Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

Goodnight Beautiful is Aimee Molloy's second solo fiction novel, although she has co-wrote others (including Rosewater which was made into a movie) and has a non-fiction book called However Long the Night. Goodnight Beautiful was listed as a one of 2020's Most Anticipated Books by Crime Reeds, Popsugar, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and New York Post. It is listed as an Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense. It also happens to be the first I've read by Aimee Molloy and my book club's pick for August of 2025. It deals with bullying, child abuse, chronic illness, confinement, emotional abuse, homophobia, infidelity, mental illness, suicidal thoughts, a toxic relationship, violence, kidnapping, medical trauma, a car accident, death of parents, pregnancy, abandonment, and injury - most of which is only referenced verbally.

Sam Statler has moved from New York City back to Chestnut Hill in upstate New York, his mother has recently been moved into a care facility after a quick cognitive decline and both Sam and his newlywed wife Annie want to be close to her. But Chestnut Hill is so small, Sam has to deal with constantly seeing his patients, or his patient's partners, or the people he went to high school with - as well as the remnants of the reputation he had back then. Not to mention he is building his new psychiatrist practice from nothing which means that Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam is with his patients. But then, a vent is discovered in a room that is not often used. A vent that allows for everything said in Sam's office to be overheard. A vent that allows his meeting with his new patient, Charlie - the early twenties French sculpture student with a fondness for older and decidedly unavailable men - to be overheard in its entirety. Bored and looking for some entertainment, you would listen too, wouldn't you?

It was time for some suspense, but I've been feeling pretty disappointed with some of the recent thriller/suspense/psychological books that I've read recently. Luckily, this one may have broken the chain. I listened to this book, and I thought the narration was pretty good although it was not my favorite. The characters, especially Sam, gave me the ick in the beginning and (at best), made me grimace unhappily. But the story was pretty interesting and kept me intrigued, the characters got better as we went along. Although I don't know that there was a ton of character development, Sam is a psychiatrist and has been trying hard to become a better man and striving to not follow in his father's footsteps for years already, I liked the characters more as the story unfolded and you learned more about them. But the biggest boon of all was that there was not one, but two twists that I absolutely did not see coming , which made me look back at what I'd already read and be impressed how well I was manipulated.

I'm giving Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy 4.25 stars out of 5. That's probably one of my highest suspense ratings to date. I find it difficult to fall in love with this genre of book, but I really enjoyed this and had very little to complain about. It kept me entertained and I liked the ending pretty well, which is really all I ask for in a thriller. I'll be looking into her first solo novel The Perfect Mother as well.

For more from Aimee Molloy, check out her website at https://aimeemolloy.com/

Pairs well with sausage cavatelli (I almost picked coconut cake but I couldn't do that to Sam) and getting the bat signed!

Favorite quote: "It's been raining all morning and surely no fake tour takers are going to show up at my fake job, allowing me a well earned morning of self care."