Spooky book season may be here, but some of us are still embedded in beach read season after devouring Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple. The oceanfront thriller is fueled by family drama, forbidden love, generational wealth, and puzzling female protagonists. And after binging its book-to-TV adaptation on Netflix, bookworms are hungry for more. We scoured bookshelves for novels similar to The Perfect Couple that will scratch your itch for whodunnit stories about lavish weddings gone wrong and toxic alliances. See our top picks below, then check out this comprehensive list of Hilderbrand’s 29-book catalog.
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1 | The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Macmillan Publishers
One of the most talked about books from this summer also happens to be set around a lavish wedding in a rich east coast town. When a couple’s Newport wedding weekend is interrupted by an uninvited guest (read: an uninvited guest with a plan), things hit the fan. It only get weirder when an unlikely friendship blossoms between the bride and wedding crasher.
2 | Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko
Penguin Random House
You are formally invited to the destination wedding of Matt and Misa in Turks and Caicos. The guest list includes controversial relatives, longtime friends, a frazzled wedding planner, and a psych ward dropout who’s finally ready to profess her feelings for the groom. What could possibly go wrong?
3 | My Darling Boy by Helen Cooper
Penguin Random House
For bookworms who loved The Perfect Couple’s mystery aspect and web of complicated relationships, add My Darling Boy to your TBR list. The domestic thriller follows a pair of ex-best friends after one of their sons is found dead and the other vanishes. It’s recommended for fans of “stories driven by family drama, unpredictable twists, and complex female protagonists.” Sound familiar?
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4 | You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa
Penguin Random House
As guests begin to arrive at Kaavi’s opulent wedding in Sri Lanka, hidden agendas and secrets are exposed, leading to the grotesque murder of the bride herself. At this wedding, everyone is a suspect—especially Amaya, the childhood best friend of the bride and the groom’s…ex-girlfriend.
5 | The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
St. Martin's Press
If the unsettling dynamic between Amelia and her fiancé’s mother, Greer Winbury, is what drew you in to The Perfect Couple, meet your next read. The Mother-in-Law follows Lucy in the wake of her mother-in-law’s sudden death—but there a few things you should know. First, Diana never approved of Lucy joining her posh family. Secondly, the autopsy negates the original cause of death. She was poisoned.
