Getting Away with Murder
Getting Away with Murder
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Prologue-Chapter 11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, cursing, and substance use.
Prologue Summary
Jill Westcott, her husband Ted, and Ted’s brother Greg are on Greg’s sailboat, the Fortune Seeker, in dangerously rough weather 12 miles off the coast of New York. Ted and Jill encourage Greg to drink alcohol. As Greg suggests they turn back, Ted approaches Greg and shoves him hard, pushing him over the side and into the turbulent sea. Greg, who is not wearing a life jacket, struggles in the waves. Ted deliberately sails the boat away. Jill watches her brother-in-law through binoculars until he disappears beneath the water. Once they are a safe distance from the scene, Jill places an emergency call to the Coast Guard to report an accident. She feigns sounding distressed. As they wait for the Coast Guard to arrive, Jill reflects that, “they have their story ready. They have been rehearsing” (6).
Chapter 1 Summary: “Two Months Ago”
Two months before the murder, Ted wakes up filled with anxiety about his dire financial situation, which he has successfully hidden from Jill. Despite coming from a wealthy family and working at a financial services firm, Ted is quickly running out of money. They live in a lavishly restored brownstone in Brooklyn Heights that they both adore. Jill, who works part-time at an art gallery, considers her life to be perfect. Though she has noticed Ted’s uncharacteristic moodiness for a few months, she is unaware of its cause. When she asks him if anything is wrong, he lies and insists that everything is perfect.
Chapter 2 Summary
A week later, Ted reflects on the financial crisis that has been escalating for some time. He has spent his inheritance, taken out a mortgage on their home, and used his Porsche as collateral for another loan. Following a bad tip from a colleague, Ted took a high-interest, short-term loan from a private lender to invest. The stock crashed, ruining him. To make matters worse, Ted had also convinced Greg’s ex-wife, Minerva “Min” Westcott, to make the same investment, and she lost a significant amount of money. After Min furiously confronted him, Ted begged her not to tell Greg about his mistake. As Ted and Jill prepare to have dinner with Greg, he is tense and stressed.
Chapter 3 Summary
Ted and Jill go to dinner with Greg. Ted worries Greg knows about the bad investment. He reflects that, since Greg and Min didn’t have any children and have been divorced for two years, Ted is now his brother’s sole heir. Ted catches himself wondering if Greg is likely to remarry and have children, or if he might die unexpectedly. He wonders, “is it awful to think this way, or merely human?” (20).
During the meal, Greg reveals that Min told him about the bad investment and proceeds to humiliate Ted in front of Jill, questioning if he can afford such massive financial losses. Later that night, consumed by hatred, Ted contemplates murdering his brother.
Chapter 4 Summary
The next morning, Jill confronts Ted about his secrecy and their finances. He confesses the full extent of their ruin, explaining that their only remaining asset is the brownstone, which they will have to sell or heavily mortgage. Jill is furious and refuses to consider losing the house. When Ted suggests he could ask Greg for a loan, she demands he do so.
Chapter 5 Summary
Ted becomes more convinced that murdering Greg is the perfect solution to his problems. He begins to formulate a plan to make the murder look like a sailing accident, concluding that Jill’s presence as a corroborating witness would be essential. Later that day, Jill arranges a meeting at Greg’s condo to ask for the loan, telling Ted she will do the talking.
At Greg’s luxurious condo, Ted asks for a loan of $1.5 million. Greg refuses, lecturing Ted that he needs to learn from his mistakes. Ted and Jill leave angrily, and the former is more convinced than ever that he needs to kill his brother.
Chapter 6 Summary
Back at their home, Jill is furious with Greg. Ted informs her that Greg is worth approximately $45 million: He has invested his inheritance wisely and also made his own fortune as an entrepreneur. Jill reflects on their whirlwind romance: She fell in love with Ted but has also always loved their luxurious lifestyle. She ponders what options they have and hints that if Greg were to die, Ted would inherit his fortune. They agree that “we could tackle this together” (45), initiating a plan to commit murder.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Now”
The narrative returns to the moment after Greg has been pushed overboard, Ted struggles to control the Fortune Seeker in the storm. He feels confident Jill will stick to their story, as she will get no inheritance money if he is convicted. Soon, a US Coast Guard vessel arrives. Ted tearfully reports that his brother fell into the sea. The Coast Guard begins a search for Greg, but they are a significant distance from where he actually went into the water, ensuring the search will be futile. Ted and Jill are transported back to the marina.
Chapter 8 Summary
At the marina, a Coast Guard officer takes Ted and Jill’s official statements. Ted claims that Greg insisted on sailing despite the dangerous weather. He states that Greg accidentally lost his balance and fell when the boat lurched. Jill corroborates the story, and they both claim that Greg never resurfaced.
Chapter 9 Summary
After the reports are complete, Ted and Jill are sent home. Greg’s body has not been recovered but the Coast Guard confirms there is no chance he could have survived. Back home, Ted and Jill celebrate their success and begin planning how to spend the inheritance, discussing a holiday home in France and a new sports car. Ted announces his plans to quit his job. They watch a local news report that describes Greg’s death as a tragic sailing accident. They feel confident that their plan will be successful.
Chapter 10 Summary
Ted and Jill’s friends, Ben and Lara Donleavy, learn of Greg’s death from the news. Lara, who is Jill’s best friend, tries to call Jill but the call goes to voicemail. Lara and Ben discuss how it was reckless of Greg to sail without a lifejacket, especially in such rough weather. They imagine how upsetting the ordeal must have been for Ted and Jill. Later, Lara privately wonders who will inherit Greg’s vast fortune.
Meanwhile, Jill and Ted wait for their plan to unfurl. They do not think Greg’s body will be recovered, but they have researched and confirmed that New York law allows a person to be declared legally dead without a body or a long waiting period, which will give them quick access to the inheritance. This law is applicable so long as the person was last seen in a situation of significant peril, where death is likely. Ted’s attorney phones, offering condolences and arranging a meeting for the following day so that they can begin discussing legal matters.
Chapter 11 Summary
Special Agent Paul Ramirez of the US Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) is assigned the Greg Westcott case. The case has been flagged as suspicious because the deceased was extremely wealthy and the only witnesses are his sole heirs. After reviewing their initial statements, Ramirez decides to question Ted and Jill immediately. He arrives at their brownstone and Jill answers the door. Ramirez observes the lavish setting and the couple’s evident wealth, recalling his “innate dislike for the wealthy” (71).
Prologue-Chapter 11 Analysis
The narrative opens in medias res, plunging the reader directly into the climax of Ted and Jill’s plot to commit murder. By revealing the murder in the Prologue, the narrative shifts its focus from a traditional whodunit to an examination of how the couple will attempt to get away with their crime. The stormy sea represents the violent, uncontrollable reality they must enter to achieve their goals. Out on the water, Jill feels they are “no longer safe, cloistered” (1), exposed to a primal danger that is a necessary component of their plan. The chaotic setting, where the “wind screeches and howls and whips at the sails as if they are at the gates of Hell” (2), establishes the violent core of the story. It also foreshadows the unforeseen consequences of their actions, which will rapidly spiral out of control.
The subsequent chapters then flash back two months, using a non-linear narrative structure to provide exposition and insight into key character motivations. This exposition highlights the centrality of The Corrupting Power of Greed, since Ted and Jill commit the crime out of a desire to preserve their wealthy and privileged lifestyle. Ted describes their house as his “sanctuary” (8), and Jill’s fierce determination to protect it at any cost—forbidding Ted from mortgaging it further—drives their conspiracy. Her internal admission that if forced to choose, “she might love the house more” than Ted (43), clarifies that their ultimate allegiance is to their status. Their willingness to commit murder to preserve their social and financial standing sets the stage for the chilling possibility that drives the novel’s central conflict: Even seemingly innocuous individuals like Jill and Ted may resort to violence to protect their wealth and reputation.
Ted and Jill’s marital dynamic in the weeks leading up to the murder mirrors the archetype of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which a power-hungry but hesitant husband is emboldened by a resolute wife. Initially, Ted is paralyzed by financial anxiety and weakness, a man who has “never been tested” and fears there might be “nothing there” (10). He is unable to confess his failure to Jill, and his humiliation at the hands of Greg leaves him feeling powerless. It is Jill who, upon learning the truth, takes charge with pragmatic fury, demanding, “When the fuck were you planning on telling me?” and insisting he secure a loan (31). However, once the idea of murder takes root, a transformation occurs in Ted. The conspiracy grants him a new sense of purpose and a “surge of confidence” that replaces his earlier weakness, as he begins to see himself as a man of action (37).
Their shared plot to kill Greg becomes a perverse form of teamwork, strengthening their bond through mutual transgression. They are, as Ted concludes, “soul-mates” who have killed together. However, the intimacy created by Jill and Ted’s planning and collusion also lays the seeds for The Danger of Misplaced Trust. Their fates become intertwined and they are totally reliant on one another. Jill trusts that her husband’s plan is foolproof, but his mismanagement of their finances foreshadows that he lacks the competence and strategic mindset to execute such a risky and delicate cover-up.
The wild, unpredictable setting of the ocean (where the murder takes place) contrasts with the controlled, artificial environment of Jill and Ted’s beloved brownstone. The home is their fortress, a space of luxury and security where Ted’s morning ritual involves an expensive Italian coffee machine and a “soothing silence” (8). The focus on Ted and Jill’s home establishes the novel as a domestic thriller, a subgenre that typically focuses on secrets, dangers, and violence lurking behind the seemingly perfect façade of happy marriages and domestic bliss. Many novels in this genre deconstruct a seemingly happy marriage to show secrets and dangers lurking underneath. However, Jill and Ted’s domestic space initially is a sanctuary for them; they feel safe and invincible there, mirroring the absolute trust they place in one another. Because they overestimate the security of both their home and their relationship, they take dangerous risks within these spaces (such as openly discussing the murder they are plotting).
The introduction of Special Agent Paul Ramirez establishes the first source of conflict within the plot. He operates according to a completely different value system and is not swayed by the wealth and sophistication of Jill and Ted. If anything, their wealth renders him more suspicious and more determined to bring them to the justice they may be trying to evade. By going to their home to question them, Ramirez represents the first time when the sanctity of the domestic space is breached. By colluding to commit a crime, Jill and Ted have transformed their marriage and their home into something that is permeable and open to scrutiny, rather than private and intimate.
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