The Golden Couple

The Golden Couple is a psychological thriller that maintains many conceits of the genre while subverting others. The book includes elements that are characteristic of a thriller, such as numerous plot twists that keep the reader turning the pages. Unexpected revelations, like the identity of Marissa’s lover, heighten the narrative tension and maintain the book’s pace. The book also includes many red herrings—false clues that lead the reader in the wrong direction. Various characters, like Natalie, Polly, and Skip, seem like they all could be the book’s “bad guy” at one point or another. The red herrings continue to point at everyone except the book’s actual “bad guy,” Matthew, until the very last chapters.

The book also has an element of a detective novel to it, with Avery’s character posited as the detective. Avery investigates the Bishops as she tries to heal their marriage, even going so far as to follow them on a date night. The reader accompanies Avery on these missions, joining her in the sleuthing role. Meanwhile, Marissa’s chapters are told from a third-person point of view. It’s noteworthy that Matthew, the book’s antagonist, doesn’t have his point of view represented. The reader only has access to Avery’s and Marissa’s thoughts. This is unusual, as many psychological thrillers give more insights into the killer’s mind, even while keeping the killer anonymous. This is exemplified in works like Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient (2019) and Jeneva Rose’s The Perfect Marriage (2020), for instance: The reader has intimate access to the killer’s inner thoughts, while not knowing that they are communing with the killer until the end.

Despite this anomaly, The Golden Couple generally upholds the conceits of the thriller. This is exemplified in the book’s final chapters. The narrative tension reaches its peak in the climax, as a clear danger—a threat on Marissa’s life—is identified. The pace of the narrative quickens in parallel with the rising threat. Finally, all the red herrings are cleared up and the loose threads of the narrative tied up in a denouement—the single, grandiose confession from Matthew—in which he’s revealed as the book’s true antagonist. Matthew’s final monologue clears up many questions that the “detectives” of the book, Avery/the reader, have been trying to answer.