Category Archives: Michele Campbell

Review: The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell

Title: The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Suspense
Length: 336 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From Michele Campbell, the bestselling author of It’s Always the Husband comes a new blockbuster thriller in The Wife Who Knew Too Much.

Meet the first Mrs. Ford
Beautiful. Accomplished.
Wealthy beyond imagination.
Married to a much younger man.
And now, she’s dead.

Meet the second Mrs. Ford.
Waitress. Small-town girl.
Married to a man she never forgot,
From a summer romance ten years before.
And now, she’s wealthy beyond imagination.

Who is Connor Ford?
Two women loved him. And knew him as only wives can know.
Set amongst the glittering mansions of the Hamptons,
The Wife Who Knew Too Much is a decadent summer thriller about the lives of those who will do anything for love and money. Who is the victim? Who is the villain? And who will be next to die?

Review:

The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell is an intriguing domestic mystery.

Tabitha Girard is divorced and working as a waitress in her hometown.  During her shift one evening, Connor Ford, her teenage fling, walks through the door and forever changes her life. Their young romance ended abruptly years earlier and Tabitha realizes she is still in love with him. However, there are a couple of big obstacles standing in the way of a possible relationship: Connor’s wealthy wife, Nina Levitt and a pre-nuptial agreement. Connor promises to find a way out of his marriage without losing a fortune but Tabitha grows uneasy when he refuses to take her calls or meet with her.  After Nina’s death, Tabitha and Connor quickly marry. Now ensconced at Nina’s beachfront home in the Hamptons, Tabitha grows suspicious of everyone around her, including Connor.

Tabitha is a bit naive and views Connor through starry eyes and rose colored glasses. She does not ask too many questions and tiptoes around her new husband and the other occupants of the Hampton estate.  Tabitha is a fish out of water in the wealthy world she now occupies and her missteps and mistakes exacerbate the gossip swirling around Connor and Nina’s death. Unsure whom to trust, Tabitha puts her faith in her husband, but is he acting in her best interests?

Connor’s family’s fortunes changed for the worse and he floundered for a few years after his first fling with Tabitha. An employee of Nina’s company when they first meet, they married following their whirlwind summer romance. Connor has moved up the company ladder but he is growing increasingly unhappy with his wife.  But is Connor being completely honest with Tabitha about ending his marriage so they can be together?

After her unexpected reconciliation with Connor, Tabitha is frightened by a series of strange events.  She is also growing increasingly desperate to talk to him but he is proving to be extremely elusive.   Following a shocking discovery, Tabitha makes an impetuous choice that could blow up in her face.  In the aftermath of Nina’s death, Tabitha’s reservations about her new marriage and living arrangements continue to grow. Will she find her way out of an increasingly dire situation?

The Wife Who Knew Too Much is a suspenseful domestic mystery.  While the plot is interesting, the characters are a little underdeveloped. Some of the dialogue is stilted and elements of the storyline require suspension of disbelief.  The beachfront mansion provides an eerie backdrop that is quite atmospheric. Readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats as Michele Campbell brings this tense mystery to an exciting conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Michele Campbell, Rated B, Review, St Martin's Press, Suspense, The Wife Who Knew Too Much

Review: A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell

Title: A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 346 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From bestselling author Michele Campbell comes A Stranger on the Beach, an edge-of-your seat story of passion and intrigue that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Caroline Stark’s beach house was supposed to be her crowning achievement: a lavish, expensive space to showcase what she thought was her perfect family. But after a very public fight with her husband, she realizes things may not be as perfect as they seem: her husband is lying to her, the money is disappearing, and there’s a stranger on the beach outside her house.

As Caroline’s marriage and her carefully constructed lifestyle begin to collapse around her, she turns to Aidan, the stranger, for comfort…and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aidan’s infatuation with Caroline, her family, and her house becomes more and more destructive. But who is manipulating whom in this deadly game of obsession and control? Who will take the blame when someone ends up dead…and what is Caroline hiding?

Review:

A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell is a twist-filled mystery.

Caroline Stark is happily married to investment banker Jason and their daughter, Hannah, is beginning her first year of college. She is thrilled her elaborate beach house in the Hamptons is finally complete.  But the night she throws an extravagant party to showcase her beautiful new home, her life as she knows it is completely upended when she learns Jason is having an affair. Despondent over the discovery, Caroline has a one-night stand with bartender Aidan Callahan. But Aidan, it appears, believes their night together is the beginning of a relationship.  Will Caroline find a way to save her marriage? Or will Aidan persuade her to give him a chance?

The majority of the novel alternates between Caroline’s and Aidan’s perspectives.  The pacing becomes a little sluggish as the same events are viewed through both Caroline’s and Aidan’s points of view.  Following a shocking series of events after a hurricane strikes, the chapters now unfold from different perspectives as the police begin an investigation. Will Lt. Jess Messina untangle the twisted web surrounding Aidan and Caroline and uncover the truth about what happened the night of the storm?

A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell is a suspenseful mystery with a unique yet very  interesting premise. Caroline and Aidan are fascinating characters but which of them is the most reliable narrator? To find out the answer this compelling question, I highly recommend readers pick up a copy of this diabolically clever mystery!

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Filed under A Stranger on the Beach, Blog Tour, Michele Campbell, Mystery, Rated B, Review, St Martin's Press, Suspense

Review: She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell

Title: She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From the author of It’s Always the Husband comes a riveting new suspense novel about privilege, power, and what happens when we let ambition take control.

For Rose Enright, enrolling in a prestigious New England boarding school is the opportunity of a lifetime. But for Rose’s vulnerable twin sister Bel, Odell Academy is a place of temptation and danger. When Bel falls in with a crowd of wild rich kids who pressure her into hazing Rose, the sisters’ relationship is shattered. Rose turns to her dorm mother, Sarah Donovan, for advice. But Bel turns to Sarah’s husband Heath, a charismatic and ambitious teacher. Is Heath trying to help Bel or take advantage of her? In a world of privilege, seduction, and manipulation, only one sister will live to tell the truth.

In a novel full of twists, turns, and dark secrets, Michele Campbell once again proves her skill at crafting intricately spun and completely compelling plots.

Review:

Set in an exclusive boarding school, She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell is an intriguing murder mystery.

Fifteen year old Bel and Rose Enright are fraternal twins who go to live with their wealthy Grandmother after their mother passes away. Grandma decides to keep with family tradition and she ships the girls off to the Odell School. Free-spirited, fun-loving Bel  is delighted to be selected to join a group of senior girls whose leader Darcy Madden and her sidekick Tessa Romano are the epitome of mean girls. On the other hand, studious and quiet Rose struggles to find her place since Bel humiliated her in front of the other students the first day of school. The girls find themselves of opposite sides of a cruel prank and their relationship further deteriorates until one of them is brutally murdered. Everyone at the school is quick to blame the other twin for killing her sister, but  local Detective Melissa Howard diligently works the case alongside state police Lieutenant Robert Kriscunas.

The Odell School is a savior for newly hired Sarah Donovan and her husband Heath. They are teachers at the school but they are also the co-heads of a dorm that has a terrible reputation for being out of control. Sarah is Rose’s adviser and the pair immediately hit it off. Heath is Bel’s adviser and he is crucial in helping her when she goes before the disciplinary board for her role in the prank that divides the sisters. Sarah is growing increasingly troubled by rumors and a feeling that something is not quite right with her husband. Heath has his sights set on climbing the academic rung and he is steadily working toward fulfilling his ambitions.

Despite the interesting premise, She Was the Quiet One is a slow-moving mystery that is somewhat predictable. The characters are rather one-dimensional and the plot is ridden with angst. Rose is the most likable character and it is easy to feel sympathy for her as she always plays second fiddle to Bel. As for Bel, she makes one bad decision after another and by the time she is ready to ask for help, she has completely alienated Rose. Sarah is willfully blind to what is going on around her and she plays the hapless wife all too easily as she ignores what is glaringly obvious. Heath is well-liked by the students but he exercises shockingly poor judgment.  Readers will most likely see through the red herrings and accurately guess the killer’s identity and motive for the murder fairly easily.  The mystery is solved rather quickly and Michele Campbell completely wraps up all of the loose ends.

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Filed under Contemporary, Michele Campbell, Mystery, Rated C, Review, She Was the Quiet One, St Martin's Press, Suspense

Review: It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell

Title: It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell
Publisher: St. Martin’s press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 337 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite being as different as three women can be. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey, on financial aid, came from a broken home, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. And Jenny was a striver—brilliant, ambitious, and determined to succeed. As an unlikely friendship formed, the three of them swore they would always be there for each other.

But twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge, and someone is urging her to jump.

How did it come to this?
Kate married the gorgeous party boy, Aubrey married up, and Jenny married the boy next door. But how can these three women love and hate each other? Can feelings this strong lead to murder? When one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

A suspenseful, absorbing novel that examines the complexities of friendship, It’s Always the Husband will keep readers guessing right up to its shocking conclusion.

Review:

It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell is a twisted tale of jealousy, secrets and murder.

Twenty-two years earlier, Aubrey Miller, Jenny Vega and Kate Eastman are assigned as roommates at the prestigious Carlisle College in Belle River, NH.  The three young women come from  very disparate backgrounds yet they immediately become best friends. Over the course of several months, their friendship gradually turns toxic and a tragic event occurs near the end of their freshman year that forever changes their lives

Fast forward to the present when a change in fortune brings one of the trio back to Belle River where the other women currently reside. Jenny is very influential in town but questions swirl around her husband Tim’s construction business after he wins several lucrative contracts for projects at the college campus. Aubrey is married to a doctor whose serial cheating endangers the future of their marriage. Kate is also married and a financial scandal leaves her at the mercy of her wealthy father who does not exactly jump in to rescue her. Their reunion is uneasy and fraught with tension and when one of the women is apparently murdered, is her death a result of long events or something in the present?

Aubrey is from very humble beginnings and she is convinced that college will finally give her the sense of belonging that is missing from her life.  A scholarship student, she is uncomfortable in the wealthy college environment and she is desperate to fit in with her roommates. Jenny is a townie who is über organized and does not plan to let anything get in the way of her plans for a lucrative career far from her small town roots. Kate is a poor little rich girl who is incredibly charismatic despite her very troubled past.  Aubrey practically worships Kate and she is easily drawn into her new friend’s partying life style.  Jenny remains the responsible one in their friendship but even she cannot resist some of Kate’s more outrageous exploits. Kate might be charming and a great deal of fun but she is incredibly self-absorbed and thoughtlessly acts without taking anyone else’s feelings into account. Both she and Aubrey are in an increasingly downward spiral that culminates in a tragedy.

In the present, Aubrey, Jenny and Kate remain essentially unchanged from their college days. Their personality traits have become more exaggerated over the years and they are still plagued by the same insecurities and idiosyncrasies they experienced when they first met. However, they each have a lot to lose if the truth about the events from their freshman year is ever revealed.  What, if anything, does the past have to do with the current murder? Or can the motive be found among the events that have occurred in the present?

Despite the extremely unlikable cast of characters, It’s Always the Husband is an engrossing mystery that is full of unexpected twists and turns. Michele Campbell has penned a dark and atmospheric whodunit that will enthrall readers from beginning to end. With plenty of suspects with plenty of motives for the murder, the killer’s identity is cleverly concealed until the novel’s jaw-dropping conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, It's Always the Husband, Michele Campbell, Mystery, Rated B, Review, St Martin's Press, Suspense