Book Review: Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins

Since making her debut with 2019’s The Winter Sister, Megan Collins has set herself apart from her contemporaries in crime by deftly mining the unique, and often dysfunctional, relationships that exist within families. An award-nominated poet and Managing Editor of 3Elements Literary Review, she previously taught creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and Central Connecticut State University. Her novels include Behind the Red Door and The Family Plot. This July, she returns with her fourth standalone, Thicker Than Water—which features two sisters-in-law struggling to make sense of the mystery that threatens to destroy them.

Julia and Sienna are not only best friends but business partners, bound by the man that brought them together: Jason Larkin, husband and brother, respectively. They have their own language, often hold hands, and can read each other’s thoughts. Then, there’s the shared bond of sanctity in Jason as trusted protector and provider. But a marital betrayal marks the first fissure in a series of deceptions and secrets that threaten to shatter their seemingly unbreakable union when Jason comes under suspicion of murdering his boss. And not just murdering him, but stabbing him, suffocating him, and stitching his mouth closed. It’s the stuff that nightmares (and Dateline episodes) are made of.

But Jason is oblivious to it all; he’s been rendered comatose following an automobile accident and can’t defend himself against the incriminating evidence that keeps turning up (a questionable alibi, a possible motive, the victim’s phone in his vehicle, etc.). Determined to clear his name by whatever means necessary, Julia and Sienna mount an investigation of their own—but their findings leave Julia (already rendered vulnerable by a past transgression and a reticent son) unmoored, even as Sienna doubles down in her belief of his innocence. As old grievances (re)emerge, one thing becomes clear: it’s not just Jason’s life (and freedom) that hangs in the balance but the future of their family/friendship.

The story is told through the women’s alternating viewpoints; it may seem the obvious choice, but it’s also skillfully done and highly effective. This structure allows Collins to establish each character’s distinct personality and voice, juxtaposing Julia’s meekness with Sienna’s boldness and then showing how these, and other, complimentary traits begin to cause friction as misunderstandings abound. Further, it invites an exploration of each character’s past trauma(s), the consequences of which not only inform how they think but the ways in which they act. Consequently, both Julia and Sienna become disillusioned—and not just with one another, but with Jason. Still, that doesn’t necessarily make him a murderer … does it?

Megan Collins plumbs impressive new depths in Thicker Than Water, which is deceptively immersive but carries a deadly undertow that threatens to pull you down, down, down. The whirlpool effect of the sisters-in-law dynamic, the sensational nature of the crime, and the sophisticated narrative structure results in a story that’s as strongly crafted as it is memorably told. Like her earlier works, the book is utterly distinct yet bears an unmistakable, and highly addictive, touch. Put your floaties on because this one may just sweep you away …