1. The original title of the book was “Still Life,” meant to evoke Hannah-Claire’s “still alives” and the truth about Annalise. Another considered title was “Only the Gone Are Good,” referring to perfection existing only in cherrypicked memory (as of Annalise or Tom), not in messy, in-progress life as it’s currently happening. The published title refers succinctly to the Annalise investigation. What would you have chosen as the title for the book, and why?

2. People grieved for Annalise for decades on a scale that very few deaths inspire. Why do you think some deaths are put in the spotlight and remembered more than others? Should they be?

3. Morris and Chloe have the benefit of the discoveries from investigations that went before them, but also the hindrance of all the old assumptions. If you had started with Annalise’s case where Morris and Chloe started, would you have approached it differently? Do you think you would have solved it sooner, or at all?

4. Anna’s obsession with Annalise is a kind of jealousy. What is there about Annalise for Anna to have been jealous of? Do you think her envy is justified? Why or why not?

5. Anna finally gets to be “like Annalise” when she becomes a victim herself. What do you think she gets out of that experience, if anything? What is it about being a victim that was appealing to her? Do you think it’s still appealing after she is attacked?

6. Do you think Anna’s obsession with Annalise will continue now that she knows the truth? If yes, in what way? If not, why not?

7. How is Laurie’s relationship to the Annalise case different from Anna’s? She also grew up in the shadow of the murder, but has not developed the same obsession with it. Why do you think that is?

8. Laurie has to respect her clients’ privacy, but she has some leeway. What in your opinion is the justified tipping point in this story for sharing information with the police? Do you think Laurie should have done so sooner, or later, or not at all? Do you think there should be stricter, more specific rules, that either better restrict the sharing of information, or that obligate the sharing of it more quickly?

9. Laurie loves both Tom and Simon, and only gradually through the course of her relationship with Simon is she able to let Tom go. Do you think she should have fully let Tom go before committing to Simon, or was her relationship with Simon part of what enabled her to finally move on?