Love a domestic thriller? Check out my Review of Keep Your Friends Close with SPOILERS and the ending explained. Keep Your Friend Close is the story of a woman who doesn’t know who she can trust.
Jen’s Quick Take on Keep Your Friends Close
- Domestic suspense with female friendship themes
- Unlikeable characters and intriguing premise
- Set in Brooklyn and Woodstock New York
- May be predictable to thriller lovers, but a solid read
Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen
To be published on February 20, 2024 by Putnam. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review. I read this book in January 2024.
Plot Summary of Keep Your Friends Close
As she battles her wealthy husband for custody of their young son, Mary needs a friend more than ever and is happy to meet fellow mom Willa at a Brooklyn playground. But after a boozy night out, Mary shares dark thoughts about her ex, and Willa disappears.
Two months later, Mary’s trying to build a new life. On her first day in a new town, she runs into Willa. But Willa’s calling herself Annie and has a new family. Then George turns up dead and Mary becomes the prime suspect.
Did Willa have something to do with George’s death? Is Willa a confidante or just a con? Mary must uncover the truth before she loses everything.
Review of Keep Your Friends Close
I was excited about this one and put it on my list of Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024.
I found Keep Your Friends Close very readable in a way that reminded me of domestic suspense authors like Liv Constantine, or Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks.
But, if you’ve read more than a few domestic thrillers and read that synopsis, you can probably guess a lot of this plot.
Main character Mary is married to a man from a wealthy family, something that puts her at a disadvantage now that she’s getting divorced. She meets Willa, another mom at the playground and bonds instantly with her. Then Mary shares that she wishes her husband were dead. Then, surprise: he turns up dead.
I thought the synopsis of Keep Your Friends Close raised some interesting possibilities, like whether Willa is a psycho pulling a “Strangers on a Train” kind of maneuver. But the resolution ended up to be less interesting than I hoped. And make less sense!
For me, Keep Your Friends Close is a good library pick, but I don’t think it’s a standout in the very crowded domestic suspense lane.
Spoilers for Keep Your Friends Close and the Ending Explained
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Leave comments and questions below and I will answer them. Spoilers are fine!
I believe she chose Woodstock because there was a house there owned by George and his brother. Henry later uses the other key to it. I think it is a rental property!
Thanks so much – that makes sense!
I thought Willa chose Woodstock because on the train north from NYC she meets Rich and Poppy, who tell her they live in Woodstock. Willa spots her next grift and decides to get off there too, while also waiting to sell the jewels.
Yes, this is what confused me. The fact that Willa AND Mary both ended up in Woodstock is a big coincidence.
I am diving back into the book to find answers. Mary is renting in Woodstock, not realizing that Henry (George’s brother) has a place there too. She runs into Henry, and maybe he tells George that she’s there. OR did George follow Willa there?
Then, just like you said, there’s a flashback to Willa on the train and she seems to spontaneously decide to get off to follow Rich and Poppy as her new grift.
George has no connection to Woodstock and Willa even says later on that she felt there was “no real chance of George showing up” in Woodstock since he likes the Hamptons.
To me the past and present and Mary/Willa POV switching made many things confusing!