Review: Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

I finished Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane the day I saw it was one of the November choices for the Book of the Month Club. I wasn't surprised at all to see it had been chosen. It's a tightly woven murder  mystery that is sure to please fans of the domestic suspense genre.

Right from the start, this novel hooked me. Lila is a trophy wife who is sick of taking her husband's abuse and finally decides to put an end to their marriage in the most vengeful way possible. She's plotted his murder out to the tiniest of details, but things do not go as planned. Instead of the police knocking on her door to tell her that her husband's body has been found, she answers it to find Aaron's boss instead. He tells her that Aaron didn't show up for work that day, which isn't a surprise to Lila. Dead men don't show up for work. What is a surprise, however, is that his car isn't where she left it and there is no sign of Aaron's body anywhere. Dead men also don't come back to life and drive away...or do they?

To make matters worse, Lila starts receiving threatening notes. She doesn't want to believe it's Aaron, but who else could possibly know what she tried to do? As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, Lila has become the target of a bulldog detective who isn't buying her clueless wife act. Lila feels the walls begin to close in around her as her husband's disappearance becomes connected to a series of missing women. She's not sure what to believe anymore, but one thing she knows for certain- if Aaron is still alive, he won't rest until he's killed her.

This novel was a thrilling ride from start to finish. I loved every twist and turn and even though I was able to figure out some of the ending, Kane did a wonderful job explaining all the whys and answering all the questions I had. The story was fast-paced throughout and I'd give it a solid 4.5 stars out of 5. My only complaint was in the characterization of Lila. Despite having valid reasons for portraying her as cold and unfeeling, she was just too hard a character to connect with. She was flat and lacked the depth I was really hoping for. If Kane had developed Lila the same way she did Ginny, the bulldog detective, then this would have easily been a 5/5. Despite that small critique, this was a gripping novel perfect for a chilly fall or winter night and I encourage you to pick up a copy if you're a fan of domestic suspense.

My Rating: ★★★★ 1/2 out of 5

*Thanks to the author, HarperCollins Publishers, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on December 29, 2020.