Wow, I loved this one! It was layered, perfectly paced, and kept me guessing until the end. A Friend Indeed focuses on two long-time friends, Jo and Dana, who have very different lives. Jo, is a single mother and teacher, putting her life back together. Dana is a wealthy, married mother. When the story starts, Frantic Dana calls her oldest friend, Jo, for help in an emergency.

When Jo arrives to Dana’s mansion, Dana has been battered and she finds the body of Dana’s husband who she has just killed. Owing Dana a lot for her fresh start, Jo feels obligated to help her to protect Dana and her children. This is such a layered story, focusing on relationships, secrets, and what we’re willing to do for our friends and children. The police start circling and Dana is now being blackmailed. As new information continually comes to light, we’re left wondering what the truth is.

I read the ebook and listened to the audiobook. The audiobook is phenomenally narrated by Andi Ardnt and Hillary Huber. I especially enjoyed Huber as Jo as the narrator picks up her snark perfectly.

Thank you, Blackstone Publishing, for providing this e-book. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun twist and another example of me liking the toxic female trope. I thought this was well executed and I liked the cover.

I loved the premise of this one! It makes you question how far you would go for a friend.

Jo gets a hysterical call from her childhood best friend, Dana. Jo gets more than she anticipated when she arrives to find Dana's wealthy husband dead.

This is a solid read if you are looking for something fun, fast paced and with some twists and turns that you don't need to think about too hard. I can't say that the characters were necessarily likeable, but I found myself drawn in by my dislike of them at times. Jo made some questionable decisions.

The dual POVs were a nice touch for a read like this.

Overall, this is a great one for a fun and fast paced thriller.

"A Friend Indeed" is a psychological thriller that focuses on the complexities of friendship and deceit. When Jo Dykstra, is asked to help cover up a crime by her childhood friend Dana, she finds herself entangled in a web of lies that threatens to unravel everything they hold dear. As secrets from Dana’s seemingly perfect life emerge, Jo must navigate the dangers of loyalty and the price of keeping dark truths hidden.

This book easily fits into the thriller genre, keeping you guessing the entire time. While the premise is intriguing, the various plot points felt loosely tied together, and I found myself wishing the storyline was tighter. The plot becomes overly predictable at times, and the characters lean towards stereotypical portrayals, which takes away some of the story's impact. Despite these shortcomings, it's still a fast-paced and entertaining read.

Overall, *A Friend Indeed* is a mid-tier thriller. It's not a standout in the genre, but it's worth picking up if you're in the mood for a quick, suspenseful story. While it may not leave a lasting impression, it’s an enjoyable ride for those who appreciate the genre.

This was quite the fun, quick, twisty read that I was hoping for. I mean, yes, Dana does kill her husband....or does she? And Jo keeps sticking her neck out for Dana, repeatedly, since they were much younger. Doesn't she deserve some kind of "reward". With the two women narrating the story, the chapters were relatively short, which I love, even when it keeps me up far too late, promising myself "JUST one more". I really enjoyed the way that Elka Ray laid this story out, and was surprised up until the final few chapters. This will obviously be an easy recommendation, and I will keep an eye out for future titles written by Ray, as well.

I really enjoyed how the book begins with murder, and then continues with alternating POVs from the two main characters dealing with everything. It was a fast-paced read, but some parts seemed to drag a little through the middle. There are so many clever twists and turns, and the ending was fantastic.

A Friend Indeed is a quick, twisty read that kept my attention throughout. I did find it a bit predictable at times, but this did not negatively impact my enjoyment of the book.

This book will keep you guessing right up to the last chapter. So many twists, so many suspects. I loved it
I'd give it 4.5 stars, so will round up to 5 on Goodreads and Amazon.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

While the pace is a bit slow at first, it definitely draws you in. The narrators, Andi Arndt and Hillary Huber do a fabulous job of keeping you engaged, their performances enhancing the suspense and drama. The twists and turns were excellent, with the author masterfully creating several red herrings that kept me guessing. I especially enjoyed the plot twist—it was truly satisfying. If you enjoy psychological thrillers with depth and surprise, this one’s for you!

Jo and Dana have been friends forever. In the early morning hours, a frantic Dana called Jo. Since Jo was the struggling teacher she couldn’t believe the affluent Dana would need her. This was a chance to repay her friend for all the times she provided Jo with a shoulder to cry on. However, what she finds is a bruised Dana. Though her tears she explains that she’s been a battered wife. The real shock is when Jo learns that Dana has killed her abusive husband. She needs Jo to help her dispose of his body.
How far are you willing to go for a friend? This is the beginning of the a tale where the twists are on speed dial. Someone else knows what they did. Dana is lying about what really happened. And her husband is more devious than anyone knew. Jo also has her moments of hiding information from Dana.
It’s a tangled web of blackmail, lies, secrets and how well do we really know our “best friend.”
Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sending me this book.

Sent to Goodreads.

3.5 stars

So I'm not sure if this is a true 3.5 book or not. I keep waffling, but I decided to just pick a number and stick with it.

This was a good book. I enjoyed it a lot most of the time. It kinda bugged me in some spots. The plot is simple and easy to follow. The writing was good. Dana is 100% unreliable from the beginning (which I love me an unreliable narrator), but I couldn't figure out if Jo was unreliable or not also (or if she was just naïve). I really didn't like either woman (or any character in this book really) so it made it hard for me to stay motivated in reading it.

It wrapped up well and I kinda enjoyed the ending more than I thought I would once the puzzle pieces started fitting together, but overall I'm still unsure. I'm still lukewarm about it, but there were elements I really enjoyed and parts that had me on the edge of my seat unable to turn the pages fast enough.

Overall, It's been about a day since I finished and I think I'm going to stick with I'm glad I read the book, but I'll never read it again and I'm not sure if it'll be one I ever recommend to someone else.

Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC.

This was such a fun and twisty read. It was so juicy and kept me so invested from start to finish. I was hooked on this one and couldn't let it go. It was really good.

The nitty-gritty: An old friendship is tested after a bad decision is made, in this fun, twisty psychological thriller.

I’m always up for a good twisty thriller, and A Friend Indeed was a pleasant surprise! If you enjoy stories filled with unreliable characters and complex friendships, you will probably enjoy this as well.

The story revolves around two old friends who couldn’t be more different. Dana lives in an affluent neighborhood and has a housekeeper who often manages her three children. Jo is a teacher, and she and her daughter Ruby live in a more run down part of town and struggle to make ends meet. Dana helped Jo after a scandal at her last school, so when she receives a late night call from Dana asking for help, she feels obligated to respond. When she arrives at Dana’s house, she’s shocked to find Dana’s husband Stan dead in a puddle of blood. Dana says they were fighting and he hit her (and yes, she has a bruise on her face) and she retaliated by striking him over the head with a vase.

Jo wants to call the police, but Dana insists that they try to hide the evidence—i.e. dump the body and clean up the crime scene. Stan was asking Dana for a divorce and he wanted custody of the kids, and Dana knows if she is arrested for murder she’ll lose her family. Jo reluctantly agrees to help her friend, although she realizes she’ll be implicated in the murder if anyone finds out. To make matters worse, Jo is driving home early the next morning when she witnesses a hit and run. The problem is, she caused the other car to swerve and strike the woman after running a stop sign. Now she could be involved in two deaths—if the hit and run victim doesn’t make it—and Jo realizes her life may never be the same again.

The story alternates between Jo’s and Dana’s points of view, and I loved seeing the story unfold from different viewpoints. None of the characters in this story are telling the truth, and one in particular tuned out to be much more devious than I expected. Ray populates her story with all sorts of colorful characters who are involved with Dana and Jo and their “problem” in one way or another. There’s Dana’s twin fifteen-year-old boys Chad and Owen who have their own issues and may have seen something the night Dana and Jo dumped the body. There’s Dana’s next door neighbor Ryan who is known as a drug dealer and always seems to be lurking around. Ralph Isles is Stan’s business partner and supposedly stopped by the house that night to talk to Stan. Did he see anything? Chad’s girlfriend Gemma might have been at the house too. Dana just found out she’s been sneaking over to hang out in Chad’s bedroom, and if she saw something, she’d most likely tell her mother Angie, a conniving woman who wouldn’t hesitate in making Dana’s life miserable.

And of course, there are several police detectives who dog Dana and Jo, trying to find out what really happened. Add in a blackmail subplot and you have a packed story, lots of suspects, and a bunch of lies that need to be untangled. There’s never a dull moment in A Friend Indeed, and that hindered the story at times because there was just a little to much going on. Both Jo and Dana have abuse in their pasts, which did add dimension to their characters, but to be honest, I feel like the abuse angle is a bit overdone in a lot of fiction these days.

But those complaints aside, the author does a great job creating tension and keeping the reader guessing. I had fun trying to figure out Jo and Dana, who are both hiding important information, and neither character acted the way I expected them to, which I enjoyed a lot. The twists come fast and furious in the last few chapters, and I’ll admit my head was spinning with everything that happened. Bottom line, though: A Friend Indeed was a lot of fun, and I look forward to reading more of Elka Ray’s books.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Childhood friends Dana and Jo had divergent paths in life: Dana married into wealth but faced a strained marriage after having three kids, while Jo, a single mother post-divorce, struggled in a modest apartment. When Dana reaches out to Jo in distress one night, Jo rushes to her aid with her sleeping daughter in tow.

The favor Dana requests pushes the boundaries of friendship, prompting Jo to contemplate risks that could jeopardize everything. The contrasting lives of the two friends add complexity to their dynamic and the challenges they face.

Overall, the storyline's slow progression left something to be desired. The plot's sluggish pace may have overshadowed the narrative's potential, eliciting a desire for swifter developments.

Through reading how two long-time friends help hide a murder and mysterious ongoings in the town, you learn that not everyone and everything is as original thought. These characters all have lies they tell those around them and secrets they keep from people closest to them. It was an entertaining read with dual povs. Everything is pretty well synched up at the end and questions answered, which not all mystery stories manage to do.

When single mom Jo Dykstra lost her job and, was broke, with nowhere else to turn, she called on her childhood best friend. Dana McFarlane got her a teaching position at her sons' school, so Jo & her daughter packed up and moved to Glebes Bay., an affluent town in the Pacific Northwest. When Jo gets a call from a sobbing Dana in the middle of the night, begging her to come over, Jo knows she owes her. Jo bundles her sleeping daughter into her car seat and they head to Dana's gated community, unsure what she will find when she gets there. When she arrives, she finds Dana's husband Stan face down on the floor in her workshop, dead. Dana has a bruise blooming over one eye, and she claims he hit her and it was self-defense. However, Dana is adamant - they are not calling 911. She wants Jo to help her make this all go away.. Jo convinces her she will still have to report him missing to the police, though. However, someone claims they saw something, and now they are blackmailing both Dana & Jo. Plus the cops keep coming back to Dana's house and asking questions, and it looks like they have her down as their prime suspect. Jo has to decide exactly how far she is willing to go for her friend, and when the debt she owed to Dana would be considered paid.

This book will have you side-eyeing every single character for not only the murder, but also the blackmail. Everyone is an unreliable narrator, so you never know when you are getting the truth. Everyone is acting shady. If you are a fan of mysteries or thrillers you are definitely going to want to check this out!

I read this entire book during a cross-country flight, and it kept me hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the many twists and turns, and was satisfied by the ending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for selecting me to be an advanced reader.

How far would you go to help A friend? "A Friend Indeed" by Elka Ray is a suspenseful and engaging novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The story follows the lives of Jo and Dana, two best friends who find themselves in the midst of a dangerous situation that tests the limits of their loyalty and trust. As the plot thickens, suspicion and twists abound, leaving the reader wondering just who can be trusted.

A Friend Indeed by Elka Ray is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed!

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

GUYS what a crazy, fun, twisty ride A Friend Indeed was! Seriously so juicy and crazy but it just works. Like a trainwreck you can't look away from, this is how this book was. I loved the short and fast-paced chapters, the dual POV, and just how engaging it is. This is a great read if you want something fun and not serious (suspension of belief is required), in need of a palate cleanser in between more darker reads or genres, or just want something that is akin to a Lifetime movie, but in book form.

Read this if you like:
The show on Netflix, <i> Dead to Me </i>
Multiple POVS
Juicy drama
BFFS, and just how far you would go for the other one

I loved this one so much. You'll want to pick it up when it releases on May 14, 2024.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.