The Perfect Couple

First off, I’m a guy. I get that I’m not exactly a part of Ms. Hilderbrand's target audience. But I decided to show some courage and post a review from a regular guy’s perspective. Whether that’s good or bad I’ll leave to you.

How’d I get into this? Well, I spend Summers on Nantucket, I was looking for something to read, and I was curious to see what all the excitement over the The Perfect Couple was about. (A starred Kirkus review? That’s pretty serious stuff). So this was an experiment of sorts. I think it was a successful one in that I finished the book. This in spite of the authors chronically pretentious and unnecessary name dropping of every trendy high end fashion brand known to man. (No, that’s not quite fair. I should have said every trendy high end fashion brand known to woman).

Is this great writing? No. But it’s not meant to be, is it? It’s not Hammett, it’s chick-lit. Still, I’m embarrassed to say, I really enjoyed the story. It was very easy to follow; and knowing a lot about the island made it fun. There were a lot of twists and turns and the characters were interesting; I think I recognized a few of them in real life. I’ve seen guys like the Benji character. Although a cynic may see him as a bit of a blind sucker, there was something noble about him that fostered sympathy. He could have murdered his best man and it would have been justifiable homicide in my book. But the focus of the story wasn’t really about the guys, was it? It was all about the girls. Most of it wasn’t flattering from where I was sitting. Maybe it was the overdose of fluff that came with every description of what they were wearing that did me in. Nevertheless, I was reasonably successful in separating the confection from the meat of the story, even though I complained and rolled my eyes all through it, right to the bitter end.

I know, it’s bad. Yet, here I am confessing that I wanted to read her book. I liked reading it, complaining about it, and I felt compelled to finish it. Apparently, Ms. Hilderbrand has an addictive formula that hooked this guy at a perfect moment in time. She deserves 5 stars for that alone.

I had long been aware of Elin Hilderbrand's novels, as my mother typically bought her latest beach read when it came out each summer. She was a big fan, and I'd always intended to check out the books, but hadn't gotten around to it. I lost my mother six months ago, and I decided to read this year's offering as kind of a tribute to her since she's not here to do it. I now understand why she liked them so much -- "The Perfect Couple" is the definition of a page-turner. Despite its length (more than 450 pages), I read it over two largely sleepless nights.

Hilderbrand makes the beauty of summertime in Nantucket almost palpable, but in this book, a mystery is central to the story. A young couple -- the groom from a wealthy Nantucket family, the bride from a modest Pennsylvania upbringing -- is about to marry, and their friends and family have gathered on the island for the occasion. But the morning of the event, a member of the wedding party is found floating facedown near the groom's family's home. The book then goes back and forth in time between the authorities questioning various family members and guests, and setting up the events leading to the wedding day. The resolution, to me, wasn't a disappointment -- more poignant than anything else.

It would be easy to view this as simply a scandal-ridden beach read that reminds you, once again, that money isn't everything, and can't fix everything. But what's really striking about these characters is their humanness. Basically, they are just people who either made, or were pushed into making, bad choices, and then either handled them badly, tried to make things right, or simply denied their own feelings to prevent hurting others. The point is that people aren't black-and-white -- just when you think you've pegged a character as selfish or shallow, he or she shows kindness or consideration to another, and you realize that we're not all good or all bad; we're just human.

I am now going to go back through my mom's books and read her other Hilderbrands, as I very enjoyed this one a great deal.

Upon reading the book blurb for this one, I knew I just had to pre-order it – a beautiful island wedding where the guests are all staying at the same location, and the maid of honour is found dead – sold! And did it live up to my expectations – yes, yes, yes! I knew going in that it was going to be tamer than my usual crime read, leaning more towards contemporary drama, which it was, but I have to say it was a nice change of pace for me, and I really enjoyed it. The mystery plot, which I worried might be too obvious, wasn’t, and even when I thought I had worked it out, turns out I was wrong.

There’s a lot of glamour and glitz, talk of décor, scenery, parties, outings, heaps of descriptions of food and drink (which all sounded delicious by the way) but again that was a given before I even opened the book, and was told in such an interesting, insightful way, that I even relished those parts. Nantucket Island sure does sound like a gorgeous place, and the author definitely did it justice.

The story opens with the Chief of Police receiving a phone call that the maid of honour has been found floating in the ocean, on the morning of the wedding day, and covers the subsequent investigation that follows. There are also multiple flashbacks to the day before the wedding, as well as the two years leading up to the event. At times the story is pretty heartbreaking and tragic, so keep those tissues handy, but there’s also some amusing and touching moments that have you smiling.

After perusing Elin Hilderbrand’s other books, it looks like this is the authors first mystery novel, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed she writes more in this vein, as she did an amazing job. Even though it’s winter here, and I read under the covers with the electric blanket, this would make an excellent summer beach read, as it’s easy to read, and follow.

It’s Nantucket wedding season, also known as summer-the sight of a bride racing down Main Street is as common as the sun setting at Madaket Beach. The Otis-Winbury wedding promises to be an event to remember: the groom’s wealthy parents have spared no expense to host a lavish ceremony at their oceanfront estate.

But it’s going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons after tragedy strikes: a body is discovered in Nantucket Harbor just hours before the ceremony-and everyone in the wedding party is suddenly a suspect. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash interviews the bride, the groom, the groom’s famous mystery-novelist mother, and even a member of his own family, he discovers that every wedding is a minefield-and no couple is perfect.

My Thoughts: Against the backdrop of the gorgeous fairytale setting of Nantucket, The Perfect Couple offers romantic moments and promises of happily-ever-after.

But for the wedding couple, the promises do not come off as planned. Slipping back and forth in time, we learn the secrets behind the facades of the wealthy Winbury family, and we only begin to see what Celeste Otis wants and needs as the wedding date approaches. Her true heart will be revealed as the clock ticks toward the exchange of vows. A tragedy then takes everyone off course, and in the midst of chaos, self-examination must take place.

What makes a happily-ever-after couple? Will Celeste’s dreams of perfection, based on what she sees between her parents, the original “perfect couple,” guide her toward her own true love? Or will the trappings of wealth and privilege owned by the Winbury family misdirect her, forcing a focus on security and comfort? How does a last-minute attraction push her off course? Will she acknowledge her true feelings before it is too late?

Solving the mystery of the body in the harbor keeps everyone a bit off balance for the duration. Meanwhile, the vision of a perfect couple, and what that looks like, haunts each of the characters. Taunting them, reminding them of what others have, and what somehow eludes them. In the end, answers come, but they seem sad and anticlimactic. 4.5 stars.

Elin Hilderbrand has written many novels that take place on Nantucket. This is her first murder mystery and the first book that I have read by the author. The setting is beautiful and full of details of how the well-to-do spend their summers on the island.

A wedding is scheduled to take place. The groom, Benji is the scion of a wealthy family while his bride to be, Celeste, comes from a loving, middle-class background. Celeste and Benji's parents come to life in portrait-like depictions. Benji's mother is a society woman who writes mystery novels and always hosts in the most proper ways. Her husband, Tag, is a man who has had many affairs. They live a life of luxury but do not have a happy marriage. In contrast, Celeste's parents are "salt of the earth" types who have a loving relationship. Karen, who has breast cancer, is portrayed in a wonderfully empathetic fashion. Kudos to the author for sympathetically but not maudlin-ly describing Karen. Bruce, Celeste's dad, clearly adores both his wife and child. They both want only Celeste to be happy and secure.

Celeste's maid of honor is the murder victim. For fear of spoilers, I won't say more about what happened or the solution of the mystery. There are numerous suspects and many relationships come into play.

This is what I would describe as a good summer read. It is a long (over 400 pages) novel in which the reader becomes immersed. If you want a light summer escape, this one is worth trying.

I knew this was a mystery story going in, but it was quite different than Elin’s other novels set on Nantucket. The characters were rich and multi-faceted, but the back and forth timeline that often took us off Nantucket wasn’t my favorite. The story definitely needed context to give the mystery depth, but the dual timelines and locations were a slight miss for me. The book is still 4.5 stars, and definitely worth the read but if you’ve read a lot of her other work, just expect this one to be a bit different.