Two women’s lives intertwine around a shocking murder and hidden secrets in this twisty new thriller from the author of First Lie Wins.

Everyone at Chantilly’s Bar noticed out-of-towner Camille Bayliss. Red lips, designer heels, sipping a Negroni. But that woman wasn’t Camille Bayliss. It was Aubrey Price.

Ashley Elston’s novel First Lie Wins made me want to read thrillers more often, so I was excited to get the ARC for her new thriller Anatomy of an Alibi. Camille Bayliss knows her husband Ben is hiding something – and she wants answers. Aubrey Price wants the truth about a tragic night that changed her life a decade ago. For one night, Aubrey impersonates Camille while she spies on Ben and seeks answers for them both. The next day, Ben is found murdered – and both women need an alibi. 

The book follows three narrators – Camille, Aubrey, and Ben’s business partner Hank – each with a different relationship to Ben and the truth. The story jumps between the night before the murder, the week that follows, and moments long buried in the past, all building a web of secrets, lies, and hidden motives.

I really wanted to like this book, but I struggled with the multiple POVs and timeline jumps. Camille, Aubrey, and Hank all had similar voices with first person narration, and I had a hard time keeping track of whose chapter I was in. There was not a lot of character development so it wasn’t clear who to root for amongst this shady bunch.

There are also many side characters and layers of double crossing. These tangled plot elements are probably great for savvy thriller readers who love untwisting the truth, but I don’t read thrillers very often and for me it had the opposite effect; I stopped feeling invested in the outcome. The author did a tidy job unraveling her maze of secrets in the final stretch, but overall Anatomy of an Alibi didn’t hold my interest as much as I hoped it would. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Viking Penguin, and Pamela Dorman Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.