Review: Incidentals by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

Incidentals by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

Blurb from Goodreads:

A couple’s luxury vacation in the Maldives takes a sinister turn when they’re befriended by two strangers in a twisty and darkly comic novel by the author of Friends in Napa.

Sarah and Sam have lost the very spark that brought them together. In an effort to save their marriage, they embark on an anniversary trip to the Maldives where a week at a luxury resort might remind them of why they fell in love. On the plane, they meet Krista and Kevin, a happy older, exceptionally generous couple headed to the same destination and eager to make vacation friends. They could be just the marriage mentors Sarah and Sam need.

But when a dead body is pulled from the crystalline waters only days into the vacation, a dark pall is cast over the sunny coral isles. The official story is a tragic accident. But that doesn’t sit right with Sarah, who senses something off. What could these very wealthy, too-fast friends possibly want from a modest couple like them?

The answers could destroy what’s left of her marriage. Then again, a murder in the Maldives might be the best thing that ever happened to it.

 I appreciated the twist but these were two very miserable people who really should not have been married.  Too much of the book was devoted to how much each of them hated themselves and each other and didn't make much of an enjoyable read.  Still, I've always wanted to go to the Maldives so bonus points for setting!!

Incidentals comes out next week on March 31, 2026, and you can purchase HERE.  

She can be such a bitch sometimes.

She was not always this person. She doesn't know how to describe it. It's like one day she woke up and all the parts of her that had been tender had hardened, dried up like orange rinds on a counter. She's not sure what happened. Part of why she moved to Los Angeles was so that this would not happen. She knew that if she stayed in New York long enough it would. But maybe it's always lived inside her, this cynic, this coldhearted, selfish individual who can't see beyond herself. Maybe it's the truest version of herself, and she's been hiding it all these years.