Can you believe it’s finally taken me this long to dive into a book by the iconic Elin Hilderbrand? The self-proclaimed Queen of Summer has been on my reading list for ages, and honestly, it feels almost shameful to admit I hadn’t read her work until now. But with Netflix’s much-awaited, star-studded adaptation of her 2018 novel, The Perfect Couple, fast coming out on Sept. 5, I figured it was high time to see what the red-tinged Nantucket fuss was about.
The story is as intriguing as they say: it all revolves around a doomed wedding set against the backdrop of a sprawling estate on an exclusive Massachusetts island. On the morning of the highly-anticipated nuptials, a body is discovered—but here’s where things get even more twisted. Who kills the enigmatic Merritt Monaco? Is it murder at all or simply an unfortunate accident? The narrative layers reveal there’s much more to her death than initially meets the eye.
A Wedding Gone Wrong: The Mystery in ‘The Perfect Couple’
In the small town of Nantucket, a seaside wedding takes a dark turn when the body of Merritt Monaco, the maid of honor, is washed up on the beach just hours before the ceremony. The bride, Celeste Otis, discovers the tragic scene, and suddenly, all of them in the wedding party becomes a suspect. The introverted, down-to-earth wife-to-be, along with her caring, albeit oblivious, groom, Benji Winbury, must navigate the tension as they prepare for their big day.
The family dynamics are complicated—Benji’s cold and famous British mother, Greer Winbury, a mystery-novelist, adds a chilling layer to the already fraught situation. Meanwhile, Tag Winbury, the charming, philandering father, is caught in a web of deceit, while the older brother, Thomas, and his pregnant sister-in-law, Abby, have their own secrets. Other characters, like the model-handsome best man, Shooter, and various assorted guests from England and Pennsylvania, also play a part in this tangled mess. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash begins tracking and piecing together the puzzle with his colleague Nick, they discover more than they bargained for—secrets that may be worth killing for.
Does Tag kill Merritt In ‘The Perfect Couple’?
The Perfect Couple, the intrigue starts to unravel as Greer’s husband, Tag, is entangled in an affair with Merritt, a few months before their big day. This affair takes place while Merritt stays at the Nantucket mansion during Celeste’s bachelorette party. As Tag and Merritt have hook-ups in New York City, things spiral out of control. Tag is pursuing Merritt with reckless abandon, despite knowing the consequences would be badly disastrous. The situation takes a dark turn when Merritt’s corpse is found in the ocean shortly after confessing to Tag that she’s pregnant with his child and intends on keeping it. She also plans to tell Greer, which adds a whole new layer of tension—Yikes!
But what happens next is not as expected. Despite Tag’s prior actions, such as taking Merritt on a kayak ride to talk in private, things don’t go as planned. During the ride, Merritt even tries to drown herself, but Tag grabs her by the wrist and pulls her back to dry land, claiming their relationship is over. After saying he would give her a check the next morning, he leaves her at the shore. However, Merritt’s death was already set in motion before the kayaking even began, and Tag had nothing to do with it.
Does Greer Kill Merritt in ‘The Perfect Couple’?
The mystery unravels around Greer Winbury, a woman who has carefully crafted a life of perfection with her family. However, the stakes are high when Merritt’s pregnancy threatens to ruin this carefully constructed veneer. Tag’s affair, not his first, could also destroy everything, and Greer knows it. As the story progresses, Greer sifts through countless red herrings — from cancer medication to a nefarious kayak ride — all leading to nothing but confusion. Yet, the truth reveals itself when Greer, a seasoned mystery novelist, ends up piecing it all together.
Her expertise leads her to deduce that Merritt’s death is tied to an affair, but not the one she initially suspects. The revelation comes after overhearing a heated argument during the alcohol-fueled hours following Celeste and Benji’s rehearsal dinner. The suspense builds as Greer figures out what really happened, turning the clues into the final key to unravel the mystery.
Does Thomas kill Merritt in ‘The Perfect Couple’?
When Nick and the Chief start interviewing suspects, they quickly realize that extramarital affairs seem to run deep in the Winbury family. Thomas, the eldest son of Tag and Greer, has been cheating on his wife, Abby, with Featherleigh, a much-older family friend. The affair has been ongoing for years, and Thomas even goes as far as to threaten Featherleigh, telling her he’ll kill her if he ever sees her again. Yet, despite this, she shows up in Nantucket, undeterred, hoping to persuade him back into her bed. Abby, already pregnant and pissed off after knowing about the affair all along, decides to take matters into her own hands, leading to disastrous results. The tangled web of betrayal, threats, and deceit makes this mystery one that is anything but simple.
A Night of Secrets and Twists
That night, as the waves crashed softly on the beach, Tag, Thomas, Featherleigh, and Merritt were gathered, sipping on fancy rum, their conversations scattering like whispers in the night. While most of the wedding party explored the lively bars in town, others like Abby and Greer chose the quiet of the house, pretending to be sleeping. Meanwhile, a subtle tension brewed. Tag, ever observant, notices that Merritt, pregnant and cautious, wasn’t indulging in her portion of the drink. When Featherleigh stepped away to the bathroom, she also grabbed a glass of water for Merritt, a small act that would spiral into chaos.
Back at the Winbury’s living room, events unfolded unexpectedly. Featherleigh tried convincing Thomas to sleep with her, only to be interrupted by Abby, who, angrily calling him to bed, asserted her dominance. The night seemed to fade into normalcy as Featherleigh passed out on the couch before retreating to an inn down the road. Yet, beneath this surface of scattered conversations and shifting allegiances, something major was deeply wrong.
While Featherleigh Is In The Bathroom
While Featherleigh was in the bathroom, the drama took a darker turn. The glass of water she had poured for Merritt lingered on the kitchen counter, setting the stage for a shocking twist. Abby, furious and suspicious of Thomas sneaking around to restart an affair, made a chilling decision. She sneaks downstairs, and slips one into the water glass because grabs Greer’s strong sleeping pills, mistakenly believing it was for Featherleigh. Oblivious to this plot, Featherleigh delivers the water to Merritt, who unsuspectingly drains the entire glass. In that moment, layers of deceit, desperation, and unintended consequences unfurled, painting a vivid picture of a night shrouded in secrets.
Merritt’s Tragic Final Hour
The final chapter of The Perfect Couple unveils the heartbreaking sequence that leads to Merritt’s death. In her last hour alive, Merritt is determined to confront her emotions, even as she starts feeling woozy after unknowingly drinking the water Abby spiked. With a heavy resolve, she asks Tag to join her on a kayak so they can talk, but things spiral quickly. Her speech begins to slur, and her thoughts become less coherent, making it hard for her to communicate. In a desperate and dramatic point, she leaps into the ocean, only to find her body heavy, as though it might sink to the bottom of the harbor.
Despite Tag’s quick reaction to save her and drag her back to land, his efforts are tragically futile. He unknowingly leaves her alone in her final moments, sealing her fate. The narrative masterfully captures this sequence, intertwining tension, loss, and inevitability, creating an emotionally charged scene that leaves readers grappling with the fragile line between intention and tragedy.
Secrets Unveiled Amid Chaos
In the aftermath of Merritt’s tragic death, the Winbury estate becomes a boiling pot of tensions. Greer, a keen observer, finds herself swept into the whirlwind of the police investigation as suspicions swirl. When a heated screaming match erupts between Abby and Thomas in their upstairs bedroom, Greer overhears their intense spat. Piece by piece, the realization dawns on her: Abby, in a thoughtless act, had stolen the pills that inadvertently led to Merritt’s demise. Struggling with this painful realization, she hastily texts them to “shut up ASAP” to avoid anyone else in the house discovering the truth.
Inside, Greer vows to carry this secret to her grave, bearing the burden of their unwitting role in Merritt’s death. The weight of such knowledge paints a stark contrast to the glamorous exterior of the Winbury estate, where lives are fractured beyond repair. The body, the whispers, and the shadow of blame hanging over the house all converge into a haunting reminder that sometimes, the most unassuming actions—like taking pills—can set off a chain reaction with devastating effects.
The Plot and Its Twists In The Perfect Couple
In Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple, Greer is the plotter behind the intrigue, a woman with years of experience in solving murder mysteries. Having dealt with twenty-one such cases, she knows how to manipulate motivation. The story begins one night when Abby goes to the kitchen to pour her final glass of Veuve, leaving her pills on the counter. Whether Abby snatched the pills up at that moment or simply took note of their existence, we can’t be sure. Later on, Abby hears Featherleigh humming in the powder room and decides to take action. To prevent her from causing trouble with Thomas, Abby puts the pill in Featherleigh’s drink, but the drink accidentally goes to the wrong person—Merritt. The police ruled Merritt’s death as accidental, and in truth, it was, but Abby may not even realize that she’s the one to blame. It will likely remain with her until her death, the secret lies with Greer, quietly, residing in the shadows.
In Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple, the murder mystery is more than just about solving a crime. It’s about how secrets can fester within relationships, and the consequences that follow when they aren’t addressed. Merritt, for example, faces a tragic outcome that shows how much of a toll hidden issues can have on people. The couple dynamics, like Tag and Greer, Benji and Celeste, or even Thomas and Abby, all highlight this theme. These relationships explore how the perfect image often falls apart, leading to divorce, death, or even destitution for some. The realization of these truths comes at different degrees for each character, but the far-reaching effects are undeniable. Every character in this book learns that no relationship is immune from the forces of hidden secrets and death.
A Mysterious Ending that Keeps You Guessing
Overall, Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple, the murder mystery keeps you guessing till the end. The ambiguous conclusion reveals what happens to Merritt in her final moments, but it doesn’t give you the whole picture. There are still unanswered questions, like whether the police will ever uncover the cause of her drowning or if anyone will truly understand the full extent of the events. The plot threads seem to hang in the air, making the story even more intriguing. Some may find this devastating while others feel it is a satisfying outcome in equal measure, leaving room for viewers to imagine how things will unfold. With the miniseries coming to Netflix this fall, there’s hope that it will do justice to the story, but as always, you can’t help but keep your fingers crossed.
There’s enough mystery left to keep fans excited, but the desire to discover more about what truly happened is always there. Whether justice will be served or not remains up in the air, but this perfect couple’s journey is far from over, both on the page and onscreen. If you enjoy this kind of suspense, you might want to check out The Hating Game: Book vs. Movie Review for another take on a thrilling adaptation or explore whether Is You Better Watch Out Worth the Read? will give you more of that gripping feeling. If you’re looking to dive deeper into these types of stories, subscribing to Kindle Unlimited can be a great way to access a wide variety of books and series at your fingertips.
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