Twisty and ingenious, A Friend Indeed is an engrossing psychological thriller perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Ruth Ware.
When single mom Jo Dykstra was at her lowest—jobless and penniless—her childhood friend Dana McFarlane helped her out big-time by securing her a teaching job and thus an opportunity for a new life in the affluent Pacific Northwest town of Glebes Bay. So, when Jo gets a frantic late-night call from Dana, sobbing and desperate for help, it feels like a chance to help her friend in return.
The last thing Jo expects to see when she arrives at Dana’s oceanfront mansion? Her friend’s handsome and wealthy husband, Stan, dead, sprawled face down on the floor. Dana admits to killing her husband following years of secret abuse and begs Jo not to call the police. For nearly two decades, Dana’s marriage and family had looked picture perfect. Who’d ever believe that pillar-of-the-community Stan was a monster? Determined to cover up her husband’s killing and shield her kids from scandal, Dana convinces Jo to help her dispose of the body.
But the cover-up starts to crumble when a blackmailer threatens to expose their crime. Hounded by gossipy neighbors, ill-fated lovers, and zealous cops, truth and lies are laid bare between Jo and Dana, putting their families in danger and threatening to shatter a thirty-year friendship. Shocking and fast-paced, A Friend Indeed is a riveting tale about the power of friendship and the deadly weight of lies.
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“In her sensational new novel, A Friend Indeed, Elka Ray delivers a darkly atmospheric tale of lifelong friends—Dana and Jo—whose trust in each other gets tested when Dana’s husband turns up dead. A nifty nod to noir played out between two women, Ray keeps the writing acid-sharp. Dana and Jo may be grown-ups with children of their own, but their deceptions hearken back to those of the teenagers they once were. Ray—in a masterful tick, tick, tick like a metronome—exposes the secrets each woman keeps from the other. As the characters’ mutual suspicions ratchet up, they each begin to unravel. Or so it seems. A Friend Indeed—like its writer—is devilishly smart with twists that are more delicious to unwrap than a box of chocolates.”
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Deborah Goodrich Royce, nationally bestselling author of Reef Road