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It Had to Be You

️Wed May 22 2024

All spoilers for previous Under Suspicion novels will be unmarked

It Had to Be You (Literature)

It Had to Be You is a 2024 crime suspense novel, credited to Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (though Higgins Clark had died back in 2020). It’s the eighth Under Suspicion novel and the first that Higgins Clark wasn't directly involved in writing.

Nearly ten years ago, Sarah and Richard Harrington, a successful and well-liked Boston couple, were found shot to death in their Cape Cod beach house during a party to celebrate the college graduations of their identical twin sons, Simon and Ethan. Even more shocking, the twins soon became the prime suspects in the murders, with the police theorising that the so-called Deadly Duo plotted to kill their parents to get their money, while using their identical appearances to give each other an alibi. However, despite it being clear someone who knew the Harringtons well killed them and an eyewitness claiming they saw one of the brothers driving off midway through the party, there was never any concrete proof linking them to the crime. For their part, Simon and Ethan both insist the other carried out the murders alone, leading to their estrangement, and even their family and friends aren’t certain what to believe.

As the tenth anniversary of the murders draws closer, Frankie Harrington, the twins' younger sister, gets in contact with Under Suspicion; now a young adult, she wants to know what really happened the night her parents died, even if it means exposing one or both her brothers as killers. The team are able to persuade the twins and their families to appear on the show, but it quickly becomes clear many people have their own reasons for not wanting the past to be raked over and that the Harringtons were far from the perfect family they appeared to be from the outside. While Simon and Ethan remain the top suspects, it's soon evident to the Under Suspicion team that they're far from the only people close to Richard and Sarah who may have wanted them dead.

Tropes found in this novel include:

20 Minutes into the Past: The novel was published in 2024 and is set in early 2016, six months after the epilogue of Piece of My Heart (which was set in mid-2015).
Accidental Murder: Ethan says he always wondered if whoever killed his parents really intended to kill Sarah; he states that his brother is his top suspect, but while he could understand Simon having a grudge against their father, he always had a good relationship with their mother. The Under Suspicion team start to wonder the same thing, noting that Sarah could've been accidentally killed in the crossfire and that while there are several people who detested Richard, Sarah didn't appear to have any enemies. It turns out that Richard accidentally shot Sarah when he confronted Dennis with a gun; Sarah had just come in the backdoor, unaware of what was going down, and startled Richard, who reflexively pulled the trigger.
Always Identical Twins: Simon and Ethan Harrington are identical twin brothers. Although people who know them well can usually tell them apart due to their different mannerisms, they look similar enough that they’re difficult to distinguish from a distance and they used to play pranks on their teachers by switching places. It’s mentioned they were conceived via in-vitro fertilisation, which slightly increases the chance of conceiving identical twins. This is Played for Drama, too, as most people couldn’t tell which twin was where during the party on the night their parents were killed (especially as they’d worn matching outfits).
Babies Ever After: The novel ends with a twofold example:
- As the episode covering the Harrington case finishes airing, the heavily-pregnant Annabeth goes into labour.
- Laurie and Alex have found out they're expecting a baby and as it's been three months, they decide it's time to tell their family and friends.
Big Brother Instinct: Despite their personal feud, Simon and Ethan both still dearly love their younger sister Frankie and don't make her pick sides. They did their best to shield Frankie from the details of their parents' deaths and the tensions in the family as she was growing up, and it's clear that the main reason they're participating in Under Suspicion is because it's what Frankie wants. When they realise Frankie is in danger in the climax, Simon and Ethan swiftly put aside their differences and work together to come to her rescue.
Bittersweet Ending: Even more so than usual, as while the other books end with a murderer being brought to justice and innocent people being freed from suspicion, things aren't so clear cut this time. Frankie is rescued before Dennis can harm her, though it's unclear if he really had malicious intentions. Dennis and Betsy both confess to their roles in Sarah and Richard's deaths, which weren't cases of cold-blooded murder but more akin to tragic accidents caused by poor decision-making; Dennis and Betsy are both devastated by what happened and while they must still face the consequences, they are shown some leniency. Simon and Ethan have begun to reconcile after they realised they're both innocent and Frankie is happy to have her family back, but in the process her relationship with the Wards - who were like a second family - has been changed irrevocably, possibly beyond repair, because of Betsy and Dennis' actions. She and her brothers must also deal with the knowledge their father was a cruel man who abused their mother and ultimately caused her death, with Frankie especially finding it hard given her more positive memories of her father. Frankie acknowledges that the investigation doesn't have a fully happy ending, but she's hopeful they can all start to heal.
Blackmail: Simon reveals that he paid another student to write an assignment for him, as he was anxious about failing his course. Shortly after, someone began anonymously blackmailing him for thousands of dollars in exchange for keeping quiet about his cheating. Simon initially paid the blackmailer off, but they kept asking for more money, forcing him to go to his father for help. Following his parents' deaths, the blackmail stopped. Simon always thought the student who helped him cheat was responsible, as he was the only person who knew about it besides his girlfriend Michelle, but the student always denied it. It turns out it was Michelle's brother Dennis, who had overheard Simon telling Michelle about the cheating.
Cain and Abel: Twins Simon and Ethan both insist that the other is the Cain to their Abel; the evidence points to at least one of them having murdered their parents and they're both adamant it's not them, despite the police's leading theory that they plotted the murders together. Simon says Ethan killed their parents so that he could marry his girlfriend and live his own life without being disinherited; Ethan says Simon had a mental breakdown due to the pressure their father put on him and killed their father, likely killing their mother by mistake. It turns out neither of them was involved in their parents' deaths, after which they begin to repair their brotherly bond.
Chekhov's Gun: The custom-made pearl bracelets Sarah and Betsy had gifted each other, and the fact Sarah's bracelet was broken when she was killed. It initially seems to be a tragic yet innocuous detail, only for the bracelets to eventually turn out to be key to unravelling the whole mystery, especially when Betsy gifts what she claims is her bracelet to Frankie. Both Frankie and Laurie realise the bracelet is actually Sarah's, meaning Betsy was there when Sarah and her husband were killed and attempted to conceal this.
Continuity Nod:
- When Grace mentions she's rented an AirBnB for the crew to stay in while they film in the Cape Cod, Jerry jokingly reminds her that the last time they rented a place to stay, he ended up in a coma.
- While Laurie is discussing the Harrington case with Charlotte, Charlotte says she can understand the family wanting the truth even if it's painful, as she felt the same about her missing sister.
Deadly Prank: It's revealed Dennis Ward snuck into the Harringtons' beach house while everyone else was at the Yacht Club party, intending to trash the place and make it look like there had been a burglary as a prank. However, Richard came back early and caught Dennis, holding him at gunpoint. He guessed Dennis was responsible for earlier pranks on his family and intended to call the police. Dennis' mother – who had followed Richard home to confront him about his abuse of Sarah – tried to intervene, leading to a struggle, during which Richard reflexively shot Sarah when she came in unexpectedly and Dennis inadvertently shot Richard in self-defence.
Evil-Detecting Dog: The Harringtons' dog Bacon provides a plot-significant aversion; Bacon had a knack for sensing if he knew the person who came to the front door. If it wasn’t someone he knew well, he’d bark loudly regardless of their intentions. Because he couldn’t be heard barking on the Harringtons' security camera when someone came to the house in a car usually driven by Ethan and Simon, it was taken as evidence that whoever killed Richard and Sarah were close enough to them that Bacon saw them regularly, with Simon and Ethan being top of that list.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Played with regarding the Harrington twins. Ethan is initially set up as the Foolish Sibling to Simon's Responsible, as Ethan began slacking off in college and wanted to drop out altogether, focusing more on becoming a musician despite this not being an especially stable career choice; he was also in a relationship with a girl his family disapproved of (after dating numerous other girls). Simon, in contrast, was studying hard to become a lawyer, had gotten into a prestigious law school and was in a long-term relationship with his high school girlfriend, whose parents were close friends/business partners with his parents. However, it turns out that Simon was being blackmailed after he cheated on one of his assignments and, thanks to him being suspected of killing his parents, he got dropped from his fancy law school and barely managed to become a lawyer. Meanwhile, Ethan has a stable career as a sound engineer with a side gig as a musician and his marriage (to the woman his family disliked) is just as happy as his brother's.
Foreshadowing:
- At the graduation party, Sarah forces herself to smile at Richard when he looks over at her, "the way he expected her to." This is a big hint that things are far more troubled than they appear in the Harrington family, particularly with Richard and Sarah's marriage. It's later revealed Richard was abusive towards Sarah and she was seriously considering leaving him.
- When Laurie is discussing Howard Carver's abrupt departure from the law firm he co-founded with Walter Ward and Richard Harrington, Walter's daughter Michelle speaks of Howard with obvious disdain but doesn't elaborate much. The Under Suspicion crew also learn Howard retired from the bar altogether after quitting the firm, which they find unusual. Howard was forced out by Richard and Walter after they discovered he'd been embezzling funds from their clients to fund his drug addiction; Richard had privately made a deal with Howard that he would pay off the clients and Howard would quit practicing law, and in exchange he wouldn't turn him over to the authorities.
Formerly Friendly Family: The Harringtons were once a tight-knit family but what's left of them have been mostly estranged for nearly ten years, after Richard and Sarah were killed and their twin sons became the chief suspects. Simon and Ethan were once best friends but now despise one another, both accusing the other of having murdered their parents and attempted to frame the other. It also turns out there were already tensions between them, on account of Simon trying to interfere in Ethan's relationship with his now-wife. Frankie was once close to both her brothers but in recent years she's been distancing herself from them, as she can't shake her fear that one or both of them killed their parents and can't bring herself to choose a side. It's later revealed that Frankie's family were never as happy as she remembered, given the extent of Richard's abusive and controlling behaviour towards his family (of which Frankie was largely unaware), to the point Sarah was seriously considering leaving him.
Happy Marriage Charade: From most people's perspective, college sweethearts Sarah and Richard Harrington appeared to have a perfect life together, though Sarah notes in the prologue that there were a lot of tensions in the family they tried to keep private for the sake of appearances. It's eventually revealed things were far worse than anyone knew, with Richard being extremely controlling and abusive towards Sarah, something even their own children weren't aware of until they see video evidence.
Identical Twin Mistake: Played for Drama in Simon and Ethan's case. In their early 20s, they looked so much alike people often mistook one twin for the other from a distance and they wore matching outfits on the night of their graduation party, making it even harder to tell them apart. Consequently, none of the attendees of the party can be certain which twin was where at any given time or if either of them left at any point, meaning neither of them have much of an alibi for their parents' murders. The police even theorised the brothers intentionally invoked this to create confusion and get away with their crimes, something they both fervently deny.
Kids Are Cruel: Frankie first found out her older brothers were suspects in their parents' murders when some of her classmates bullied her over it.
Loving Parent, Cruel Parent: Sarah was a kind and supportive parent to all three of her children, even if she didn't always agree with all their decisions; while Richard appeared to be a decent father to his daughter, he was extremely harsh towards his sons, crossing into abusive behaviour. Sarah tried to talk Richard into being gentler and more open-minded with their sons, though it didn't have much effect; if anything, it tended to result in Richard turning his abuse on Sarah. Simon and Ethan never have a bad thing to say about their mother, save that she was a bit too concerned with keeping up appearances, while their relationships with their father were clearly more troubled.
Murder-Suicide: The Under Suspicion team bring up the possibility that Richard shot Sarah and then turned the gun on himself, especially after they find out Richard was an abusive spouse and Sarah was seriously considering leaving him over it, including recording evidence of his abuse to expose him. However, the forensic report rules this out, as it confirms Richard was shot by someone else. It turns out Richard did shoot Sarah, albeit unintentionally, and then got himself killed during a scuffle for the gun (arguably making his death a case of Accidental Suicide).
Polar Opposite Twins: Ethan and Simon may look identical, but personality and lifestyle-wise they're quite different: Simon is an ambitious, driven, analytical lawyer who is concerned about maintaining his reputation, while Ethan is a laid-back and generally good-humoured musician who doesn't much care what others think of him. Notably, Simon tried hard to impress their parents (especially Richard) and often stressed over disappointing them, while Ethan tended to push back against their family's expectations to do his own thing.
Police Are Useless: It comes to light that the initial investigation into the Harrington murders wasn't very thorough and was biased against the Harringtons' twin sons from the get-go. Laurie gets the impression that Harbour Bay's Chief of Police wanted to wrap the case up as quickly as possible and never looked at any alternate suspects despite the evidence against the twins being merely circumstantial; it was more convenient to pin the blame on the 'spoiled' rich sons of the out-of-town victims rather than one of the locals. There was also no investigation into Richard Harrington's law firm, nor a search of the family's main home in Boston.
Red Herring:
- Peter Bennett was the Harringtons' handyman and so knew the ins-and-out of the beach house; he also had an unrequited love for Sarah Harrington and disliked her husband Richard. He has nothing to do with the couple's deaths. Peter insists he would never have done anything to harm the Harringtons, especially Sarah, and he has a rock-solid alibi; at the time Sarah and Richard were killed, he was at a hospital attending the birth of his first grandchild.
- Howard Carver's sudden and acrimonious departure from Richard Harrington and Walter Ward's law firm. His partners discovered he was embezzling money from his clients to feed his drug addiction, but Walter explains that Richard paid off the clients and got Howard to resign quietly so as not to cause a scandal. As both Howard and Walter explain to Laurie, Howard would have no motive to kill Richard because he'd spared him from facing more serious consequences, even it was just to cover his own ass.
- Jimmy Connolly had his van parked just down the road from the Harringtons' beach house on the night they were killed and had been intending to confront them over their poor treatment of his daughter. He subsequently got the Harbour Bay Chief of Police, whom he was good friends with, to keep this out of the original investigation, along with his ties to organised crime. It turns out Jimmy decided against seeing the Harringtons that night and had nothing to do with their deaths, but didn't want to potentially upend his family's lives if he were suspected. He also didn't want it coming out that he'd borrowed money from acquaintances involved with crime to help his struggling business (which he has since paid off).
Ripped from the Headlines: The story is loosely inspired by the case of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their wealthy and respected parents in their Beverly Hills mansion; the prosecution argued that the brothers killed their parents to inherit their fortune, while the brothers and their defence team stated that they were mostly motivated by fear and anger towards their parents for abusing them all their lives (with the brothers claiming their father threatened to kill them to prevent them from exposing the abuse). There are a few parallels with the fictional Harringtons, such as Richard and Sarah Harrington being killed in their fancy Cape Cod beach house and it coming to light that the family was far more dysfunctional than they appeared, though a notable difference is that the Harrington brothers were never charged with the murders and turn out to be innocent.
Ripping Off the String of Pearls: A variation involving a pearl bracelet. Sarah owned a pearl bracelet, which was pulled from her wrist during her murder, with the pearls being found scattered across the floor in her blood. It later turns out it was actually Betsy's matching pearl bracelet that was broken during the killings and she took Sarah's bracelet to disguise the fact she was at the crime scene. After being given the bracelet to remember her mother, Frankie deliberately breaks the bracelet, scattering the pearls, to alert to someone that she's being abducted. Laurie finds some of the pearls and puts two-and-two together.
Shout-Out: Ethan and Annabeth are mentioned watching a "cheesy reality dating show", strongly implied to be The Bachelor given they discuss a rose ceremony.
Spy Cam: One of the former deputies who worked on the Harrington murders tells Laurie the cops found a hidden camera inside the Harringtons' living room clock, but the memory card had been removed, presumably by the killer to erase footage of them killing the Harringtons. This means the killer would've already known the camera was there. It's revealed that Sarah Harrington set the camera up and also secretly installed another camera in the living room of her regular home in Boston, in order to record evidence of her husband abusing her. She had confided what she was doing to her friend Betsy, while no one else knew the cameras were there.
Time Skip: The prologue takes place on the night of the twins' graduation party and their parents' murders in 2006; it then skips ahead almost ten years to the present-day events. The epilogue is set two months after the main story concludes.
Tragic Keepsake: Sarah and Betsy had matching, custom-made pearl bracelets they frequently wore. Sarah's bracelet was broken on the night she was killed and the police wouldn't return the pearls so it could be repaired, though Betsy still has her bracelet, keeping it to remind herself of her friendship with Sarah. She later gives it to Sarah's daughter Frankie, saying she'd originally intended it for her 22nd birthday in a few months but she thinks she should have it now. Frankie later realises something is off with the bracelet: Betsy always had a more athletic build with more muscular arms compared to Sarah, who was quite skinny, so Sarah's bracelet was made smaller to fit closely around her wrist. Frankie has a similar slim build as her mother, yet Betsy's bracelet fits her perfectly when really it should be much looser. This leads Frankie to realise that this is her mother's bracelet and it was Betsy's bracelet that was broken.
Trashy True Crime: The plot is kicked off by both Michelle and Annabeth receiving phone calls by the host of a true crime podcast, who pesters them to get their husbands to agree to interviews about the murders of their parents, seeing as the 10th anniversary is coming up. She's extremely pushy and tactless, clearly caring more about covering a juicy story than the lives and feelings of the actual people involved; she even lies to both Annabeth and Michelle, falsely claiming to one that the other had agreed to be interviewed in an attempt to manipulate them. While neither woman is remotely tempted to take up the podcaster's offer, it does encourage them to go to Laurie Moran, a far more respected and scrupulous true crime investigator.
Twin Switch: It's mentioned that in school, Simon and Ethan used to switch places to fool their teachers and play pranks. It got a lot less light-hearted when the police suggested one twin pretended to be both brothers on the night of their graduation party, enabling the other twin to leave unnoticed and shoot their parents dead.
Useless Security Camera: Downplayed; the Harringtons had a security camera mounted atop the gate at their beach house, though at the time of the murders, the camera had broken; while it could still record footage, it was stuck in a downward position. Consequently, the camera recorded someone arriving at the house shortly before the murders in a Range Rover that Ethan and Simon drove, but it didn't clearly show the identity of the driver.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue, set two months later, reveals what happened to most of the main cast. Dennis Ward pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is currently serving a three-year sentence, while Betsy Ward pled guilty to obstruction of justice and received a year of community service; they both received relatively-light sentences due to their cooperation and the mitigating circumstances. Frankie Harrington isn't certain if her relationship with the Wards will ever fully recover, but is happy that her brothers have finally reconciled after being proven innocent of killing their parents. Laurie decided not to mention anything about Jimmy Connolly borrowing money from his son-in-law (or his family's connection with organised crime), Howard Carver's past drug addiction and fraud, or Peter Bennett’s love for Sarah Harrington, as none of it is relevant to the killings and it would cause unnecessary pain. Ryan tells Laurie he’s planning on going back to working as an attorney, and Laurie and Alex have recently learned Laurie is pregnant.