The sometimes rocky dynamics of female relationships have given rise to some great thrillers — Jane Harper's Force of Nature, Alafair Burke's The Better Sister or, most recently, our own Rose Carlyle's The Girl in
Phillips has a refreshingly direct style, capturing the tensions between Bec and Izzy without resorting to melodrama — a word here, a gift discarded there suffices.
Of course Izzy's husband — who works in finance and is writing a novel in his spare time — and Bec have some history; and the old "will they won't they?" tussle drives the narrative in the second half of the book.
Phillips has an acute eye for female and family relationships — the 30 pages dedicated to a rather disastrous and funny Christmas Day will strike a chord with many readers.
Unfortunately, the male characters never come alive to the same degree — but Izzy is a fantastic creation.
A sub-plot — involving Bec's personal trainer brother and an A-list American movie star — seems transported from Notting Hill but sets the scene for the final (rather surprising) denouement.
There's no shortage of thrillers dealing with this theme but Phillips' deft mash-up of chick-flick cliches (the blurb references The Rumour and The Holiday) and thriller tropes is a smart and entertaining addition to the genre.
My Best Friend's Murder, by Polly Phillips (Simon & Schuster, $35)