess the ending. This is a big one for me with mysteries and thrillers! It really did take me until the final pages to figure out who killed Adam. Second, the topics in the book were very timely. I am always impressed when an author is able to take aspects of pop culture and include them in a story. In this case, it was the Me Too movement, and the barrage of online harassment successful women are often faced with that were big parts of the story.

Finally, Burke herself used to be a prosecutor and you can tell by how detailed and technical some parts of the narrative are that she really knows her stuff! I like to learn new things when I’m reading, even if it’s super technical. Seeing a crime through the perspective of the accused, the lawyers, law enforcement, etc. is always enticing to me.

This book made me even more eager to read more of Alafair Burke’s work in the future.

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke will be available on April 16th!