(AUDIO) BOOKS

How To Get Rid Of Your Husband

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane — a book review

When listening to a book on YouTube, you already get recommendations of other books you might find interesting. That’s how I got to listen to this book, Pretty Little Wife, by Darby Kane.

Both the cover and the title drew me in. While you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, I had some thoughts when I saw the title. I wondered if this would be a book about a rich entrepreneur with a beautiful, younger wife, and how others viewed her as a dumb little blonde, not able to take care of herself.

That’s some stereotyping there, right?!

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

This book is less than a year old, published in December 2020, and in paperback it has just over 400 pages. Just like The Housewarming by S.E. Lines, the audio version of Pretty Little Wife is a 10-hour listen.

Darby Kane is the pseudonym of a former trial attorney, and Pretty Little Wife is her debut novel. However, the person behind this pseudonym is HelenKay Dimon. She’s an erotic romance, contemporary and romantic romance author of more than forty novels.

Kane did not start out as an author as all she wanted to be growing up was Secretary of State. But even as a child, she was still drawn to storytelling, especially anything by her first favorite author Judy Blume.

The next piece that also comes from the website Book Series in Order, like the quote above, made me smile, because of the mention of the main genre I used to write in:

Some of Darby Kane’s earliest novels were romance titles that straddled the line between erotic and very hot. Once she stopped with the excuses and started giving more time to her writing career, it only took her one and a half years to get her debut published.

The earliest novels referred to in the quote are those written by HelenKay Dimon, as the second book of Darby Kane, The Replacement Wife, will see the light in December 2021.

The plot keeps you in suspense

Lila Ridgefield is married to Aaron, who disappears one day without a trace. At the same time, there’s also a young woman missing. Jarred, Aaron’s brother, is beside himself with worry about Aaron, and stands by Lila’s side to support her. She also has the support of a friend from her days of study, Tobias, a lawyer.

Jenny, the lead investigator on the case, thinks Lila has something to do with Aaron’s disappearance, but there’s no evidence to prove it.

A local podcast takes an interest in the disappearances of Aaron and the young woman, and discovered more students have disappeared. A net of intrigue is woven throughout the story, only to be unraveled in an unexpected manner, close to the end of the book.

Discoveries and disappearances

From almost the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Lila indeed has something to do with the disappearance of Aaron, but she is as baffled as everyone else as where he is. She left him in one spot, wanting to make it look like he has committed suicide, but both he and his car had disappeared.

As a younger girl, Lila has witnessed the abuse and murder of her friend by her father. Now she has discovered videos of Aaron and his students, where he’s abusing them. Lila can’t live with the fact that her husband is an abuser, and therefore wants to get rid of him. I won’t spoil the plot for you by telling how she does it.

During the investigation, it comes to light that Lila had an affair with a client (she helps him with some legal aspects after he has bought a house), Ryan. Ryan just happens to be an expert on several criminology aspects, and during their affair Lila has taken an interest in his textbooks.

The police finds some of Aaron’s personal in Ryan’s house, and for a while he is being investigated by the police. The police also question Jarred, who has a falling out with Lila, but their friendship is stronger than that, and they continue to support each other.

Then the body of the missing young woman is found, and bit by bit the story unravels. With every piece of information, the police come closer to the truth.

But, do they really?

If you enjoy reading a thriller, and one where you don’t see the end coming, then this book definitely is for you.

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