'How to Kill Your Best Friend' by Lexie Elliott – Book review by Kimberly Foreman

Genre: Mystery / thriller  

Is there anything better than a gripping beach thriller? One you can sink your teeth into while you sink your toes into the sand? How to Kill Your Best Friend strikes just the right balance between being light and easy to read, yet dark and sinister at the same time. 

Three friends—close since their college days, when they were all part of the same swim team. Georgie, Bron and Lissa know everything about each other. Or do they? When Lissa goes missing after a night swim at a tropical island resort, she is presumed dead after a young fisherman spots her floating in the turquoise waters but fails to haul her body on board. 

But what made Lissa swim in the part of the cove that was unsafe? And why did she venture out there at night? The more Georgie thinks about it, the less it makes sense. When Lissa’s friends and family gather on the island for her memorial service, strange incidents start to happen, leaving both Georgie and Bron fearful. If Lissa’s “death” was an accident, then why are they both so scared that they’ll be next? 

The story revolves around lies, mistrust and a group of friends who are hiding all sorts of secrets. How to Kill Your Best Friend had me asking questions right from the get-go—who, what, why? I was suspicious of every single character at one point! 

I enjoyed the spooky scenes and the love angle between Georgie and Adam (one of the other swimmers). I also liked how the author threw in a mythical serpent that supposedly lurked in the waters at Kanu Cove, where Lissa went missing, along with all the local legends about the beast. This added a touch of supernatural folklore to the novel that I hadn’t been expecting. 

Extremely fast-paced and unputdownable. Perhaps not the most realistic plot for a thriller, but I was so entertained that it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book. The perfect beach read—I gave this 5 stars. 

“I’ve done a bad thing and I’m not sorry.” — p.191  

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