Just the Nicest Couple is a domestic thriller by American author Mary Kubica. The novel was a New York Times bestseller upon its 2023 release. Through the main characters, Kubica explores the Justification for Violence and reconciling Appearance Versus Reality in Marriage, as well as Overcoming Loss, Betrayal, and Trauma. Kubica’s other books are translated into over 30 languages and have sold over three million copies worldwide; her work is featured on Amazon’s Best Books of the Month and LibraryReads Selections.

This guide refers to the 2023 eBook edition published by Park Row Books.

Content Warning: The source material discusses sexual assault, graphic violence, murder, suicide, and miscarriage.

Plot Summary

The exposition of Just the Nicest Couple provides an intimate portrayal of two couples: Nina and Jake Hayes and Lily and Christian Scott. Nina and Christian supply alternating perspectives in a dual narrative format. Nina and Lily work together as teachers and share a close friendship. Christian adores and dotes on Lily, even more so as Lily is several weeks pregnant at the novel’s opening. The couple has a history of experiencing miscarriages, and both Lily and Christian feel apprehensively hopeful about Lily’s pregnancy. They live in a charming, updated family home where they hope to raise children. Their house is more modest than Nina and Jake’s house; Christian and Lily struggled to purchase their home, entertaining a humbler lifestyle.

In comparison, Nina and Jake’s relationship is colder and more distant. Due to Jake's lucrative career as a neurosurgeon, Nina and Jake enjoy a more extravagant lifestyle in their lavish home with expensive cars. Nevertheless, they argue with increasing frequency. Jake feels jealous of how much time Nina spends with her mother, who was recently diagnosed with macular degeneration, a genetic condition that affects her eyesight. Nina notices drastic changes in Jake from when they first married. Still, Nina loves Jake very much and feels deeply concerned for him when he doesn’t return home from work one day.

At first, Nina assumes that Jake’s absence is intentional; the couple recently engaged in an intense argument, during which Nina instructed Jake to leave. However, when Jake neglects to speak with other friends and family members and fails to attend work, Nina fears that Jake is injured or dead. She reports his disappearance to the police. Meanwhile, Lily tells Christian that Jake attacked her in Langley Woods. In self-defense, Lily hit Jake in the head with a rock twice before running away. Lily learns from Nina that Jake has not returned home for several days and fears that she killed Jake. Lily experiences a mental-health crisis in the days after her fight with Jake.

Feeling protective of his wife and unborn baby, Christian helps Lily to cover up her altercation with Jake. They destroy evidence in Langley Woods, and Jake breaks into Nina’s house, steals Jake’s car key, and relocates Jake’s car from Langley Woods to a hotel. Nina’s mother sees Christian inside Nina’s house while he retrieves the car key, but she later tells Nina that she saw Jake. This mistaken sighting stalls the search for Jake, as police believe that he willingly vanished after a marital spat. However, when Nina views security footage of Christian entering her house and finds Lily’s earring in the back of Jake’s recovered car, she begins to suspect the Scotts as potential culprits for Jake’s disappearance.

Nina and Christian feel that they are being watched or followed, and in certain instances, they are correct. Ryan Schroeder, Nina’s colleague, makes Nina uncomfortable by closely inserting himself into her life wherever possible. Ryan appears increasingly predatory toward Nina, misdirecting suspicion away from the murderer. Christian observes Nina watching and following him. On multiple occasions, Christian fantasizes about violently killing Nina, though he never acts on his dark thoughts.

Hikers find Jake’s body in Langley Woods, and although Lily is confident that she killed Jake, authorities reveal that Jake died from gunshot wounds to his head. Christian senses Lily being dishonest with him, and he searches their home for a gun. Lily confesses to having an affair with Jake. She explains how she summoned Jake to Langley Woods to end their relationship, regretting her infidelity. Jake attacked Lily in the same way she originally described, and Lily swears that she did not shoot Jake.

Nevertheless, the evidence against Lily is incriminating enough that the police arrest and charge Lily with Jake’s murder. Nina succumbs to intense grief while living with her mother and hiding from Ryan. She discovers a traffic-violation ticket in the mail for her mother, though she believes her mother’s macular degeneration prevents her from driving. Noticing that the date of the infraction is the same day that Jake disappeared, Nina suspects her mother of killing Jake. She confirms her theory by locating Jake’s gun in her mother’s car. Nina’s mother confesses to killing Jake, justifying her violence by wanting to protect Nina from an unfaithful and ungrateful husband. Nina’s mother also admits to faking her macular degeneration to manipulate Nina into spending more time with her.

Nina grapples with the decision to expose her mother’s crime. Nina’s mother was recently diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, and Nina wants to see Lily punished for her betrayal. Ultimately, Nina reports her mother to the police, absolving Lily of Jake’s murder. Months later, Christian meets Lily in a park, where he hands over Bella, their daughter, to Lily. Although separated, Christian and Lily close the novel hopefully.