The Golden Couple

Risk taking has helped make Avery Chambers, the protagonist of this suspenseful if not always credible thriller from bestsellers Hendricks and Pekkanen (You Are Not Alone), the hottest mental health professional in Washington, D.C., but her maverick approach, at times incorporating techniques more typically employed by PIs (like tailing patients to check up on them), does have its dangers. Already on edge after making a whistleblower call to the FDA concerning a pharmaceutical company’s malfeasance, the recent widow starts to experience unsettling events, like what looks to be a professional break-in of her home, around the time she begins treating lawyer Matthew Bishop and his wife, boutique owner Marissa. Avery senses there’s much more going on with this power couple than their stated infidelity issue—but can even someone as resourceful as Avery get to the bottom of a relationship stretching back to the pair’s teens, and to the murder of Marissa’s best friend back then, in time to avert disaster? Though several of the twists seem forced, the authors keep the pages turning. This one represents a return toward the high standard of their early nail-biters. Agent: Margaret Riley King, WME (Mar.)