History Literature / AllDressedInWhite

* ChekhovsGunman: Early in the story, Kate mentions she doesn't think Amanda would ever have disappeared voluntarily because of Carly Romano; Carly was a student at Colby College at the same time as Amanda and her friends, who went missing from a party and was found strangled to death in a lake two weeks later. While Amanda didn't know Carly well, she told Kate that before Carly's body was found she'd met Carly's parents and felt terrible for them, almost wishing they would find a body so they'd at least know what happened; consequently, Kate thinks it highly unlikely Amanda would deliberately put her family through that torment. Leo Farley finds the case intriguing and does a bit of research, thinking his daughter could cover it in a future episode. [[spoiler:He discovers old Facebook photos revealing that Carly had known and possibly dated Jeff Hunter, meaning Amanda wasn't the first woman close to Jeff who vanished in sinister circumstances]].

* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Most of the wedding party attended Colby College in Maine together (with the exception of the bride's older siblings, Charlotte and Henry) and remained close friends. Amanda, Meghan and Kate were roommates, as were Jeff, Nick and Austin. Nick and Austin had also previously known each other and been friends [[ChildhoodFriend since elementary school]]. Jeff and Kate clarify that while a lot of the media coverage of Amanda's disappearance referred to Jeff and Amanda as "college sweethearts", they actually weren't that close at Colby; Amanda mostly knew Jeff through Meghan and Nick, as Meghan and Jeff were friends while Nick and Amanda dated for a short time. It wasn't until a few years after graduation Amanda and Jeff were re-acquainted and began a relationship. [[spoiler:This becomes signficant to the plot, especially when it's revealed that Jeff had casually dated a girl named Carly at Colby, who was later murdered, and that Nick had also been interested in her but was rebuffed]].

* {{Fratbro}}: It's implied Austin Pratt tried to present himself as a fratbro in college, emulating his friend Nick, but he tended to come off as a nerd trying to too hard. He was pretty hopeless with women, despite Nick being his wingman. As an adult, while Austin does have a reputation as a playboy, he tends to focus more on his job his finance and has slowed down on the party lifestyle, enabling him to become an extremely successful hedge fund manager (it's mentioned that he's finally surpassed Nick in something in that regard). He also thinks that Nick drinks too much these days. [[spoiler:The ending reveals Austin is settling down with a woman who is implied to be nerdy too, ditching the fratbro persona for good]].

* {{Housewife}}: In contrast to the other members of the wedding party, Kate Fulton is now a humble homemaker, looking after the home and primarily handling child-rearing duties while her husband, Bill, works long hours as the manager of a Home Depot store. Although she finds contentment as a homemaker and loves her four children, Kate does admit to sometimes finding them a handful (her a ten-year-old daughter Jane has been negotiating hard for a later bedtime as none of her friends have to go to bed at 8pm, her eight-year-old son named Ryan is more easy-going compared to his siblings but accident-prone, and the three-year-old twins Ellen and Jared frequently alternate between playing together and fighting). She also admits to feeling a bit dowdy compared to her college friends.

* TheAlibi:
** A complication is that [[EveryoneIsASuspect virtually none of the wedding party have solid alibis]] for Amanda's disappearance (save her parents, who didn't arrive at the resort until the following morning); after the wedding party had dinner in the Grand Victoria Hotel's restaurant, Henry and Kate went to bed early, while Charlotte, Amanda and Meghan had drinks at the hotel bar before going up to their rooms, and Jeff, Nick and Austin shared a nightcap in Jeff's room before they all turned in for the night (the bride and groom had separate rooms so they could get ready for the wedding). Amanda told Meghan and Charlotte she'd forgotten something and went back downstairs, and that was the last time anyone saw her; they assumed Amanda went back up to her room by herself until she didn't show up for brunch the next morning and it was discovered her bed hadn't been slept in. Ostensibly, everyone stayed in their own rooms all night, but they can't actually ''confirm'' that's where they were. The sole exception is [[spoiler:Henry and Kate]], though they're not exactly jumping to reveal [[spoiler:they spent the night together in Henry's room (given they were married and not to each other)]].
** [[spoiler:On the second-to-last night of filming, Nick tells his friends he's sailing from the Grand Victoria to Boca Raton to meet a client. He also sends Jeff a text telling him he's in Boca. This was all done in an attempt to establish an alibi for Meghan's murder, though it falls apart when Jeremy snaps a photo of Nick and Meghan going aboard his boat at the Grand Victoria's pier, ''after'' he was supposedly already in Boca]].

* GriefInducedSplit: Sandra and Walter Pierce had a mostly happy marriage for over thirty years, but ended up divorcing two years ago over the disappearance of their youngest daughter, Amanda - a day before she was due to be married - three years earlier. They both had opposing reactions to the tragedy and didn't approve of the way the other handled it. Walter wanted to believe that Amanda had run away to start a new life - unable to bear the alternative - and never even liked Amanda's name being mentioned out of guilt. Sandra was convinced that Amanda didn't leave of her own free will and something terrible happened to her, devoting herself to discovering the truth. Walter felt Sandra had become obsessed with the case, while she felt he had given up on Amanda. Sandra eventually left Walter, saying she couldn't cope with his response anymore and that they needed to grieve separately in their own way. [[spoiler:After Amanda's body is found and her murderer is caught, it's strongly implied they will [[SubvertedTrope get back together]], they having never stopped loving each other]].

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The novel was published in 2015, though based on the timeline it's set a year earlier in 2014, a few months after ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'' (it's mentioned in both this novel and the preceding one that it's been nearly a year since ''Under Suspicion'' aired its first episode and just over five years since Laurie's husband was killed; the latter occurred around the same time Amanda disappeared).

* SequelHook: At the end of the novel, Laurie has already found the next case she wants to feature on ''Under Suspicion'': "A young woman was in prison for a crime she didn't commit, and Laurie was going to prove it". This sets up the plot of the next book, ''The Sleeping Beauty Killer''.

* CameraFiend: Jeremy Carroll is obsessed with photography. While this made being a wedding photographer's intern a logical career choice and he is admittedly talented at it, he also has a habit of following people and taking photos of them without their knowledge, as he's fascinated in seeing their true selves beyond the "false faces" they put on when they know they're being photographed. He has dozens of candid photos of the wedding party from Amanda and Jeff's wedding trip, revealing some their secrets. [[spoiler:He was also the last person to see Amanda alive besides her killer, he having followed her all the way to the hotel garage after everyone else went to bed. Laurie ends up hiring him to take more photographs of the wedding party in the present day, as by this point she knows one of them killed Amanda and may give themselves away. Jeremy ends up snapping a picture of Nick forcing Meghan onto his yacht, enabling the coast guard to launch a rescue]].
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Jeff's bride-to-be Amanda went missing the day before the ceremony and is eventually determined to have been murdered. It's revealed he also went on a few casual dates with a girl named Carly in college and her murdered body was pulled from a lake. And then his wife Meghan is kidnapped by the same killer, who intends to make her his third victim; luckily this time she's able to escape. It's justified given the killer intentionally targeted these women for choosing Jeff over him]].
* CasanovaWannabe: Ever since college, Austin Pratt has accompanied his friend Nick Young in trying to score dates with as many beautiful women as possible. Unlike Nick, Austin tends to be less successful with the ladies, with Kate even calling him "a complete disaster with women"; he's not especially handsome and in college he always came on too strong, while these days he still has a tendency to be a bit awkward and reserved. Some consider his large bank account to make up for a lack of looks and charm. [[spoiler:Austin isn't too bothered, though, as it turns out [[DeconfirmedBachelor he's finally found a woman who genuinely loves him and they intend to marry]]]].

* ClearMyName: Jeff Hunter signs up to appear on ''Under Suspicion'' almost the moment Laurie gives him to the contract to look over, not even consulting his wife about it; he tells Laurie and Alex he's tired of people constantly whispering that he had something to do with his former fiancee's disappearance and sees this an opportunity to clear himself of suspicion, as well as find out what happened to her. Of course, Laurie and Alex speculate that if he ''was'' involved he might not want to look too reluctant about participating, either. [[spoiler:Although Jeff does come off as the prime suspect for much of filming, it's eventually uncovered that he had nothing to do with Amanda's murder]].

* CreepyRedHerring: [[spoiler:Jeremy Carroll is a bit of a weirdo and has issues with boundaries, but he never meant to harm or frighten anyone, and had nothing to do with Amanda's disappearance. In fact, his collection of candid photographs prove useful to solving the mystery of what actually happened to her and help save another woman's life]].

* FamilyMan: In stark contrast to his own father's parenting style, Henry is a devoted and hands-on father to his daughters and shares housework with his wife, Holly; he actively takes part in his girls' extracurricular activities, always tries to be home on time to tuck them into bed and makes breakfast for them on weekends so Holly can lie in. Walter wonders if things would've turned out differently if he'd been a father more like Henry.

* {{Fratbro}}:
** Nick Young. While it's not mentioned if he was ever in a fraternity, he was a big partier in college, saying he "never missed a Beer Bash in four years", was always trying to pick up pretty girls and tended not to focus as much on his studies. Unlike some examples, Nick isn't unintelligent; he was smart enough to get a well-paying job in finance on Wall Street after graduating, though he continues his fratbro behaviour into his thirties, being mostly concerned with chasing women, boating and living it up. It's implied that if he focused more on impressing clients, he'd be even more successful. His attitude towards women and relationships comes off as a bit sleazy, though he's not as overtly misogynistic as some examples. [[spoiler:At least until it's revealed he's gone so far as to ''murder'' women who have rejected him and that he despises women dismissing him a mere temporary flirtation or a waste of time. When he gets arrested, he initially tries to use his money to intimidate the police, insisting he can afford the best lawyers in the country. It doesn't do him much good though, given the overwhelming evidence against him]].
** It's implied Austin Pratt tried to present himself as a fratbro in college, emulating his friend Nick, but he tended to come off as a nerd trying to too hard. He was pretty hopeless with women, despite Nick being his wingman. As an adult, while Austin does have a reputation as a playboy, he tends to focus more on his job his finance and has slowed down on the party lifestyle, enabling him to become an extremely successful hedge fund manager (it's mentioned that he's finally surpassed Nick in something in that regard). He also thinks that Nick drinks too much these days. [[spoiler:The ending reveals Austin is settling down with a woman who is implied to be nerdy too, ditching the fratbro persona for good]].

* GoodAllAlong:
** [[spoiler:Jeff Hunter is one of the main suspects in Amanda's murder and is potentially an unfaithful GoldDigger (as Amanda's mother believes) but it's revealed in the end that he's completely innocent and really is as kind and humble as he appears to be. He just has really bad taste in friends]].
** [[spoiler:Meghan White can come off as manipulative, cold-hearted and jealous to some characters, to the point she becomes the top suspect over Jeff in the second half of the story. Even her own husband starts to doubt her intentions. However, it turns out Meghan isn't a bad person at all and certainly isn't unfeeling either; she's just not as openly emotional as most other people and tends to keep a cool head in a crisis, which to some people ''looks'' like she doesn't care. Some of the evidence against her is also explained as just a coincidence or sheer bad luck rather than Meghan having malicious intent]].

* GrowOldWithMe:
** Sandra recalls that she first met her future husband, Walter, at a football game in her freshman year of college; by the end of the game she felt certain he was the man she would marry. They indeed married shortly after Sandra finished college, had three children and eventually two grandchildren, and were happy together for over thirty years... until their youngest child disappeared, with the grief and stress straining their relationship [[SubvertedTrope to breaking point]]. They both still find it hard to believe they're now divorced, telling Alex they never thought that would happen to them. [[spoiler:The ending implies [[DoubleSubverted they will rekindle their romance]], with Laurie remarking that some people just seem destined to be together]].
** It's revealed Laurie stayed at the Grand Victoria Hotel several years ago with her husband, Greg, to celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Laurie recalls that at the time she'd blissfully assumed they would celebrate "fifty more", [[SubvertedTrope but unfortunately Greg was murdered just three years later]], leaving Laurie a widow in her early thirties.
** [[spoiler:As he's running around the Grand Victoria looking for his missing wife, Jeff happens to see an elderly couple holding hands as they walk along the beach and desperately thinks that he wants that to be him and Meghan decades from now]].

* MarriedTooYoung:
** A few days before her wedding, Amanda asked her bridesmaid Kate Fulton if she ever thought she was getting married too young, especially as Kate married her husband straight out of college and so would have more personal insight on the matter. Amanda herself was twenty-seven and had gotten engaged to Jeff while going through cancer treatment just a year ago, and had gone straight to working for her father's company after graduating. Kate - and some other members of the wedding party - got the sense that Amanda was having second thoughts about settling down so soon.
** Kate admits she does sometimes think she married her husband Bill too young - they started dating when they were thirteen, he was the only serious romantic partner she ever had and they quickly got married after Kate graduated, with Kate having four children with him by the time she's in her early 30s - and she confided this to Amanda. Kate occasionally wonders what her life would've been like if she'd taken more time to discover herself before jumping into marriage and motherhood, though she is certain she loves Bill and their children. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Kate ended up having a one-night stand with Amanda's brother Henry - who had similar doubts about his marriage - in the lead up to Amanda's wedding. However, they both deeply regret it and Kate is desperate that her husband never find out, not wanting to ruin their happy family]]. 
* MistakenForCheating:
** [[spoiler:Many people believe Jeff was cheating on Amanda with Meghan, especially given the timing of Amanda's disappearance and him going public about his relationship with Meghan (they got married barely a year later). It turns out this wasn't the case; while Amanda had confronted Meghan about an alleged affair shortly before she vanished, Jeff was [[ObliviousToLove oblivious to Meghan's feelings]] and Meghan was willing to let Jeff and Amanda be happy together. She and Jeff bonded over their shared grief for Amanda and he ended up returning her feelings at long last, with Meghan wanting to believe Amanda had simply changed her mind about the marriage and was off living her life free from responsibility]].
** [[spoiler:When Jeremy says he took a photo of the currently missing Meghan, he's initially reluctant to reveal it, especially to Meghan's husband, because he snapped Meghan going aboard a fancy yacht with Nick. Jeremy assumed that they were having some sort of affair, but Laurie quickly realises that Nick was actually ''kidnapping'' Meghan]].

* NearDeathExperience: A year before her wedding and subsequent disappearance, Amanda was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was extremely sick for a while but managed to beat her illness. A few characters, especially her best friends Kate and Meghan and her sister Charlotte, note that after surviving cancer Amanda changed as a person; they don't think she became selfish exactly, but she was increasingly focused on living her life the way she wanted, without being as concerned about what other people would think. She also appeared to be having reservations about how her life was turning out; she had gone to work in her father's company right after graduating and gotten engaged to the man who supported her through her illness, but no longer seemed certain whether this was what she wanted, or what she felt was ''expected'' of her.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Jeff is already frantic with worry when he can't find any trace of Meghan save her phone and learns from her emails that she's pregnant, realising ''this'' is why she was looking into claiming Amanda's money and feeling awful for accusing her of having unscrupulous motives. He ''really'' starts to panic when he learns Meghan got an email to meet Kate on the pier, but Kate says she never contacted Meghan, meaning someone has tricked his wife into coming to the pier alone and now she's gone]].

* SilkHidingSteel: Amanda came across as a sweet and gentle "princess from a fairytale", as her sister puts it, but she was actually a lot tougher and more cunning than many people realised. Notably, when her best friend threatened to sue her over an allegedly stolen product idea, Amanda subtly threatened to ruin her career as a lawyer if she pursued a "frivolous" lawsuit against her company. Charlotte and Meghan both state that after Amanda recovered from cancer, this side of her started to come out more; she was tired of constantly pleasing everyone else around her, even if she loved them, and was determined to live the life ''she'' wanted, even if that potentially meant calling off her wedding with only days to go.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: When Alex questions Nick and Austin about their perception of Jeff and Amanda's relationship, Austin says unprompted that while he witnessed them arguing like any other couple, Jeff would never have hurt Amanda; in response Nick gives him an exasperated look, as it sounds like he's covering for Jeff. [[spoiler:It ends up subverted, as not only was Austin genuinely unaware of any serious issues between the couple, Jeff wasn't responsible for Amanda's death]].

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Meghan White is described as a tall, attractive woman with black hair, and tends to come off as self-controlled and borderline emotionless most of the time. For some people, [[IncriminatingIndifference this makes her look callous and even guilty]] regarding her best friend's disappearance, but some of the wedding party state that she's just naturally reserved and highly pragmatic.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: An unusual variation where it's made by a character to someone they're already married to. [[spoiler:When Jeff starts accusing Meghan of only marrying him to get Amanda's money and of resenting Amanda for not giving her shared credit for X-Dream, Meghan tearfully blurts out that she's been in love with him for far longer than he realised, right back in college, and that she didn't really care about X-Dream; she just blew up on Amanda over it because she was actually upset about her marrying Jeff, but didn't want to give away how she really felt]].
* AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Laurie notes that while Charlotte is obviously jealous of her younger sister and tends to speak about her disappearance in an "almost businesslike" tone, she looks and sounds genuinely sad whenever she talks about Amanda's cancer diagnosis and how frail she became. She adds that she sometimes thinks she was only person who truly knew Amanda, yet even then she wasn't sure how well she understood her in the lead up to her disappearance. Although she tries to keep an open mind, Laurie gets the sense Charlotte is being sincere. [[spoiler:It's confirmed that while Charlotte didn't always get along with Amanda, she did love her sister, warts and all, and never wanted her to come to harm]].
* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:It's revealed in the climax that Amanda's killer was Nick Young, one of her fiance's best friends and a groomsman at the would-be wedding. Nick is never considered a suspect until this point because, as Laurie notes, they were all focused on who would've had the biggest motive to kill Amanda - namely Jeff and/or Meghan - and Amanda wasn't that close to Nick, nor did he obviously appear to have anything to gain by killing her. Laurie realises that the killer was in fact motivated more by a desire to harm Amanda's ''fiance'' from jealousy; killing the woman Jeff loved and framing him for it was a surefire way of doing that]].

* BigBrotherInstinct:
** When Alex starts asking him questions about the rivalry between Charlotte and Amanda, especially regarding Ladyform, their brother Henry gets angry at the insinuation Charlotte could've harmed their sister, saying that instead of accusing Amanda's family and friends they should be "looking at the local creeps" before storming out of the interview.
** Austin says that although they're the same age, Nick became like a big brother to him when they first befriended each other in elementary school; Austin was small for his age and shy, with Nick looking out for him, including him in social activities and helping him fit in. Austin admired Nick and aspired to be confident and popular like him. [[spoiler:It gets less wholesome when it's revealed Nick mostly keeps Austin around because he thinks he's pathetic and so isn't much of a threat to him, also enjoying the way Austin fawned over and relied on him]].

* BlackSheep: Henry is the self-professed "black sheep" of the Pierce family; unlike his sisters he never had any interest in getting involved with the family company or competing with them for their father's attention. After graduating, he moved to the other side of the country to set up an organic wine business in Seattle. He's also less glamorous and ambitious than the rest of his family; he's noticeably uncomfortable in formal-wear, preferring a more casual look and laid-back lifestyle. Despite this, he and his family do love each other; Henry just prefers not to get involved in the drama.
* BrainyBrunette: Charlotte has light brown hair and is an intelligent and clear-headed businesswoman, who works ceaselessly to keep Ladyform profitable. It's also mentioned that she graduated top of her class from the University of North Carolina.
* BrokenAce: It becomes clear that Amanda Pierce was a complicated woman. She appeared to have a charmed life: she was beautiful, wealthy, loved by many, a talented businesswoman, was set to inherit the family company, had successfully beaten cancer and was about to marry a man who appeared to be the perfect partner. However, some of those closest to her believe that in spite of all this, Amanda wasn't really satisfied with her life; her sister explains it as Amanda feeling she'd "taken the easy way" and had "her entire future mapped out for her" before she was even thirty. Laurie and her team get the impression that Amanda was still trying to figure out who she was and felt under pressure to make her loved ones happy at the expense of her own desires, which caused some issues in her personal relationships; many of her family and friends admit things weren't always as rosy between them as they acted. It's to the point that Laurie starts to think it doesn't seem so ridiculous Amanda might've fled from her own wedding to start a new life, or the very least tried to call things off.
* BrutalHonesty: Charlotte tends not to beat around the bush or sugarcoat things; in her interviews with Laurie and Alex (the latter of which will be aired on national television), she is very open about the strained relationship between herself and her sister, about how she always felt inadequate next to her, how her sister wasn't as sweet and perfect as everyone thought, the heavy amounts of pressure they both felt to make their family proud and her belief that the wedding might seriously get called off prior to her sister's disappearance. When Alex brings up that Jeff's friends got the impression that Charlotte was "disinterested" in the wedding, Charlotte's blunt response is that "Jeff's friends are idiots" before clarifying how she actually felt. Out of all the persons of interest, Laurie feels that Charlotte comes off as one of the most sincere because she doesn't pull punches. [[spoiler:Unlike some of the others, Charlotte genuinely has nothing to hide]].

* CommitmentIssues: Nick doesn't have much problem getting girlfriends, but he has a much harder time ''keeping'' them. He remarks that after 'the chase' is over, he quickly loses interest. It's also implied he has a wandering eye; the one serious relationship he managed to obtain fell apart after he got carried away at a bachelor party, with his girlfriend dumping him the moment she found out. [[spoiler:He also finds that the women he's most interested in tend to prefer his friend Jeff]].

* DiscreetDrinkDisposal: Jeff pours Meghan a glass of wine when he admits he's signed up to appear on ''Under Suspicion'', but she doesn't drink it because she's recently found out she's pregnant. As she doesn't want to reveal her pregnancy in the middle of the show's investigation, she discreetly tips out the wine in the bathroom sink before going back to the kitchen to tell Jeff she'll participate, too.

* DoesntKnowTheirOwnChild: Sandra provides a {{downplayed|Trope}} example in regards to Amanda. While Sandra isn't a neglectful parent (especially compared to Walter) and dearly loves Amanda, it becomes evident she has an overly-idealised view of her youngest child. Laurie notes that Amanda's sister and friends talk about Amanda in "a darker way" compared to her mother; Sandra didn't appear to realise Amanda felt trapped by her family's expectations and was having doubts about her upcoming marriage. On the other hand, Sandra does turn out to be right that [[spoiler:Amanda would never have run away and left her loved ones worrying over her for years]].
* DrivenByEnvy: [[spoiler:The villain's motive is revealed to be envy; Nick, a groomsman, murdered Amanda - who he had unsuccessfully dated in college - and attempts to set up Jeff for the crime out of extreme jealousy and insecurity. He felt the women he most wanted would always go for Jeff instead and that in spite of his good looks and wealth, he was never able to get a truly loving relationship like Jeff did. It's further revealed Nick killed Carly, another girl who rejected him for Jeff, back in in college. He also attempts to kill Jeff's pregnant wife Meghan, intending to set him up for her murder too]].

* EntitledToHaveYou: [[spoiler:Nick is revealed to have this attitude towards women, in particular Amanda, Meghan and Carly, all whom were in some kind of romantic relationship with his friend Jeff. Considering Nick can usually get any woman he wants (only for him to swiftly lose interest), he finds it to be a personal affront that they rejected him for Jeff. All three women were/are considered smart, attractive and successful (Amanda and Carly in particular were said to be the most beautiful girls at their college and were [[DudeMagnet desired by lots of men]]), with the implication Nick feels he deserves their affections because they're 'the best']].

* EvilGloating: [[spoiler:While he's got Meghan spaced out on ketamine aboard his yacht, Nick tells her just about every detail of how he murdered Carly and Amanda, and planned to frame Jeff for the latter's murder, going on and on about how smart he is and what fools Jeff and the women are. What he doesn't know is that ketamine doesn't quite have the same effect on Meghan as it does most people and she's a lot more aware than he realises. As such, when Nick is arrested and Meghan rescued, she's able to the tell the cops quite a bit about Nick's crimes, strengthening the case against him]].
* ExcessiveMourning: Walter accused his ex-wife of this in response to their youngest daughter's disappearance, saying she had become "obsessed" with finding out what happened to her at the expense of his feelings and their other children. In this case, Sandra's response is [[DefiedTrope a fairly reasonable one]] for a grieving mother who wants answers (especially given the police didn't do a particularly good job looking for Amanda) and ''Walter'' comes as the one with unhealthy coping mechanisms, with Sandra asking if Walter ''really'' expected her to just give up and move on. Sandra is hardly neglectful towards her other children and grandchildren; she actually spends more time with them than Walter does. Walter's son also points out to him that he never even talks about Amanda anymore, almost as if she didn't exist. Walter eventually admits that he couldn't bear talking about Amanda partly because he blamed himself for her disappearance and partly because he was in denial she's likely dead, telling Sandra that she was actually stronger than him because ''his'' response was to act like it didn't happen rather than face up to it.
* FairytaleWeddingDress: Amanda was set to wear one for her dream wedding, having tried on more than a hundred gowns to find the perfect one: "Off-white silk with an empire waist and handmade lace overlay for the bodice". She had tried the dress on the same night she disappeared with Kate's help, ostensibly to make sure it fitted, though also to test if she still felt right about getting married. The dress was found by her fiance and the wedding guests laid out on Amanda's bed while they were searching for her, right where she'd left it.

* FirstGirlWins: PlayedForDrama. Meghan met Jeff before he met Amanda, and they were closer to each other in college. Meghan and Jeff went on a few dates after they both moved to New York for work, but never really clicked (at least from Jeff's end). When Meghan re-introduced Jeff to Amanda a few years after graduation, they hit it off and later got engaged. Meghan went along with the perception that she set her two friends up as a couple, but in reality it was an accident and she was still desperately in love with Jeff, recalling that she'd cried for hours when Amanda told her Jeff had asked her on a date. Then Amanda disappeared the day before the wedding, Jeff fell in love with Meghan as she supported him and ''they'' ended up getting married, or at least that's the version they tell everyone. Meghan tries to avoid letting people know she already loved Jeff years prior, because she knows it will make her look even more suspicious. [[spoiler:They're still married in the end and happier than ever after they finally have no secrets between them, are cleared of any involvement in Amanda's death and are [[BabiesEverAfter expecting a baby girl]]]].

* HiddenDisdainReveal: [[spoiler:Laurie realises that Jeff's supposed best friend Nick has actually hated him for years, mostly from jealousy. Despite being just as good-looking as Jeff and a hell of a lot richer, Jeff tended to be the one who got women's attention over Nick, particularly as he's more naturally charismatic, while Nick comes off more as arrogant. Nick grew to resent Jeff so much, he murdered two women who chose Jeff over him, including going so far as to murder his fiancee two nights before their wedding. Following this realisation, we have a chapter from Nick's perspective confirming Laurie's suspicions, in which he rants almost non-stop about how much he despises Jeff and his significant others]].

* {{Hunk}}: Grace describes Nick as "a hunk"; he's tall and muscular with "movie-star looks", and has attracted the attention of many women over the years.

* ImperiledInPregnancy: [[spoiler:Meghan is several weeks pregnant when she's kidnapped by Nick, who drugs her, takes her out to sea on his yacht, and intends to weigh her down and drop her overboard. Meghan is terrified not only for herself but for her unborn baby, and [[DamselOutOfDistress vows to find a way to save them both]]]].
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Nick certainly acts like an arrogant, devil-may-care ladies' man, but his internal monologue reveals he's a bit jealous of Austin for making more money and he reassures himself that he will soon catch him up, or even surpass him. He also gets a bit defensive when Austin brings up that Nick's only recent serious relationship ended badly, saying at least he ''tried'', unlike Austin. [[spoiler:Nick is eventually revealed to have an ''extreme'' case of this; he berates Jeff as being "a phony" and a loser compared to him, considering he's a good enough lawyer to make loads of money but chooses to work as a public defender, though it's obvious he's jealous of Jeff for getting attention from women without even trying. For all Nick's wealth and charm, he's never had a lasting relationship with a woman he really wants, while Jeff has had Amanda and Meghan - both attractive, intelligent and successful women - in love with him. After he's arrested, Jeff and Austin both give interviews for ''Under Suspicion'' admitting that in hindsight, Nick didn't always come off as confident as he acted]].
* INeedAFreakingDrink: While having lunch with Charlotte, Sandra says she has something to tell her about Amanda, intending to reveal she'd approached Laurie Moran about featuring the case on ''Under Suspicion''. The moment Sandra mentions Amanda, Charlotte immediately turns to a waiter and asks for a vodka martini before she hears her mother out. Considering that Charlotte thought Sandra had flown across the country from Seattle to New York to see her, only to realise she's mostly here about the younger sister she always felt overshadowed by, it's understandable she's a bit miffed.

* InsecureLoveInterest: When Meghan and Jeff have a huge bust-up near the end of the novel and he starts insinuating [[spoiler:she had something to do with Amanda's death]], she screams at him that she knew he always loved Amanda more and only got with her because, as Amanda's best friend, she was the closest equivalent. They're usually a loving, stable couple, but given that Meghan was secretly in love with Jeff for far longer than she let on and that he was initially going to marry Amanda, deep down she's felt for years that she couldn't compete with Amanda [[spoiler:in either life [[CompetingWithACorpse or death]]]], with the circumstances bringing her insecurity to the surface. [[spoiler:For his part, Jeff thinks that while he loved Amanda, he has doubts if they would've been truly happy together, whereas with Meghan he's certain he wants to grow old with her]].

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Meghan has been in love with Jeff since college, but when he and her best friend Amanda fell in love, she never let on about her feelings and was supportive of them, even agreeing to be Amanda's maid of honour despite her heartbreak. However, some people speculate whether she was really so selfless about it as she appeared, given Amanda and Jeff's wedding didn't go ahead thanks to Amanda going missing and that Meghan ended up marrying Jeff just fifteen months later. [[spoiler:It's revealed Meghan blew up on Amanda about supposedly stealing a clothing idea from her as an excuse to vent her hurt over Amanda's being with Jeff, but that's ''significantly'' tamer than killing her best friend to get her man, which Meghan isn't guilty of]].
* JealousRomanticWitness: Meghan has an [[ExaggeratedTrope extreme case]] of this. She was secretly in love with her college friend Jeff for years, but she had little choice but to watch him and her best friend Amanda fall in love. She even agreed to be Amanda's bridesmaid at the wedding, never telling her how she felt about Jeff. Laurie eventually finds candid photos from the wedding trip, which include snapshots of Meghan looking longingly at Jeff or glaring in the background while he and Amanda are being SickeninglySweethearts with each other.

* TheMaidenNameDebate: Although Sandra bitterly refers to Meghan as "Mrs Jeffrey Hunter", Laurie notes that Meghan White kept her surname rather than take Jeff's name when they married. Meghan admits to herself she decided not to change her name because she didn't want to draw more unwanted attention to their marriage, especially given Jeff became known as 'the man who may have bumped off his bride-to-be on their wedding trip' and Meghan herself was set to be the maid of honour.

* MiddleChildSyndrome: Henry is the middle child and only son in the Pierce family. He never had any interest in Ladyform, partly because his father pushed a little too hard to get him involved and partly because he can't even "partake" in the products (Ladyform specialises in women's underwear and "foundational garments"). While his sisters both got involved in Ladyform, Henry preferred to make his own way as the owner of an organic winery and has lived on an entirely different coast from the rest of the family for years (although his mother moved nearer to him after getting divorced). Walter Pierce was never very attentive towards any of his children growing up regardless of birth order, but Henry decided to remove himself from the situation entirely while Charlotte (the oldest) was left to compete with Amanda (the youngest) for Walter's attention. Henry is content with this, but Walter regrets that he may have driven his son away.

* MySecretPregnancy: Meghan has recently learnt she's pregnant at the beginning of the story, but on the same day she intends to tell Jeff, he reveals he agreed to participate in ''Under Suspicion''. Meghan doesn't want her pregnancy to be overshadowed by the re-investigation into Amanda's disappearance - for which Jeff is the top suspect - so she decides to hold off on telling him or anyone else until filming is finished. [[spoiler:This ends up [[DeconstructedTrope causing problems]] later in the story; Meghan calls Amanda's estate lawyer about the legal process of Jeff inheriting her trust fund, as they would need the money to buy a larger home and make other plans for the baby. However, because none of the others - including Jeff - know Meghan is pregnant and she had the extreme bad luck to have called the lawyer ''the same day'' Amanda's body is finally found, she ends up looking incredibly guilty, with even Jeff wondering if he really knows her and demanding an explanation. Meghan is so distraught and stressed (likely exacerbated by pregnancy hormones) she refuses to give Jeff a straight answer until he calms down. Jeff figures out what's really going on after learning his wife is pregnant from her emails, which partly helps to clear her name]].
* {{Narcissist}}: [[spoiler:Nick is obsessed with wealth, image and status, both when it comes to himself and to the people he associates with. While Nick can act the part of a caring friend, he tends to [[ManipulativeBastard treat people as props or pawns]] and enjoys having [[ControlFreak complete control]] over others; he sees attractive women as prizes and quickly tires of them, and he uses his friend Austin as a wingman to make himself look better, while also enjoying Austin's gratitude. He's also [[ItsAllAboutMe incredibly self-centered]] even prior to TheReveal; he sees appearing on ''Under Suspicion'' as a chance to party at Palm Beach again even though it's supposed to about finding out what happened to his best friend's missing fiancee, and he's mostly focused on cracking jokes about his fancy yacht the same day ''Amanda's body is found'' and defensively says he was "just trying to lighten the mood". Nick can't stand [[AttentionWhore anyone being perceived as better than him or looking down on him]]; he's insecure about Austin being richer and is so jealous of Jeff being more romantically successful he's willing to set him up for murder. Nick went as far as ''killing'' two women who rejected him for Jeff and attempts to kill a third, gloating to his intended victim about how clever he is to have gotten away with it (he even says he was "too good, as with everything" in hiding Amanda's body). After he's caught red-handed trying to kill Meghan, Detective Henson says Nick initially refused to cooperate, bragging that he could afford the best lawyers in the country; upon being told that getting a lawyer would be a good idea as he was being charged with one count of murder and attempted murder at the very ''least'', Nick started [[VillainousBreakdown blubbering]] and [[NeverMyFault blaming]] [[BlamingTheVictim his victims]]]].

* NervesOfSteel: Meghan rarely loses her composure even in highly stressful and upsetting situations, which comes in handy given she's a lawyer, although some people think she comes across as cold. [[spoiler:When she's kidnapped by Nick in the novel's climax and realises he intends to kill her, she's certainly scared but remains completely calm, quickly assessing the facts of the situation and thinking up ways to protect herself. Heck, when Nick starts confessing his murders to her and tells her how he intends to drown her, Meghan even gets exasperated having to listen to him "drone on about his evil deeds"]].

* NonIdleRich: Although he could easily afford not to, Walter Pierce prefers to be personally involved in the running of Ladyform, including regularly visiting the factory floor, interacting with employees face-to-face and answering emails if that's not possible. In his case, he probably could've benefitted from spending more quality time with his family, as his {{workaholic}} tendencies caused a lot of issues between them.

* NotGoodWithRejection: [[spoiler:Nick has a [[ExaggeratedTrope severe inability]] to deal with romantic rejection healthily. He became so resentful and bitter over women rejecting him and especially some of those women going on to show interest in his friend Jeff, he murdered Carly, a girl who Jeff dated a few times while turning down Nick, when they were in college. He'd also dated Amanda in college, only for it to fizzle out; a few years later he learned Amanda was planning to marry Jeff shortly after Nick's would-be fiancee broke up with him, prompting Nick to murder Amanda too and try to get Jeff sent down for it. He also admits he was attracted to Meghan, only for her to end up with Jeff as well. Nick plots to kill Meghan too, telling her that he'd considered doing so before they returned to the Grand Victoria, but he could never find the opportunity]].

* NotWithThemForTheMoney: While the Pierces are an incredibly wealthy family and Amanda Pierce had made her fiance the beneficiary of her substantial trust fund in the event of her death, Jeff insists he wanted to marry Amanda because he loved her and didn't care about her money. He tells Laurie and Alex he wasn't even interested in a lavish destination wedding, going along with it because it's what Amanda and her family wanted, and that it was ''Amanda'' who insisted on leaving him her trust fund in her will. Laurie notes that he and his wife live modestly and that he still hasn't made an attempt to have Amanda declared legally dead, so he may be telling the truth. [[spoiler:It's confirmed Jeff has never been interested in his former fiancee's fortune, especially as he's furious at his wife for going behind his back to call Amanda's estate lawyer about claiming her trust fund, though he calms down when he realises she only wants the money because she's pregnant]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: Laurie thinks that besides some tell-tale wrinkles on Sandra's neck, she would've guessed that Sandra wasn't much older than herself; Laurie is 37 while Sandra is indicated to be in her early 60s.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** Walter tells his son over a phone call he's decided to participate in ''Under Suspicion'' to help find out the truth about his missing daughter, which will mean travelling to Palm Beach and staying there a week for filming. When Henry asks if he'll be okay stepping away from Ladyform for a week, Walter himself is surprised to realise he hadn't even thought about the company, demonstrating just how much his priorities have shifted in the past few years.
** Meghan is usually a very calm and collected person, so it's noted to be highly unusual that she was overheard "screaming" at Amanda over her allegedly stealing her idea for gym clothing. [[spoiler:Meghan later admits that she was actually upset about Amanda marrying the man she loves and was just using the clothing as an excuse to lash out at her]]. Later, when Jeff argues with her over her contacting a lawyer behind his back about getting Amanda's trust fund [[spoiler:the same day Amanda's body was found, with the insinuation she knows more about Amanda's death than she's letting on]], Meghan becomes completely hysterical, with Jeff thinking he's never seen her so distraught. [[spoiler:Understandably, being falsely accused of murdering your best friend to seduce her fiance and get your hands on her money, while you're pregnant with your accuser's baby to boot, would probably reduce anyone to tears. It's also likely pregnancy hormones would've made her more sensitive, too (Jeff doesn't yet know she's pregnant)]].

* ParentalSubstitute: Jeremy came to view his older neighbours, the Munsons, as substitute parents, including calling them "Ma and Pa", especially as he is estranged from his own parents. However, the Munsons [[SubvertedTrope did not remotely return that sentiment]]; while they initially liked Jeremy well enough for helping them with groceries, they were made extremely uncomfortable by him secretly watching and taking photographs of them. When he began referring to them as his parents, they were completely freaked out and reported him to the police, being granted a restraining order. This leads Laurie to wonder if Jeremy also imagined himself to be in [[SelfProclaimedLoveInterest some kind of relationship]] with Amanda, the bride who vanished from the wedding he was helping photograph.
* ParentsAsPeople:
** Walter was always preoccupied with his business and not good at connecting with his children emotionally; he fears that his detachment from them caused his daughters to pit themselves against each other to gain his attention and drove his son away. Part of him even believes he's the reason Amanda went missing, because she couldn't stand trying to live up to his expectations anymore. He professes to have been "a terrible father" and tries to be more emotionally supportive of his children.
** Sandra is much more attuned to her children's emotional needs, but it's implied they sometimes feel the need to live up to her expectations too. Charlotte feels that Sandra is always trying to change her (and make her more like Amanda, in her opinion), and it's pointed out that Amanda and Jeff's ill-fated wedding was heavily influenced by Sandra's tastes; although Amanda clearly had some in-put, it's hinted she was going along with what her mother wanted for her daughter's dream wedding.

* PlainJane: Gender-inverted; Nick lampshades that Austin is "a plain Joe". While he's not ugly, he's "average-looking at best", with thinning hair and a paunchy belly, especially next to his friends Nick and Jeff, who are both regarded as very handsome. [[spoiler:This is precisely the reason Nick tends to hang around with Austin, especially when he's trying to pick up dates, to draw more positive attention to himself. Ironically, by the end Austin is the one who manages to find true love, good looks or no]].

* PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Nick finds out the hard way that Meghan - who is in her first trimester and determined that her baby will live - isn't just going to sit around and wait for him to kill her. She creeps up on him and smashes him over the head twice with a fishing mallet, then attempts to get his gun. When that fails, she jumps off his boat into the pitch black ocean and forces herself to stay under while Nick shoots at her]].
* ReallyGetsAround: Nick has a reputation as playboy and flirts with just about every woman he encounters; he even turns on the charm with Laurie. He's had heaps of girlfriends over the years, but none of his relationships last long.

* TheResenter:
** Charlotte holds some resentment towards Amanda because she was more conventionally attractive, had an easier time getting along with people and persuading them to do what she wanted, and introduced many successful new ideas into the family company, resulting in their father making her his heir over Charlotte. She points out that "in any other family, I'd be a superstar", but that every one her accomplishments was and still is [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter overshadowed by Amanda's]], even though Amanda has been missing for over five years.
** [[spoiler:Nick has deeply resented Jeff for years because Jeff has repeatedly managed to find romantic partners willing to commit to him, while all Nick gets is short-term flings or rejection. He resents Jeff so much he murdered his fiancee shortly before their wedding day and tried to incriminate Jeff]].

* RightForTheWrongReasons:
** Charlotte is right that Meghan was still upset on the wedding trip and trying to hide it, but it wasn't over her argument with Amanda about X-Dream, at least not directly. [[spoiler:She was upset because Amanda was marrying Jeff and they were both oblivious to how she felt... at least until Nick tipped off Amanda and she sharply questioned Meghan about a potential affair]].
** It turns out Amanda ''did'' leave the resort by herself, hence why there were no obvious signs of her having been kidnapped, and why she took her own rental car. However, [[spoiler:she didn't leave with the intention of fleeing her own wedding as many people believed - explaining why she didn't take anything besides her driver's license - but because she was intending to meet the person who, unbeknownst to her, planned to kill her, luring her from the hotel under the pretence of discussing her fiance's supposed infidelity. The reason there were no signs of a struggle or other violence in or around the abandoned rental car is because the killer drugged her with ketamine to stop her putting up a fight, as he later attempts to do with Meghan and says he wishes he'd done with Carly]].

* RunawayBride: Amanda Pierce was dubbed "[[LampshadeHanging The Runaway Bride]]" by the media due to her having up and vanished the day before her wedding. Some people who follow the case - including half of the detectives involved in the initial search and even a few of her loved ones - believe she did just run away, theorising she had second thoughts about the marriage and didn't want her whole life planned out for her by her family. Amanda had admitted to one of her bridesmaids that she was having doubts, (a sentiment shared by the other bridesmaids) while the groomsmen state her fiance Jeff also briefly expressed reservations about the marriage while drunk, though they laughed it off. However, other people close to her are adamant that even if Amanda changed her mind, she wouldn't have disappeared completely for years. It's also brought up that if she called off the wedding, Jeff would no longer be able to inherit Amanda's trust fund, whereas if Amanda just went 'missing' it would be a different situation. [[spoiler:While Amanda ''was'' having serious doubts about the wedding, she never confided these in Jeff, mostly because [[NeverJustARunaway she never got chance to before she was murdered]]]].

* SheCleansUpNicely: When Laurie first meets Charlotte, she's wearing her hair loose and messy, and hasn't bothered with make-up. Laurie is visibly taken aback when Charlotte turns up to her formal interview with her hair nicely-done, a full face of make-up and wearing a fancy suit. Charlotte drily tells Laurie "Don't look so surprised. Did you really think I'd go on national television looking like the ugly duckling?"

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Jeremy Carroll was convicted of stalking his neighbours, the Munsons, secretly taking pictures of their supposedly private moments and then sending the pictures to them; he also began calling them "Ma and Pa", despite the Munsons not remotely seeing him as a surrogate son and finding his behaviour disturbing. Jeremy got slapped with a restraining order, then received a caution for violating said order by sending the Munsons a photo of a bird as an apology. Jeremy's former boss, a wedding photographer, also says he let him go because he was making some customers uncomfortable due to him acting overly-familiar with them. Laurie and her team notice surveillance footage of Jeremy following Amanda around the hotel and wonder if he became a StalkerWithACrush towards her, and what he might have done if she rejected him. [[spoiler:Jeremy did follow Amanda a lot and took many photos of her without her knowledge, but he just found her and her wedding guests fascinating and meant no harm]].

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Laurie thinks that the resemblance between Amanda and her mother is "uncanny"; they're both attractive women with wide blue eyes and light blonde hair. It helps that Sandra constantly wears buttons with Amanda's photograph in order to raise awareness about her daughter's case.

* TheyJustDontGetIt: Jeremy truly doesn't understand the ethical problems with following people and taking photos of them without their knowledge and consent; he just sees it as a way to get to know a person's real, unfiltered self. He thought that his neighbours would appreciate that he saw and liked their true selves, not realising that having someone reveal they have dozens of pictures of you taken during moments you thought were private would creep most people out. He also violated the restraining order to try and apologise to his neighbours, with it genuinely not occurring to him that [[DiggingYourselfDeeper this would just make things worse]]. Jeremy is also distrustful of the police, saying they always get the wrong impression and twist things around, unable to see that even to the average person his pattern of behaviour does look extremely shifty.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: [[spoiler:When Meghan goes to the pier to meet Kate, only to encounter Nick instead, she immediately gets a bad feeling when she sees his expression and realises he's blocking her from leaving the pier. Meghan doesn't know what he's planning to do, but she senses she's in danger even before she sees he's got a gun. Rather than panic, she tries to act casual while surreptitiously dialing 911; upon realising Nick will reach her before the call goes through, she instead slides her phone between the wooden slats of the pier so that people will at least know her last location]].

* TimeSkip: The prologue is set just over five years before the main events of the story, introducing us to Amanda forty-three hours before her ill-fated wedding was to take place; the epilogue takes place a month after the main story is wrapped up. 

* TheUnfavourite: Charlotte Pierce, the eldest of the three Pierce children, has often felt like this in her family, especially compared to Amanda. She still feels she's competing with Amanda even now she's gone; she believes that her father has never appreciated her hard work for Ladyform as much as Amanda's contributions despite having worked there longer, and that everything her mother does revolves around Amanda first and her second. It doesn't help that she's considered less conventionally attractive and less approachable compared to Amanda. Walter admits he was distant with all his children, while Sandra loves each of her children the same and wishes Charlotte wouldn't constantly compare herself to others, also recalling that Charlotte is so competitive she was once suspended from school for tampering with another student's science fair entry; this implies that Charlotte's perspective is a bit skewed due to her insecurities. It's also understandable Amanda gets a lot of focus given she's currently missing.
* UptownGirl: PlayedForDrama. Amanda Pierce came from an extremely wealthy and well-to-do family, they having run a successful women's underwear company, Ladyform, since the early 1900s, which Amanda was set to inherit. Her fiance Jeff Hunter came from a far more modest working-class background and he chose to work as a public defender despite other jobs paying better. Jeff says he was initially welcomed into the family, albeit his future father-in-law insisted on a pre-nup, but after he hired a defence lawyer in response to Amanda's disappearance, it came out that Amanda had left him a ''lot'' of money in her will and he then started dating one of her bridesmaids, he says the family froze him out, treating him like a scheming GoldDigger who potentially even killed Amanda. Jeff insists this isn't true and that he loved Amanda. [[spoiler:Jeff is telling the truth and after he's proved innocent, he and the Pierces make peace, with the Pierces even insisting he take the money Amanda left him to help support his family]].
* WeightWoe: Charlotte is described as "slightly heavy-set" and is self-conscious about her weight, deliberately choosing healthier options when she eats out with her mother and hoping she doesn't comment on it. It's mentioned she's never been as naturally slender as her siblings (yet another trait she used to compare herself with Amanda). Charlotte admits she's finding it difficult not to put on weight, because she works such long hours at Ladyform she can't find the time to eat proper meals and so relies on take-out fast food.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Walter Pierce was always more preoccupied with his company, Ladyform, than in spending quality time with his children, with his daughters getting involved in the running of the company to connect with him. Charlotte especially is desperate to prove herself to Walter, feeling that in spite of all the hard work she has put into keeping Ladyform on top, she's always been seen as second best to Amanda. Since Amanda's disappearance, Walter has become more aware of how his behaviour has negatively affected his family and regrets giving them the impression that they need to ''earn'' his love and respect, even wondering if Amanda got sick of this and took off.

* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Walter Pierce was - and to a lesser extent still is - a {{Workaholic}} who spent much of his time running his family-owned business Ladyform; even when he wasn't at work he tended to talk about little ''but'' Ladyform. While he did occasionally attend baseball games, dance recitals and so on, it was obvious to his wife that his mind was elsewhere, with it being implied his kids became aware of this too. Walter's idea of being a good father was working hard to create financial security for his children, but he now realises the negative effects of his emotional detachment on his kids and thinks he should've been more personally involved in their lives growing up; his son now lives on the other side of the country and rarely contacts him first, while his daughter runs herself ragged trying to impress him and developed a rivalry with his other daughter, who has been missing for nearly six years.

* WithFriendsLikeThese:
** Meghan and Amanda were supposedly best friends, with Amanda even making Meghan her maid of honour over her other close friend Kate and her sister Charlotte. However, some have questioned if they were really such good friends. Not long before the wedding, Meghan had stormed into Amanda's workplace accusing her of stealing a clothing idea from her and threatened to sue, to which Amanda suggested that Meghan should think carefully before doing that because she could derail her law career by filing "frivolous litigation". It's also considered highly suspect that Meghan ended up marrying Amanda's fiance only fifteen months after Amanda went missing, with no one yet knowing what had happened to her. [[spoiler:While Meghan ''was'' upset at Amanda for marrying Jeff and they'd argued about it hours before Amanda disappeared, Meghan [[DownplayedTrope truly did care for Amanda]] and didn't reveal her feelings for Jeff until Amanda confronted her directly. Nick lampshades this trope by saying that when he told Amanda Jeff was cheating on her, she immediately assumed it was Meghan ("Some friend, right?"), though as Nick had specifically told Amanda the 'other woman' was a bridesmaid and Amanda had begun to suspect Meghan had feelings for Jeff, it was a logical conclusion]].
** [[spoiler:Nick Young is truly awful to both his closest friends, with Amanda and Meghan's spats utterly paling in comparison. On one end, he mostly befriended and still hangs around with his childhood friend Austin because he enjoys having a follower and uses Austin to make himself look better by comparison, given Austin is less good-looking and less confident. On the other end, he's so consumed with jealousy of his best friend Jeff, he plotted to murder his fiancee a day before their wedding and tried to frame him for it, then tries to kill Jeff's new wife and frame him for that as well. It's speculated that Nick [[FalseFriend doesn't even regard his 'friends' as friends at all]], seeing them either as followers or rivals]].

* YouRemindMeOfX: Laurie finds that Jeff reminds her of her late husband Greg, as he comes off as having the same gentle, friendly and easy-going manner that Greg did, to the point she finds it difficult to picture Jeff as being a gold-digger who potentially cheated on and murdered his fiancee. [[spoiler:It serves as a hint that Jeff isn't responsible for Amanda's death]].

Sandra's top suspect is Amanda's groom, Jeff; although he initially helped in the search, he was quick to lawyer up when questioned by the police and then married Amanda's maid of honour, Meghan White, just fifteen months later. Jeff also stands to inherit Amanda's $2 million trust fund in the event of her death; although there's no body, Jeff would only have to wait seven years before Amanda is legally declared dead or could even file a motion to do so earlier. He's not the only suspect, though. Meghan may not only have wanted Amanda out of the way because of her feelings for Jeff, but had argued fiercely with Amanda about her allegedly stealing her idea for a clothing line only days before the wedding trip. Amanda's older sister Charlotte has long been jealous of Amanda and will inherit the family company now Amanda is gone. Then there's the wedding photographer's assistant, Jeremy Carroll, who has a history of crossing boundaries and appeared unusually fixated on Amanda. And of course, there's the possibility Amanda indeed slipped out of the resort herself, potentially with help, but why would she go to such lengths to disappear? Whether Amanda has gone into hiding or was the victim of foul play, it becomes clear that almost everyone involved in the wedding has secrets to hide.