The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
I got The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose for Christmas. I suspect it was from sort of surprise book thing because it came with various stickers and bits and pieces. This was sort of sweet, but also pointless as I was left with a lot of stickers and bits and pieces I had no need for and had to consider how to dispose of them responsibly.
It took me a while to get round to reading The Perfect Marriage because I didn’t like the cover. I think the cover is aimed more at an American market, as I don’t normally see covers like this one. The word Perfect is crossed out, because we all know there are never perfect marriages in thrillers. This one didn’t even pretend to be perfect!
Sarah is a hot shot lawyer who works very long hours. She loves her husband, Adam. Adam loves Sarah too. But he’s fed up of being on his own so much, so he starts an affair with Kelly. He loves Kelly and can’t decide between them.
Then Kelly is found stabbed to death in Adam’s bed and Adam is the number 1 suspect. Adam knows he didn’t do it and he needs the best defence lawyer in the business to help him – Sarah. She believes Adam when he said he didn’t kill Kelly and puts aside her feelings about him cheating to make sure a jury finds him not guilty. The story is told in short, alternate chapters by Adam and Sarah.
As a British reader, I’m very used to the British legal system from books and TV. The American system seems crazy. The police investigated for just a couple of weeks, before leaving it all in the hands of the lawyers. There were still unanswered questions, yet the police refused to look into them. The trial also came round really quickly, before all the evidence was in place. With the death penalty a very realistic outcome, this seems like madness.
After my initial misgivings about the book and it’s cover, I quite enjoyed The Perfect Marriage and it turned out to be a page turner. But, for me, it went off the boil a bit and the ending was disappointing. I actually guessed the identity of the murderer, although not the various details surrounding it.
If you want an easy page turner to read, The Perfect Marriage is OK. But there are plenty of much better thrillers out there – including those by Lisa Jewell and Clare Mackintosh. This book will be going straight to the charity shop.
