Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Das Autorenduo ist wirklich genial: auch hier sind die Figuren sehr interessant, die Handlung höchst überraschend bzw. wendungsreich, und der Schreibstil erzeugt eine herrlich beklemmende Atmosphäre, die mitreißt!

Eine Ex-Therapeutin, arbeitet nun als Lebensberaterin mit unkonventionellen Methoden: sie ist fast schon eine Art Privatdetektivin, die alles über das Leben ihrer Klienten erfahren will, um optimal helfen zu können. 

Ein glamouröses Ehepaar mit sehr komplexen Problemen wird dabei jedoch zur echten Herausforderung für sie und ihre spezielle Methode…

Zudem kämpft sie noch mit den Nachwirkungen, die zwei ehemalige Klienten hinterlassen haben: ihre Art sich einzumischen und es „nicht gut sein lassen zu können“, bringt bei manchen Menschen aus dem Umfeld ihrer Kunden Unmut mit sich.

Die Geschichte ist sehr abwechslungsreich, geprägt von einem hervorragenden psychologischen Gespür, und durchweg unterschwellig spannend!

When Marissa and Matthew Bishop contact Avery Chambers for counselling, she senses immediately that they are hiding something but believes that the couple is perfect for her ten-step-therapy programme. First, it all goes according to plan. Marissa confesses her affair with somebody from her gym and Matthew reacts as one would suppose. But then, the picture blurs and Marissa’s employee Polly appears on the scene, as well as Matthew’s ex, and the couple is more and more under stress. Avery gets stressed, too, since she has her own battles to fight while caring for her clients. When Avery’s private life suddenly mixes with the Bishop’s, it becomes obvious that there are a lot more secrets than you would ever have expected. 

I have already enjoyed “The Wife between Us” and “You Are Not Alone” by the writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen and quite naturally was curious to see what their latest mystery “The Golden Couple” would come up with. I was not disappointed, a complex story which only slowly unfolds it whole potential and develops into a web of lies and secrets not easy to untangle.

The protagonist Avery is an interesting character. Admittedly, I’d say her professional approach might be questionable, but she is really concerned about the people she works with and puts a lot of effort in the counselling. Why she herself is always close to freaking out and on high alert only becomes obvious after some time, adding another aspect to her personality. 

The couple at first seems to be rather average but then develops into a fascinating pair which oscillates between fighting together and fighting each other. The other characters at some point become highly suspect in the way they act, what they obviously hide and the links they have which are not apparent at first.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel and I am eager to any further read of the duo.