The Weekend Away

Orla, a British woman on maternity leave from her human resources job, nervously leaves her nine-month-old daughter Marlow with her husband Rob to fly to Lisbon for a weekend away with her best friend Kate, a movie publicist. The two women have been close for nearly two decades, since meeting as flatmates in London, though they have drifted apart during Orla's years of in vitro fertilization struggles and early motherhood. Kate has booked a luxurious Airbnb apartment, charging it to a credit card belonging to her ex-husband Toby. Sebastian, the landlord who lives in the apartment below, introduces himself and confirms only two guests are staying.

Over dinner, Kate reveals she has frozen her eggs, is considering having children, and wants to buy a house in Richmond. Orla confesses she may be experiencing postpartum depression. Kate does cocaine in the bathroom, then takes a phone call outside the restaurant that leaves her visibly upset. She tells Orla it was Toby, furious about credit card charges, and that he has cancelled the card.

They head to a bar called the Blue Speakeasy. Their Uber driver, Konstandin, a Kosovar immigrant, watches Kate snort cocaine in the back seat. At the bar, Kate approaches two strikingly handsome strangers, Joaquim and Emanuel. She flirts with Emanuel while Joaquim turns his attention to Orla, who is flustered but reminds herself she is married. Kate invites both men back to the apartment. Orla protests, but Kate overrides her. On the ride home, Orla feels increasingly woozy, far beyond what the alcohol should cause.

Orla wakes late Saturday morning with a crushing headache and fragmented memories. She suspects she was drugged. Kate is nowhere in the apartment: Her bed is rumpled and used condoms are in the bins, but Kate and her Hermès Birkin handbag are gone. Orla finds broken glass and a rust-colored stain on the carpet. She calls Rob but withholds the details about the men and the drugging.

Orla searches Lisbon on foot, calls the hospital, and questions Sebastian, who says he heard shouting and men running down the stairs around three a.m. At the police station, Detective Nunes is dismissive, telling her she must wait 24 hours to file a report. Desperate, Orla contacts Konstandin, who drives her back to the bar and helps her question the barman. The barman reveals that Joaquim and Emanuel are escorts who work for an agency called Lotus Models.

Orla and Konstandin track the men down through social media. When the escorts see Orla, they bolt. Konstandin tackles Joaquim, who admits under pressure that Kate hired them: Emanuel to sleep with Kate, and Joaquim to sleep with Orla. He says Orla was too drunk and he did not touch her, and he claims Kate planted a condom wrapper in Orla's bed to make it look as though they had slept together. He also admits they stole Kate's handbag, phone, and wallet before fleeing. Orla recovers the bag and retrieves Kate's phone from a pawnshop. The realization that Kate left without phone, wallet, or passport deepens Orla's fear.

On Sunday, Orla files a formal missing person's report with Detective Reza. She calls Kate's mother, who reacts with surprising detachment, and Toby, who shocks her by saying he never spoke to Kate on Friday night and never cancelled any credit card. He calls Kate a liar. Konstandin shares his own history: His entire family, including his pregnant wife, was killed by Serbian soldiers during the Kosovo War. He tells Orla she reminds him of his wife, explaining why he is helping her.

Rob flies to Lisbon. Over drinks, Orla tells him the truth about the escorts and the drugging. That night, Detectives Reza and Nunes deliver devastating news: A body matching Kate's description has been pulled from the Tagus River. At the mortuary, Orla identifies Kate. The pathologist notes trauma to Kate's skull, suggesting she was struck or fell before drowning.

Before returning for further questioning, Orla asks to see Kate's body. Alone with the corpse, she uses Kate's thumb to unlock her iPhone. In a bathroom stall, she discovers that the call Kate claimed was from Toby on Friday night actually came from a contact labeled "RJ Plumbing," which is Rob's phone number. The text chain reveals hundreds of messages spanning years: declarations of love and evidence of a long affair predating Marlow's birth. Shattered, Orla screenshots the texts and emails them to herself, then wipes Kate's phone before handing it to the police, terrified that the affair would give her a motive for murder.

Orla calls Toby, who confirms he knew about the affair and reveals that Kate introduced Orla to Rob and had been in love with Rob for years before Orla and Rob got together. Orla deduces that Rob stayed with her only because she became pregnant. She checks their joint air miles account and finds Rob booked a return flight to Lisbon on Friday night, proving he was in the city when Kate died. When Orla confronts Rob, he admits flying to Lisbon to stop Kate from revealing the affair but claims he never saw her. Orla tells him she is leaving him. Konstandin reasons that Kate hired the escorts to frame Orla as unfaithful, giving Rob a guilt-free excuse to leave Orla for Kate.

The autopsy confirms Kate fought off an attacker, and the police treat her death as murder. They learn about the affair from Sebastian, who has been eavesdropping through hidden cameras installed throughout his apartments. Suspicious of how much Sebastian seems to know, Orla steals his keys and breaks into his locked recording room, where she discovers camera feeds from all five of his rental properties. She watches footage from Friday night: Kate drugging Orla's water, Joaquim putting Orla to bed without touching her, Kate planting the condom wrapper, and Kate running out of the apartment 43 seconds after the escorts leave. Sebastian catches Orla, deletes the recordings, and tries to lock her inside. They struggle, and Orla elbows him; he falls, hits his head, and loses consciousness. Orla flees.

Konstandin traces a taxi whose driver picked up Kate that night and drove her to the main police station to report the theft of her bag. Orla realizes an officer took Kate's statement, a report never mentioned during the investigation. Before they can act, police arrest Orla. Konstandin escapes on foot.

At the station, Reza charges Orla with Kate's murder and the attempted murder of Sebastian. Left alone with Nunes, Orla realizes he was the officer who took Kate's report that night. She confronts him, and Nunes blurts that offering Kate a ride home was "a mistake," then attacks Orla, striking her throat. Reza returns just in time and pulls him off, saving Orla's life.

Orla wakes in the hospital. Traffic camera footage places Nunes's car near the docks with Kate in the passenger seat. Nunes admits he propositioned Kate and that they fought when she refused, but he denies killing her. Sebastian is charged with kidnapping, assault, and withholding evidence. With Nunes identified as the likely killer, Orla's charges are dropped and she returns to London.

Two weeks later, Orla sits outside Kate's memorial service, having begun divorce proceedings. Konstandin texts her a link to newly discovered dock security footage showing a man striking Kate, her head hitting a bollard, and the man dragging her body into the water. Orla stops on London Bridge and whispers goodbye to Kate as a yellow butterfly lands on her scarf before flying away. Moments later, she replays the video and focuses on the killer's movements: the way he crouches, rocks on his heels, and runs his hand through his hair. They are Rob's distinctive mannerisms. Orla realizes her husband killed Kate, and the novel closes on this moment of unresolved panic and dread.