I was happy to receive a copy of Alafair Burke’s The Better Sister from Harper Collins and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Why happy? Alafair Burke is a terrific writer, “domestic thriller” is one of my fave genres when done well, and the story just sounded kind of juicy.

There are two Taylor sisters who grew up in Cleveland, Nicky and her younger sister Chloe. Nicky is kind of the wild child, and Chloe the honor student. Nicky stays in Ohio, marrying Adam and having a son, Ethan. Chloe goes off to an Ivy League university, moves to New York, becomes a big deal in publishing, and is an advocate for the #metoo movement in particular and women’s rights in general. As the sisters’ lives grow apart, they essentially become strangers. Then, after Nicky and Adam divorce and he get custody of Ethan, Nicky drifts from job to job and man to man, and it seems not too much of a stretch when Adam moves to New York and hooks up with Chloe, eventually marrying her. Chloe becomes Ethan’s stepmother, although she never adopts him and Nicky retains parental rights (despite being completely absent from her son’s life).

One evening, Chloe returns to the family’s Hamptons beach house and finds Adam dead, apparently murdered by an intruder.  As the investigation develops, the number one suspect seems to be Ethan, and Chloe is basically forced to allow Nicky back into her and Ethan’s lives as Nicky is Ethan’s only legal parent, and he is still a minor. The murder mystery is well done, and the writing is terrific throughout. I love the way Burke describes people via the thoughts in her characters’ heads, for example when Chloe refers to the kooky stylist she hires to get her ready for a big event: “…she was proof that some people simply choose to march to their own beat, even if they can keep perfect time with the rest of the band.”

Impossible to reveal more without including spoilers, which I NEVER do. I’m a fan of Alafair Burke, and although this one was less than perfect, it totally held my interest. I even kind of liked the resolution at the end, although I may be in the minority there. Four stars.