Category Archives: Darby Kane

Review: The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

Title: The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Suspense
Length: 412 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

The #1 International bestselling author of Pretty Little Wife returns with another thrilling domestic suspense novel that asks, how many wives and girlfriends need to disappear before your family notices?

Elisa Wright is a mom and wife, living a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet town. She’s also convinced her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and though he grieved for them he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée.

Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. A laptop filled with incriminating information. Other women.

But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more? The race is on to get to the truth before another disappearance because there’s a killer in the family…or is there?

Review:

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane is a fast-paced domestic mystery.

Elisa Wright is happily married and mother of one energetic seven-year-old son. Husband Harris is a veterinarian and the family is close to his brother Josh. For all the years she has known Josh, she has always liked and trusted him. But when his fiancé and her best friend Abby Greene goes missing, doubts begin to creep in. A shocking discovery leaves her even less trusting of Josh and then there is the introduction to his new girlfriend, Rachel…

Elisa is still struggling to come to terms with a tragic event that leaves her fearful of leaving her home. But once she begins to believe that Josh is behind Abby’s disappearance, she forces herself to search for the truth. When strange events begin occurring around her own home, Elisa is shocked when Harris sides with Josh in questioning her mental health. Hurt and angry, Elisa sets out to find the evidence she needs to prove her suspicions about Josh.

The Replacement Wife is an engrossing domestic mystery with a clever storyline. Elisa’s fears are relatable as she struggles with her newfound discoveries about Josh. She is shocked and dismayed by Harris’s lack of faith in her when Josh voices his doubts about her. As Elisa comes closer to learning the truth about Josh, she begins to view her marriage in a more realistic manner. With stunning plot twists,  Darby Kane brings this suspenseful mystery to a jaw-dropping conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Darby Kane, Domestic Suspense, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, William Morrow Paperbacks

Review: Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

Title: Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Suspense
Length: 407 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Debut author Darby Kane thrills with this twisty domestic suspense novel that asks one central question: shouldn’t a dead husband stay dead?

Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn’t what she seems.A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila’s husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it’s discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth….

With the small town in an uproar, everyone is worried about the whereabouts of their beloved high school teacher. Everyone except Lila, his wife. She’s definitely confused about her missing husband but only because she was the last person to see his body, and now it’s gone.

Review:

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane is a diabolically clever domestic mystery.

Lila Ridgefield and her husband Aaron Payne more content that happy when she makes a shocking discovery about him. She is even more stunned by his reaction and several weeks later, Lila has taken care of her problem. Or at least she thought she had. Instead, her plan has gone terribly awry and Lila has no idea what  will happen next. Especially once Senior Investigator Ginny Davis begins investigating Aaron’s inexplicable disappearance.  With the support of her brother-in-law Jared and her friend and lawyer Tobias Maddow, Lila tries to stay one step ahead of Ginny as she tries to figure out what happened to Aaron. And more importantly, whether or not someone else knows what she has done.

Lila is a very intelligent former lawyer who keeps calm under pressure. On the outside, she appears cool and collected. But on the inside, Lila is a roiling mess of anxiety and panic as the situation with Aaron continues to spiral out of her control. She is also facing the court of public opinion where she is not faring well at all. Aaron is a beloved high school teacher and coach whereas she is viewed as distant and uninterested in his career or the town. Lila ignores what is occurring around her as she tries to uncover exactly what went wrong with her plan.

Ginny is an experienced investigator with keen instincts and she hones in on Lila right from the start. She plays her cards close to her vest and she treats Lila with kid gloves. Ginny initially interviews Lila as nothing more than the missing man’s wife. But, with her suspicions rising, she eventually questions her formally and she is even more convinced than ever that Lila knows much more than she is revealing.

Aaron’s case takes a surprising turn when a local podcaster mentions his disappearance in conjunction with three missing women in the local area. Ginny stays on his case while her boss, Sheriff Gan calls in other authorities. When another unanticipated finding threatens to upend her investigation, will Ginny listen to her instincts or follow the Sheriff’s orders?

Pretty Little Wife is a meticulously plotted, multi-layered domestic mystery. The characters are vibrantly developed and some are definitely more flawed than others. Lila is an intriguing woman who is much more complex than she first seems to be. Ginny is a brilliant investigator and extremely likable woman. With sly twists and cunning turns,  Darby Kane brings this secret-filled mystery to a completely satisfying conclusion. An absolutely riveting debut that I found impossible to put down and highly recommend to readers of the genre.

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Filed under Contemporary, Darby Kane, Domestic Mystery, Mystery, Pretty Little Wife, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, William Morrow Paperbacks