Friends and Liars Book Summary: A Deadly Lake Como Reunion
TL;DR: The Short Version
An all-expenses-paid week at a sixteenth-century estate on Lake Como reads like a gift.
For four former college friends, it is an invitation they cannot easily refuse—and one they have spent five years hoping never to arrive.
Clare Monroe, a wealthy heiress, drowned at her family’s New Year’s Eve party in 2019.
Now the Monroes have summoned Harper, Luca, Sirina, and David back to Palazzo Mella for a memorial week.
Each of them carries a secret about how they betrayed Clare before she died.
Kit Frick’s Friends and Liars follows what happens when someone on the estate already knows every one of those secrets.
- What it is: A multi-perspective psychological thriller with a past-and-present timeline.
- Where it happens: A private Lake Como palazzo, with flashbacks to a New England college and Martha’s Vineyard.
- Core engine: Old betrayals, an anonymous tormentor, and a forced murder plot.
- Key themes: Guilt, wealth as a shield, and friendship as a transaction.
Who’s Who at Palazzo Mella
| Character | Role |
| Clare Monroe | Wealthy heiress presumed drowned at her family’s Lake Como estate on New Year’s Eve 2019. |
| Harper Gates | Clare’s former suite mate, now a Brooklyn ad executive married to Benjamin Cross. |
| Luca Pietro Di Adamo | Clare’s college friend, living in Miami after being cut off by his family. |
| Sirina Shaw | An off-Broadway and indie film actress based in New York City. |
| David McKinnon | A Hollywood director and Clare’s former boyfriend. |
| Samuel Monroe | Clare’s father, a venture capitalist who heads the Monroe family. |
| Helena Monroe | Clare’s mother, a former gallery owner. |
| Emmaline “Emma” Monroe | Clare’s younger sister. |
| Tanner Monroe | Clare’s older brother. |
| Catherine Ashford | Clare’s aunt and the controller of Monroe family affairs. |
| Benjamin Cross | Harper’s husband, a Wadleigh College mathematics graduate. |
| Cameron Bellingham | Clare’s first serious boyfriend. |
| Bradley Monroe | Clare’s cousin. |
| Bruce Pryor | A Hollywood producer and Samuel Monroe’s business partner. |
| Prue Pryor | David’s girlfriend and Bruce Pryor’s daughter. |
Friends and Liars Summary: The Full Story
Spoilers ahead. This section recounts the plot in full, including the ending.
In the fall of 2019, Clare Monroe arrives at Wadleigh College and forms a tight circle with Harper Gates, Sirina Shaw, Luca Di Adamo, and David McKinnon. Clare pays for trips, dinners, and opportunities. Her generosity comes with unspoken strings.
Each friend carries a secret. Luca, cut off by his parents after coming out, steals Clare’s sixty-five-thousand-dollar South Sea pearl necklace to fund his lifestyle.
Sirina believes she struck and killed a young woman named Rebecca Harrington in a drunk-driving accident on Martha’s Vineyard, a crash Clare quietly covered up.
Sirina also carries on a recurring affair with David behind Clare’s back. David accepts Monroe venture capital for his debut film and stays silent when Clare bribes a Sundance juror on his behalf. Harper kisses Clare’s first love, Cameron Bellingham.
Minutes after that kiss, Clare’s father, Samuel Monroe, corners Harper in his second-floor office and sexually assaults her.
On New Year’s Eve 2019 at Palazzo Mella, Clare discovers the betrayals in rapid succession. She catches Harper and Cam together, then finds David and Sirina in bed.
Searching Luca’s room, she recovers her stolen pearls. She then opens her father’s office door and finds Harper wrapped in a blanket, dress torn.
Harper flees. Clare confronts Samuel about his predatory behavior and his long history of domestic abuse, which includes breaking her mother’s back and fracturing Tanner’s skull. Samuel strikes Clare over the head with a heavy glass tumbler and knocks her unconscious.
Believing he has killed her, Samuel drags Clare to the boathouse and dumps her into Lake Como. He stages an accidental overdose on the dock using his wife’s OxyContin pills and a bottle of wine, then bribes Italian divers to search the wrong section of the lake.
Clare does not drown. She regains consciousness in the freezing water, plays dead, swims to a neighbor’s dock, and crawls into her sister Emma’s bedroom. Fearing Samuel will finish the job, she goes into hiding under an alias at a vineyard in southern Italy, without a passport.
Five and a half years later, in June 2025, Emma and Clare execute a planned trap. Harper, Luca, Sirina, and David are invited to Palazzo Mella for Clare’s memorial week.
On arrival, each receives a symbolic welcome gift: Clare’s missing pearls for Luca, a bottle of Four Roses bourbon for Sirina, and the specific camera model for David. Anonymous notes printed on marbled stationery follow.
On June 8, 2025, Clare’s twenty-seventh birthday, the blackmailer distributes copied pages from Clare’s handwritten journal detailing everyone’s secrets.
The notes turn the four friends into accomplices. Luca must leave a sealed red envelope on a ballroom console table. David and Sirina must leave a boat key ready in the boathouse. Harper must delay Samuel in his office.
During that confrontation, Samuel sneers at Harper and mentions a vasectomy he had twenty years earlier. The remark instantly resolves Harper’s five-year fear that her son Oliver was his biological child.
Moments after Harper leaves the office, Clare steps out of the shadows and confronts her father at the top of the spiral staircase. Samuel stumbles back, and Clare shoves him down the stairs to his death.
The police arrive and read the contents of the red envelope Luca delivered. Inside is a fabricated suicide letter written in Samuel’s name, confessing to killing Clare on New Year’s Eve 2019 and taking his own life out of guilt. Italian authorities accept the suicide ruling.
Meanwhile, Clare’s cousin Bradley tells Sirina that Rebecca Harrington died by suicide in her bathtub, freeing Sirina from six years of false guilt.
Six weeks later, in July 2025, Harper, Luca, Sirina, and David are summoned to the Monroe estate in Malibu. Clare reveals herself to be alive alongside Emma.
She explains how she survived her father’s attack, orchestrated his murder, and engineered the blackmail plot to punish her friends while binding them to her forever as accomplices.
Clare announces her return to society under the cover of recovery from a “traumatic brain injury.” Bound by shared complicity, the four friends realize Clare has manipulated their lives and careers to bring them back under her permanent control in Los Angeles.
Friends and Liars ends with Clare greeting them warmly, ready to begin again.
Summary by Chapter
Spoilers ahead. Friends and Liars contains 37 chapters across five parts: The Invitation, The Gifts, The Notes, The Party at the Villa, and The Truth.
Part I: The Invitation
Chapter 1 (Harper): Five weeks before the memorial, Harper Gates receives an invitation to Palazzo Mella at her home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She hesitates to face her former friends and the place where Clare died. Her husband Benjamin encourages her to go, unaware of the secret she has kept about that night.
Chapter 2 (Luca): Luca Di Adamo is living in a cheap Miami condo after a breakup with his wealthy boyfriend Ian. He receives the invitation and worries about facing the others. Tempted by an all-expenses-paid luxury trip, he decides to go.
Chapter 3 (Sirina): Sirina Shaw arrives in Bellagio by boat with Luca, anxious about returning to where Clare died. They spot Clare’s sister Emma swimming and are greeted by Aunt Catherine, who hands out gold-embossed itinerary folders and brass keys.
Chapter 4 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): In a flashback, Clare prepares for the New Year’s Eve party and reflects on her relationships with David and Harper. While dressing, she discovers her golden South Sea pearl necklace is missing.
Chapter 5 (David): At the welcome party on June 2, 2025, David McKinnon attends with his girlfriend Prue Pryor. He notices lingering attraction to Sirina and observes the Monroe family, producer Bruce Pryor, and Cameron Bellingham. He dreads that a career-destroying secret will surface.
Chapter 6 (Harper): Harper sits isolated at the welcome party, overwhelmed by Cameron’s presence. Sirina joins her, and Harper warns her never to reveal her secret to Benjamin. Samuel Monroe delivers a toast to Clare while Harper fights panic.
Part II: The Gifts
Chapter 7 (Luca): A slideshow of Clare’s life excludes all photos from their Wadleigh years. Later, Tanner Monroe flirts with Luca near the trellis. Back in his room, Luca finds Clare’s missing pearl necklace in a black velvet box on his bed.
Chapter 8 (Sirina): Sirina chats with Samuel and Helena on the terrace and notices Helena’s severe opioid dependence. Returning to her room, she finds a bottle of Four Roses single barrel bourbon tied with a red ribbon and a single glass.
Chapter 9 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): Clare waits on the terrace and speaks with Bruce Pryor about Monroe family traditions. On the dock, she is shocked when Cameron Bellingham arrives, secretly invited by her mother Helena.
Chapter 10 (David): On June 3, 2025, David takes a helicopter to Venice with Tanner, Sirina, and Bruce Pryor. Tanner treats him with open contempt. David had earlier received an anonymous gift: the exact camera model he used on his breakthrough film.
Chapter 11 (Harper): During a Grand Canal boat tour, Cameron insists on apologizing to Harper for New Year’s Eve 2019. She silences him before Ben or the Monroes can overhear. She then makes small talk with Emma while fearing Ben will calculate Oliver’s birth timeline.
Chapter 12 (Sirina): At dinner near the Rialto Bridge, Sirina feels dizzy from drinking and fear over the bourbon. Bradley Monroe brings up their past hookup on Martha’s Vineyard, and Sirina struggles to stay composed.
Chapter 13 (Luca): Back at the palazzo, Luca hooks up with Tanner, who reveals that Helena organized the memorial week. Luca notices Tanner’s drawer of euro bills but takes nothing, only to find the pearl necklace has been reclaimed from his room.
Chapter 14 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): Clare walks into the portrait room and catches Harper kissing Cameron. Hurt by the betrayal, she rejects Harper’s apologies and rushes away.
Chapter 15 (Harper): On June 4, 2025, Harper and Ben discuss Clare’s death and the 120mg OxyContin finding in her autopsy. Ben suggests trying for a second child, then reads a text from Cameron on Harper’s phone. She admits to the kiss, damaging Ben’s trust.
Chapter 16 (Sirina): On June 5, Bruce Pryor drives Sirina to a botanical garden and offers her a leading role in Lucky Baby. At a group picnic, she has flashbacks to the night she believed she hit Rebecca Harrington.
Chapter 17 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): Clare tries to get Sirina to talk about the Martha’s Vineyard accident. Sirina refuses and storms off. Aunt Catherine then guides Clare back inside for dinner.
Part III: The Notes
Chapter 18 (David): David and Sirina kiss in the gardens, and he promises to end things with Prue. Returning to their rental car, Sirina finds a printed note on marbled stationery: “Did you think the truth died with Clare?” They realize someone is targeting them.
Chapter 19 (Luca): On June 6, Luca spends the afternoon on a boat with Tanner. Later, he meets the others in the garden, where they compare gifts and notes. They conclude that someone on the estate knows all their secrets.
Chapter 20 (Harper): On June 7, during a vineyard tour, Samuel corners Harper among the vines and makes pointed remarks about starting a family young. Harper probes who created the guest list, but Samuel stays vague, leaving her terrified.
Chapter 21 (David): David stays behind to question Helena about the memorial’s planning. She speaks cryptically about infidelity and painful truths. He works on a screenplay titled 5 Faulk Way while suspecting a family member is behind the targeting.
Chapter 22 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): Clare checks the vacant Lina Wertmüller room and catches David and Sirina in bed together. When she demands her pearls back, David suggests checking Luca’s room, exposing the theft.
Chapter 23 (Sirina): On June 8, Sirina visits Emma, who explains that the memorial grew out of a small birthday suggestion from Tanner. The group then receives another note: “What happened to Clare wasn’t an accident, and it wasn’t suicide either.”
Chapter 24 (Luca): Luca follows Aunt Catherine to the staff quarters and overhears her tell security chief Stefano to prepare for trouble that night. Tanner catches him on the stairs and later offers Luca a place to live in Los Angeles.
Chapter 25 (David): An hour before the memorial party, David and Sirina sit by the waterfall and admit they cannot identify the blackmailer. David promises to break up with Prue. Helicopters begin arriving overhead.
Chapter 26 (Clare — Dec 31, 2019): Clare searches Luca’s suitcase and recovers her pearls and other missing items. Feeling betrayed by all four friends, she goes to her father’s office and finds Harper wrapped in a blanket with her dress torn.
Part IV: The Party at the Villa
Chapter 27 (Harper): At 5:00 PM on June 8, the cocktail party begins outside Aunt Catherine’s villa. Harper reflects on her assault and her fear that Oliver was Samuel’s child. She resolves to confront Samuel before leaving Italy.
Chapter 28 (David): David breaks up with Prue, who accepts it calmly. Sirina then shows him a manila envelope containing copied pages of Clare’s handwritten journal and a note demanding they help deliver justice.
Chapter 29 (Luca): In an upstairs bedroom, the four friends read the journal copies and specific instructions for the night. Luca must drop a sealed red envelope in the ballroom, and David and Sirina must leave a boat key in the boathouse. They agree to comply.
Chapter 30 (Harper): At 7:00 PM, Harper delays Samuel in his office and confronts him about the assault. He sneers and reveals he had a vasectomy twenty years ago, relieving Harper’s fear about Oliver’s paternity. Ben overhears, and a wail erupts from the palazzo as they pack.
Chapter 31 (David): Guests notice several people missing as helicopters circle overhead. Harper bursts out of the ballroom with blood on her dress. Inside, guests find Samuel Monroe dead at the base of the spiral stairs with a broken neck.
Chapter 32 (Sirina): Police assemble the fourteen guests in the library while securing the scene. Inspector Colombo produces the red envelope Luca dropped. Stefano announces that police are treating the death as a suicide based on a note inside.
Chapter 33 (Harper): Tanner reads the staged suicide note aloud. It confesses that Samuel fought with Clare over his abuse, struck her with a wine bottle, watched her drown, and bribed divers to cover it up. The note claims he is taking his own life out of guilt.
Chapter 34 (Sirina): Bradley Monroe tells Sirina that Rebecca Harrington died by suicide in her bathtub. Sirina realizes she never killed anyone and that Clare had covered up a minor drunk-driving accident.
Chapter 35 (Luca): At 1:00 AM, the four friends and Ben gather in Harper’s room. They deduce that Emma found Clare’s journal, learned Samuel killed Clare, and orchestrated the week to frame a murder as a suicide. Emma has fled on the motorboat, leaving them bound as accomplices.
Part V: The Truth
Chapter 36 (Harper): Six weeks later, in July 2025, the four friends meet at a Los Angeles restaurant before a scheduled meeting with Emma. Media reports confirm Samuel’s death was ruled a suicide, and Emma has resurfaced in the city.
Chapter 37 (Clare): At the Malibu estate, Emma opens the door, and Clare Monroe walks in alive. Clare explains that she survived the 2019 attack, hid in Italy, and helped stage her father’s murder. She forced the four friends into complicity so they would remain bound to her permanently in Los Angeles.
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Friends and Liars: Book Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Psychological Thriller / Domestic Suspense / Wealth Thriller
- Core Narrative Tropes: Fake death and return, “I know what you did” blackmail, isolated luxury estate, alternating POVs and timelines, toxic elite friendships
- Tone & Atmosphere: Claustrophobic, glossy, tense, paranoid, deceptive
- Primary Conflict: Four friends trying to hide past betrayals versus an anonymous blackmailer forcing them into a murder scheme
- Pacing Style: Fast-paced, multi-POV, with flashback chapters set on December 31, 2019
- Book Structure: 37 chapters across five parts, plus an epigraph and prologue section
- Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
- Publication Date: December 2, 2025
- Pages: 272
- ISBN-10: 1668022532
- ISBN-13: 978-1668022535
Books Like Friends and Liars
The Reunion by Kit Frick: Another suspense novel by the same author, built around a wealthy family’s secrets, dual timelines, and a dangerous gathering at a luxury resort.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley: A multi-POV thriller set at a remote, glamorous event where old resentments and hidden betrayals end in murder.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: Follows an ultra-wealthy family on a private island and deals with selective memory, family secrets, and a group crime.
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead: College friends reunite a decade later and are targeted by someone determined to expose their past betrayals and a murder cover-up.
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware: A reunion of estranged friends at an isolated retreat where buried college secrets and romantic rivalries escalate into violence.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt: A closed circle of elite college students, a shared crime, and years of guilt that binds them together.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: Domestic suspense set among affluent families, where hidden abuse and old secrets surface around a death at a public event.
Quotes from Friends and Liars
“A secret remains a secret until you make someone promise never to reveal it.”
— Fausto Cercignani (Epigraph)
“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”
— Mark Twain (Epigraph)
“Others will love you for your money. But Monroes stick together. Family first, always.”
— Samuel Monroe’s mantra, recalled by Clare Monroe
“Did you think the truth died with Clare?”
— Anonymous text printed on marbled stationery delivered to the four friends
“I hit Rebecca Harrington that night, and we didn’t go look for her after. When you said it was a deer, I believed you. We let Rebecca die alone, and I never, ever want to talk about it ever again.”
— Sirina Shaw to Clare Monroe on New Year’s Eve 2019
“Tonight, you’re going to help me ensure justice is served, or this goes to the police.”
— Note accompanying the copies of Clare’s journal delivered to the friends
“He needed to die so I could live.”
— Clare Monroe to her friends in Malibu, explaining why she killed her father
“We have so much catching up to do!”
— Clare Monroe’s final line to Harper, Sirina, David, and Luca
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