Anatomy of an Alibi - Ashley Elston - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Ashley Elston

GENRE: Mystery-Thriller

PUBLICATION DATE: January 13, 2026

RATING: 3.5 stars

In a Nutshell: A mystery-thriller built around what comprises an alibi. Fast-paced but convoluted plot, plenty of twists, somewhat flat characters. Gripping enough for the most part but the final resolution is a disappointment. Recommended to thriller fans.

Plot Preview:

Camille Bayliss lives a charmed life at least on the surface. But she is desperate to find proof that will help her become free of her marriage to Ben. She believes she has made the perfect plan when she ropes in Aubrey Price to dress up as Camille and roam around town for twelve hours while Camille focusses on her agenda of finding the truth about Ben. Except that Ben turns up murdered the next morning. Both Camille and Aubrey need a good alibi, but only one of them has it.

The story comes to us mostly in the first-person perspectives of Aubrey, Camille, and Hank – Ben’s business partner at his law firm.

I had enjoyed this author’s debut adult work ‘First Lie Wins’ and was hence looking forward to this thriller despite my not being in ‘thriller mode’ these days. The book mostly offered what I was looking for: fast-paced twisty entertainment. The ending was a letdown, but other than that, this offers standard thriller fare that most thriller lovers might enjoy.

Just like “First Lie Wins”, the title is apt for the plot. I enjoyed how many layers of an alibi were explored in this book.

The plot itself isn't so tricky, but the presentation of it is almost chaotic. Firstly, we have multiple first-person perspectives, which means one has to pay attention to which character is narrating the chapter. Further, each chapter comes with a clear timestamp and isn't in chronological order. Almost every chapter ends with a mini-cliffhanger, which is sorted out whenever the story returns to that particular date. All this means that the reader needs to employ a lot of concentration to keep all the arcs clear. (Given this, I don’t think the book would be that easy to concentrate on in the audio version.) It gets a bit tough to keep track of at times, but I enjoyed the challenge.

While I liked the intricacy of the presentation and the steady dose of twisty reveals, the characters left me unimpressed. Though there was a good amount of family drama, the characters themselves are mostly bland, with a clear tilt towards good or bad instead of a more layered portrayal. Thrillers don’t often focus on character depth, so this might be up to par for this genre. But I wish the casting hadn’t been so very convenient in their combined skillset. Every character seemed to be there for a specific purpose related to the murder mystery; there were no casual lingerers.

The ending is mainly why my rating slipped. The final reveal felt like it went a step too far and wasn’t so convincing.

I can't go into further details of the plot as it can easily go into spoiler territory. But most of the book kept me turning the pages even though I wasn’t on the edge of my seat. It could have gone better for me, but it also didn’t bore me anytime. I enjoyed ‘First Lie Wins’ much better as it was a more well-crafted cat-and-mouse thriller. Regardless, I will still be interested in seeing what this author pens next because the convoluted presentation of her plots appeals greatly to me.

Recommended to mystery-thriller lovers looking for a twisty story. Better if not read through the audio version.

3.5 stars, rounding down wherever applicable for the ending.

My thanks to Viking Penguin and Pamela Dorman Books for providing the DRC of “Anatomy of an Alibi” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.