The Perfect Couple: Book vs. Series

Merritt’s accidental death becomes a deliberate murder

Abby causes Merritt’s death in both versions, but the book does not make it a planned killing. Abby drugs a drink intended for her husband’s mistress. Merritt drinks it instead, then drowns while looking for her ring in the water.

The series has Abby deliberately drug Merritt and hold her underwater. It gives her a financial motive: Merritt’s pregnancy would delay the Winbury sons’ access to their inheritance until the new child turned eighteen.

Jenna Lamia said she and the producers wanted an intentional killing to resolve the television mystery. She also changed the consequences. The book leaves Greer knowing what happened without a public reckoning; the series has the police arrest Abby.

Greer’s secret past was added for the series

Greer’s history as an escort, and her first meeting with Tag as a client, are not in Hilderbrand’s book.

Lamia wanted Greer to have a secret that explained her reluctance to give the police an alibi. An earlier version involved plagiarism of her first novel. The eventual change made that secret part of her marriage: Tag knows the past she has hidden from the rest of the family.