The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kendra, Lindsey, and Dani have all been friends since they were young. They have grown up together and have had the opportunity to raise their kids together. In fact, three of their sons, Jacob, Sawyer, and Caleb, are best friends too! From the outside, they look like three very happy middle class families.

Obviously, this is a thriller so we know that’s not true.

This is my first book by Lucinda Berry but I’ve heard about her book The Perfect Child which I’ve been dying to read, so I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. It didn’t disappoint, at all.

One fateful night, gunshots are heard coming from Caleb’s home. All three boys were they by themselves, and tragedy strikes. Sawyer is dead from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Jacob has been shot in the head and has physically survived, although he has been declared brain dead. Caleb was physically unharmed, but is no longer capable of speaking.

The mothers, who are best friends, take turns narrating the chapters. Secrets hidden from their best friends spill out to the reader as they try to process the tragedy. Suspicion escalates and marriages turn sour, because it’s unknown who shot who, or why.

I was gripped by this book and I really enjoyed reading it! I did feel that the characters lacked a bit of a distinctive voice from each other, which I can get past, as I wasn’t expecting fancy literature, just excellent twists, which it does partially provide. My biggest annoyance is that some storylines were intriguing but randomly dropped as though Berry forgot where she was going with it. No spoilers- there was a mention of “we don’t talk about that night back in high school” but we never find out what it was and that sort of drove me mad. Another is that an eating disorder is mentioned off-handedly but never has another mention or a resolution.

Overall, it’s a good read and the mystery was fun to untangle. I would definitely recommend it for anyone else who enjoys family drama, friend drama, mysteries, and light thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced edition copy in return for my honest review.

This book will be released on August 18th, 2020

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