Keep Your Friends Close

Konen’s (You Should Have Told Me) new domestic thriller is told in two voices: Mary, a Brooklyn housewife and mother, and Willa, the friend she makes on the playground. Mary is mid-divorce from George, who comes from a wealthy family; Mary has only what he gives her. All she wants is shared custody of their toddler, but George wants her back—and he is used to getting what he wants. Willa is her sounding board and friend until she abruptly ghosts her. Hurt but unsure how to fix things with the only friend she has, Mary is checking out a small town halfway between her family’s home in upstate New York and Brooklyn when she sees Willa—except this Willa has changed her hair color and insists her name is Annie. Mary quickly figures out that Annie/Willa is lying, and the story really goes off the rails when George is murdered and Mary is the prime suspect. It seems like everyone is prevaricating in this fraught battle to get to the truth and the murderer. It all unravels at breakneck speed, careening crazily to the dramatic ending.