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.
