The Accomplice

This book is nuts. Owen meets Luna at college and they become friends. Their friendship continues over the years until, one day, Luna finds the body of Owen's wife while she's out for a jog. And while the police are untangling that murder, Lutz takes the reader back to Owen and Luna's college days, which involve another suspiciously dead body, but of course that's just coincidence. As is secret from Luna's past, one so large that she changed her name.

So there's a ton going on, with frequent shifts between the timelines and Lutz makes it all work somehow, spinning the various plates of plot while building a story about a friendship that isn't always healthy or even good for the two people involved, but which does turn out to be the most show more important relationship of their lives. This thriller is fast-paced and so well-written and constructed so if you like your escapist reading to have a bit of substance and bite, you'll love this one. show less

Luna Gray has a secret, and it burdens her with guilt. She's moved on from the trial where, as a child, she helped exonerate her brother, who went on to commit another crime, but it has shaped her life and her relationship with her best friend Owen. Things grow harder to keep under wraps when Luna's friend - and Owen's wife - is murdered. Owen is a suspect, but so is the victim's creepy uncle.

While this story unrolls in 2019, we also travel back to the years when Owen and Luna were in college, and the death of a student who was obsessed with Owen begins to make Luna wonder if that death really was an accident.

I really enjoyed this offbeat, character-driven story with odd but compelling characters, all of whom had spectacularly awful show more families. (It will take some time for me to unsee the ferrets clinging to the sweater, thanks.) The mystery twines around different time periods and depends on an elaborate clockwork of information withheld out of guilt or misunderstandings. If you enjoy unusual characters and aren't put off by stories told in two time-frames (quite handily managed in this case) I recommend it. Ferrets and all. show less

Great new stand-alone from Lisa Lutz (with an Izzy Spellman vibe). The Accomplice tells the story of Owen and Luna who have been friends ever since college, and are now confronted with the fallout from the murder of Owen's wife. The story goes back and forth in time between college and the present. The author does a remarkable job of threading the needle to drop enough hints about what happened in the past to capture the reader's interest but not so many that they are intrusive and obvious. Her characteristic wry sense of humor permeates the book, primarily through the character of Luna. This was both a page-turner and a meditation on the nature of friendship and how well you can really know another person. Highly recommend! And thank show more you to Penguin Random House for the ARC! show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE ACCOMPLICE ABOUT?
Luna and Owen meet in a Business Ethics class in college and form an almost immediate bond, becoming the best of friends—you know the kind that 1977's Harry Burns says is impossible, but that 1987's Harry finds himself wanting. Without the romance of 1988/89. They're inseparable, a package deal—not just in college but after that.

Twelve years after their first meeting, Luna finds the murdered body of Owen's wife while out running. Obviously, the police focus on Owen initially, but Luna knows it wasn't him (not because of evidence, but because Owen wouldn't).

Still, it's hard not to think about a show more sort-of similar thing that happened back in college. And some of the things from Luna's past and...well, now things are a real mess. While worrying about Owen, dealing with some personal turmoil that arises at the same time, and answering questions from the police—Luna starts to re-examine that time in college and asks some questions she maybe should've asked a decade ago.

As the Publisher puts it:

The Accomplice brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you.

The novel is told in alternating timelines, an approach that really works in this case. The primary timeline is 2019 with the murder and its investigation and aftermath. The other starts with Luna and Owen's first meeting and then progresses through their college years, tracking the course of their friendship—focusing on that "sort-of similar thing."

OWEN AND LUNA/LUNA AND OWEN
My opinion of the two of them vacillated a lot over the course of the novel—particularly Owen (which had nothing to do with him as a suspect, just him).

But the two of them together? There's something special about their friendship...I can't put it into words, but when they're interacting, it's just a pleasure to read. The same applies to them when they're not interacting, but are looking out for each other. These two are great friends—easily forgiving each other, putting up with shortcomings (but being very aware of them), understanding each other better than their spouses, etc.

When either of them are being questioned by the police, for example, they're much more concerned about explaining the actions and clarifying problems for the other than they are with staying out of trouble with the police themselves. Even if, and this is the part that counts, they aren't feeling particularly fond of the other at the time.

Actual, living, breathing friendship. It's a great thing to see, and it's why I cared at all about this novel—sure, the puzzles were interesting, the dialogue was crisp, and so on. But you get drawn in, and kept in, by their friendship. Would I have read a slice-of-life novel about these two? Yes, and at times the book feels like it. Would I have read about these two taking a joint-family vacation where hilarity ensues instead of this crime? Absolutely. But this is better.

SOME MUTUAL FRIENDS
There's another couple that Owen and Luna knew from college (names withheld because they're not a couple when first mentioned). There is something about them that stood out from the rest of the characters in the book.

He's just a hoot in college—and she's the best friend that Luna has other than Owen (arguably better than Owen, but that's not something Luna would consider).

But their after-college activities are fantastic—it's not in Lutz's wheelhouse to do something like this, but man, I'd love a novel about their life. Their dynamic—as well as their business/products—steals every scene they're in for the 2019 timeline. I want more of them. I know I'm not going to get that, but it's on my wishlist, just a few notches down from flying cars and a way to make this blog my full-time job.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE ACCOMPLICE?
I keep seeing Lutz's The Passenger referenced in relation to this book—while that's not a bad book to compare this to, I think How to Start a Fire fits better in terms of tone and storytelling. If you go into this expecting something like the former, it's going to take you a minute to re-calibrate expectations.

There are good portions of this book that aren't all about "what's X's secret?", "who's the killer?", "what horrible—or at unscrupulous—activity has Y been up to?", etc. And those are just fun—it's light, clever, winning—you want to get to know these people, be their friends—shake your head at their eccentricities. THen every few pages, you get a reminder that--where's there's light, there's likely a shadow, and it might be best not to look into them.

Bouncing back and forth between the two timelines (and, eventually, a third that proves really illuminating toward both character and plot), Lutz reveals more of the characters, peels back the secrets, and advances the plot so easily, so naturally, that it must have been excruciating work. The easier it is on the reader, the harder it likely was on the author—and hopefully, Lutz took a nice break after finishing this. This is the kind of weaving that Lutz excels at—as seen in The Swallows, How to Start a Fire, and (yes) The Passenger—and she's getting better at it, I tell you, you won't see any of this coming.

It's not too surprising to see me recommending a Lutz novel (the surprise would be me not), but there's something different about this one. Set aside a couple of days and get to know Owen and Luna. show less

*Spoiler alert*

Luna Grey and Owen Mann meet in college and become inseparable friends. Luna comes in with a secret about her past that she never tells Owen, though he learns it through other channels; and when Owen is accused of murdering his off-again girlfriend, Scarlet, Luna stands staunchly by him, as do their friends Casey and Mason. Fast-forward from the early 2000s to 2019: Luna and Owen are still close friends who live close by, although Luna is married to a surgeon named Sam, and Owen is married to Irene. One morning, Irene discloses a secret to Luna, then leaves her house to go for a run - and is shot dead. Owen and Luna are both suspects (as is Sam, once he reveals that he and Irene were having an affair).

The surprises keep show more coming in this complexly plotted novel with richly rounded characters. No one is exactly guilty, but no one is exactly innocent either. What does it mean to be an accomplice?

Quotes

Grief would be so much easier if you didn't have to spend your time worrying about whether you were doing it right. (63)

She had to rethink her whole life yet again. She'd spent decades itemizing her sins, tracking her conscience like a loan shark. Guilt was a form of debt, and she was always in the red. (337) show less

I do love a well-written and well-paced crime novel! This one is all about guilt, secrets, loyalty, and good intentions gone awry. Owen and Luna are best friends. When they were in college, someone in their circle died under mysterious circumstances. Now, 15 years later, Luna has discovered the dead body of Owen's wife. Coincidence? Bad luck? MURDER?

Lutz spins out the story of this unlikely friendship in the present day and through flashbacks. She does a good job of keeping multiple balls in the air and pacing the story so that it was hard to put down. Very enjoyable read.

The Accomplice is the story of Luna and Owen, two friends since they started college. They are resolutely friends, not lovers, and have always been. Both of them are married to other people but remain close confidantes. Their relationship is strained, though, when Owen’s wife is murdered. You see, this is not the first time a woman who loved Owen has died in suspicious circumstances. A young woman who was obsessed with Owen died while they were in college and Owen was the primary, the only, suspect. But there was no evidence and Luna was certain he was innocent. Owen wouldn’t kill anyone.

The story is told in alternating timelines, so you follow the development of their friendship in college, including their difficulties after show more Scarlet, the young woman obsessed with Owen died. The current story begins the day before Owen’s wife is murdered when she confides in Luna that Owen is cheating. The next day, Luna is supposed to meet up with her to jog and she finds her body. The police, during the investigation, discover Owen was a suspect in the past and the investigation quickly hones in on him. And now Luna is wondering, not just about his wife, but about the past.

I enjoyed The Accomplice, but then I have enjoyed every one of Lisa Lutz’ books. Lutz is a talented writer who knows how to tighten the tension nearly to the breaking point. She also understands how good we are at scaring ourselves. However, while technically complying with the “Rules of Detective Fiction“, I am not convinced this is a “fair” solution. I am also someone who really dislikes complications that could have been avoided with one honest conversation. So while the book was well-written, tense, and kept me reading past bedtime, I was disappointed in the resolution which felt in one case, unfair, and in the other, unnecessary. In other words, I liked everything but the ending

I received an e-galley of The Accomplice from the publisher through NetGalley.
The Accomplice at Ballantine Books | Penguin Random House
Lisa Lutz author site
The Swallows also by Lisa Lutz

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