It's so exciting to finally finish a book. The old me devoured books in a day or two. I don't recognize this person I've become. At one time I was the type of reader that couldn't walk away from a book, regardless of my waning interest in the title. Now... I'm all too happy to chuck anything that doesn't feel worth my time. So... was The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz worth my time? Simply put, obviously since I finished it. On a more complex level, I should have moved on.

Let's get to it...

The Accomplice introduces us to the dynamic duo that is Luna and Owen. The two are the quintessential pair that come from two very different lives but are brought together (like so many) after meeting in college. I mean really, where else can you meet your complete opposite soulmate? Anyway...

Everyone sees the two as a package deal. No they don't date or have any romantic inclinations towards each other but one would suspect they do since they are practically inseparable. They know each other on a whole other level. Most importantly, they know each other's secrets. Or rather, their secret lives...

The only catch with the two is that there seems to be a trail of dead bodies left behind in their wake. Lisa Lutz opens with the mystery that is the death/murder of Owen's wife Irene. Ironically Luna finds her body on a trail they frequently run together. Lutz offers no shortage of suspicion that jumps from one to the other. The Accomplice develops by altering between the past during their college days, and the present where Irene's been killed.

Essentially, there's enough intrigue and mystery to hold tight to waning interests but the ending fell kinda flat for me.

Truth be told I had a more elaborate and descriptive ending to this review but I stepped away from what I was writing and when I picked back up and pressed send Goodreads was basically like nope! We will not be accomplice to you finishing this review with a somewhat preserved idea of a point. Therefore I’ll stop right here and say that For the most part I enjoyed reading Lutz The Accomplice. I only wish the ending didn’t fall so flat for me.

Copy provided by Random Publishing House via Netgalley

Holy cow, how did I idiotically wait this long to read this story by a long-time beloved author?! While I do miss Ms Lutz’s forays into snarky, crazily-connected-to The Spellman family and such, I have also thoroughly enjoyed this newer path of suspense and serious tales.
The fascinating plot line and characters in this book, especially the uniquely platonic part, were very engaging and I know they will be for others. Pick this one up, y’all!
Thanks also do net galley and the publisher for this ARC!

An entertaining thriller. The flashback chapters took a good long while to dole out information, which got irritating at times, but otherwise I enjoyed it.

Full of quirky characters and twisty events, this was the best fun I have had with Lutz since the Spellmans. Luna's mysterious background and longtime friendship with Owen is explored in an alternating timeline between their college days at Markham to the present of 2019. Sadly, coincidental murders seem to connect them as well and I was surprised several times at the reveals as the story went along. This was good and you never know, the way it ended certainly leaves the door open for another.

Finally! A book where the leads are friends that don't turn into lovers. REJOICE! Luna is quite the character with her idiosyncrasies and past traumas. But I do so love her attitude and how the author shows that typical sway of how men are interested in those who just don't give is a shit over a girl is way too over available. Le sigh.

But alas, do YOU like people? Here's the question that starts their entire friendship and I was riveted... until I wasn't. I love that suspenseful feel we get through the entire read but I think I was expecting that beat to drop and when it came down to what should've felt like an explosive part, it just kinda fizzled. I think the ending may have tried a little too much. *shrug*

This is my third by this author and I would absolutely recommend The Swallows as it is currently my favorite by Lutz. This, and the Passengers, were fun reads and Lutz does a fantastic job of bringing the reader in. Unfortunately, I felt the air go out of this balloon with this ending.

Friendships, family trauma, secrets... it's all in here. If you prefer the character driven part where we learn about Luna and Owen and how their friendship develops and maintains over time, I'd definitely recommend this. If you're looking for explosive twists that leave your head spinning... well, it's not going to happen here.

Always on the search for page-turning suspense, I am frequently disappointed. This book did not disappoint me even though I doubted in the first few pages.

There were enough twists, turns, and misdirections to keep me satisfied and reading furiously. And the nice thing about the misdirection was that it wasn't completely over-the-top or unbelievable. She deftly laid out a scatter of breadcrumbs and was able to tie everything together.

I really enjoyed the author's use of the back and forth jumps in time and character to keep things moving, and her chapter structure was fabulous. If I taught a course on how to develop your chapters, this book would be in the syllabus.

While I didn't really ever like any of the characters or feel like cheering them on, I felt like they were true to themselves and their stories. I don't want to post any spoilers, but would have loved more of Irene because I think she was intriguing.

I read the passenger a few years ago and was so consumed by the character and the story I remember wanting more from this author. Flash forward to 2022 and this new release. Again immediately engaging and it kept me guessing all the way through. The characters were so twisted I only predicted one half of the mystery. Again I want more !

How much is too much for your ride or die?


Luna Grey and Owen Mann have an unbeatable bond and have been best friends since college. Complete opposites, they became known as Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen. They go together like peas and carrots. Not everyone understands their relationship, and how it never turned into love.

Their friendship survives secrets, gossip, and a curious death back in their college days.

Years into the future, Luna and Owen are married to their respective partners. One day, Luna finds Owen’s wife, Irene, shot dead in a cemetery. How?! Who?! Why?!?! Luna is convinced Owen is innocent.

Long buried secrets come to light, and these two friends realize they might not know each other as well as they thought they did.

I looked forward to this book after reading and loving "The Passenger" several years ago, and I’m glad it didn't disappoint! The writing draws you immediately into the crux of the mystery and doesn't let go until the end. I loved the author's technique of switching between two timelines (college years and 2019). I was enthralled and couldn’t wait to see how everything tied together at the end.

I went into this expecting a pulse pounding thriller. It’s more of a slow burn suspene. While I was fine with it, other readers may have to adjust expectations. The ending, though enjoyable and well plotted, felt a bit anticlimactic. Again, for some reason, I wasn’t bothered by that...maybe because the execution from start to finish was really strong. I guess it was the right read at the right time.

Overall, this is a hard-to-put-down and compelling tale with mysterious undertones, suspenseful chapters that keep you hooked, and brilliant/biting dialogue (which I really love).

The Accomplice is an dual-timeline murder mystery.

Owen and Luna have been best friends—and only friends—since college. When Owen’s wife is shot and killed, both Owen and Luna are suspects.

The Accomplice had more than one twist and I definitely didn’t see any of them coming. I enjoyed the dual-timeline aspect, so I could do how the events of the past transformed Owen and Luna into their present day selves.

Thank you Ballantine Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To what lengths will best friends go to protect the other?
Luna and Owen became best friends in college. Never romantic with each other but always in each other's lives. When a woman Owen has had relations with turns up dead, the two of them get wrapped up in the investigation. Years later, although married to other people the two remain best friends. When Luna finds Owens wife dead in a cemetery while going for a run, suspicions flourish as the events from the past bring new questions to this case. Luna has a past she wants to keep secret, when those secrets are revealed will her innocence be believed? With death surrounding the two will their friendship survive or will it break under the pressure?
Written in the duel timelines of their college days in 2003 alternating chapters with the current events in 2019 the two cases are explored. Through multiple POV's the events unfold in surprising ways.
I enjoyed the way the plot was laid out and found it easy to follow both timelines. My thoughts on who the killers were kept changing as the story developed and the reveals were surprising. I recommend this one to those who enjoy well crafted, character driven stories.

Can I tell you something? Can you keep a secret? Friends forever?…….I enjoyed this book couldn’t put it down, kept me on the edge of my seat.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy.

This book was just a miss for me. It is NOT a tense, chilling, suspense-filled thriller. It is a novel about friendship and what people will do for each other when those people truly care about you. It was an interesting book, but there were just too many things that I really didn't like to allow me to rate it any higher.
Owen and Luna meet in college and develop an incredibly strong friendship that most people don't understand. When Owen's on-again-off-again girlfriend ends up dead, Luna is one of the few people who stands by him, maybe because she has things in her past that she would rather stay that way. Many years later both Owen and Luna are married--to different people--but are still best friends. One morning Owen's wife is found shot. The police aren't sure who should be a suspect, but everyone knows that Owen and Luna definitely act like they have things to hide.
While there was a mystery (several, in fact) in this book, the author didn't really create a feeling of gripping tension throughout the book. One of the aspects that really took away from any feelings of a suspense-thriller was the fact that the book was written in an omniscient third-person point of view that bounces back and forth from one character to another multiple times on one page. The reader can see what is going on in any person's head at any point in the book. Any feeling of questioning motives or wondering what someone is thinking at any time is gone, and so most of the mystery is gone, as well. The tone comes across as very matter-of-fact, impersonal, and maybe a bit robotic. And for me, the ending wasn't great. I didn't really get much of a sense of personal resolution or character growth.
This was not a bad book--if you go into it knowing it is a literary mystery focused on the deep friendship between Luna and Owen. If you are wanting a tension-filled psychological thriller, then I'd look elsewhere.

This was not what I was expecting - definitely a little slower of a book but I was never bored and I couldn't put it down to find out what was going to happen!

I was very excited to receive access to this book as it sounded very intriguing. It tells the story of two friends who find themselves at the center of two deaths, decades apart. While I found it to be a decent mystery, the ending was rather underwhelming. For such a long book, it was disappointing how the book seemingly ran out of steam in the end. Generally, it was an okay read, but it’s not a must read for me. 3 stars ⭐️ rating for this one. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the access copy for review.

This story turned out to be much more complicated than I initially thought, from the synopsis. Luna and Owen meet in college and become inseparable. Their relationship is unusually close but strictly platonic. Somehow, they become entangled in two separate deaths, one in college and one a decade and a half later. The story is told in dual timelines, and we learn details about both situations and secrets little by little. The marriages that are portrayed are extremely dysfunctional and unhealthy. Neither Luna nor Owen seemed terribly concerned about infidelity or even death.

The plot is fast-paced and kept me intrigued throughout. The cliffhangers were clever and not contrived. It did seem that the author had run out of juicy twists by the end, and the actual reveal was quite anticlimactic. There were so many people who were potential suspects, and the actual guilty party was someone not even mentioned before. There was no way the reader could have figured it out, and it was a bit of a cop-out. We also never even hear from the perspective of the criminal. That was the only reason I docked a star from the rating.

Thanks to Net Galley for a free copy.

I won't bother with a synopsis, since you can see that in most other reviews.

The Accomplice was a somewhat enjoyable read, but definitely not the thriller I expected. It is a slow read that seemed to get less interesting as it plods along. The characters are not that sympathetic, and the varying points of view are sometimes a bit too much.

The Accomplice is a good thriller from the very beginning.

Luna Grey and Owen Mann have been friends since college. The friendship was an unexpected one. The popular guy and the secretive girl. Yes, Luna's secret is a big one. One that not even Owen knows.

Then Owen's ex-girlfriend is found dead in a hiking path and suspicion lies on Owen alone.

In the present, Owen and Luna are still best buddies. Owen is married to Irene and Luna lives just a few houses from him. Luna is also married although she doesn't seem to be happy. When Luna finds out Owen is cheating and she learns this from Irene herself, she meets Owen to make sure he knows his wife knows.

The next day, Irene is found dead, shot in the cemetery, and guess who finds her? Luna. What does Luna do? She runs to tell Owen instead of calling the cops.

Did Owen kill Irene and if yes, does this mean he killed his ex-girlfriend in college too? Has Luna been wrong about Owen all this time? Can she live with herself if this is true?

The Accomplice was an entertaining novel that kept me guessing until the end. Up to the last part, it was a four for me but the ending let me down. After all the build-up, it was missing the "awe" conclusion it needed.

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Ballantine Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Accomplice
Lisa Lutz
⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
Wasn’t the best book I’ve read and most definitely wasn’t the most horrible book I’ve read.
I just felt like this book was just to hard to keep up with. You find you’re wife dead, and your out cheating on her with someone else… I don’t know to me it was just to much going on…

How far would you go in the name a friendship? This was a fun and exciting read. While I loved the story and trying to figure out the mystery of it, I would have been happy reading a book about the friendship between Luna and Owen. I appreciate actually 'experiencing' the growth of the friendship instead of being 'told' about it. The writing style was one if my favorite things about the book. While I did find myself reading certain chapters more than once, it was more for me to go back and see what I missed after finding something out important. If you haven't figured it out, I loved this book! This was the 1st book read by the author, however, I can absolutely say it won't be the last. Thanks for the opportunity to review and experience this story.

I liked this book and this author, it was well written, had intriguing characters and I was interested in finding out what happened with both deaths In the story.