The Younger Wife

 

“The Younger Wife” by Sally Hepworth

Published by St Martin’s Press

Finished 3/31 – 3/5 stars

This was an entertaining, quick read about a dysfunctional family trying to come to terms with their past and the impact it has had on their lives.  It all starts at the wedding of Stephen and Heather when something unknown happens, causing 911 to be called.  We then go back in time to the year leading up to the wedding.  Each chapter focuses on either Heather or one of Stephen’s adult daughters, Tully and Rachel. The alternating perspectives allows you to learn more about the internal demons they are each living with.  It’s pretty much all included – dementia, alcoholism, eating disorders, rape, kleptomania, and both verbal and physical abuse.  In addition, throughout the book Stephen’s personality and actions are in question leaving the reader to wonder just what kind of man he truly is.  We then come full circle back to the wedding to find out just what happened.  Afterwards, revelations are just kind of thrown at you and that is where the book didn’t work for me.  I think if the ending had been written differently, it probably would have been more of a 4-star book.  I still really enjoyed the majority of the book, but the ending was a disappointment.   

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for gifting me with an advanced copy to read and provide an honest review.

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Before She Knew Him

 

“Before She Knew Him” by Peter Swanson

Published by William Morrow

Finished 3/27/22 – 3.5/5 stars

Yep, it’s another murder mystery.  What can I say…I like them.  This one centers around 2 couples -   Matthew and Mira and their new neighbors, Hen and Lloyd.  When over for dinner, Hen sees a trophy in Matthew’s office that she believes belonged to a young man who was murdered in their former neighborhood.  Strange coincidence or did they just move next door to a killer?  Hen tries to talk to the police about it but she has her own history that makes her story not quite believable.  She can’t just let it go though so she starts her own investigation which leads to her witnessing another murder.  I can’t really tell you more so you’ll have to read it to find out what happens next.

 “What Happened to the Bennetts” by Lisa Scottoline

Published by Putnam Books

Finished 3/21/22 – 4/5 stars

 

There is a reason Lisa Scottoline is one of my favorite authors.  Simply put, I always enjoy her books.  Occasionally, I have found that if I read too many books by the same author, they begin to feel repetitive and too predictable.  That’s definitely NOT the case with Ms. Scottoline’s books, and I’ve read quite a number of her stand-alone novels.

 

This is the story of the Bennett family.  They are just your run of the mill family, going about their normal lives when tragedy hits. Initially they thought it was a deadly instance of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but when the FBI approaches them hours later it’s obvious that something much more sinister is going on.  They are quickly thrown into protective custody while they await transitioning into their new lives in the witness protection program.  There is no time for good-byes or social media updates, so friends and family are left to wonder “What Happened to the Bennetts?”  But they, themselves, are also left to wonder just what happened and what lies ahead?  They want the lives they had, not new ones in a new location without any friends or family around.  Why should they be punished when they didn’t do anything wrong?  They need answers and the FBI isn’t providing them, so they’ll need to do a little digging on their own. 

 

Buckle up and enjoy the ride!  It has its slow moments but the majority of the time the book moves at a good pace to keep you reading longer than you had planned.

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an advanced copy to read and provide an honest review.

 

The Golden Couple

 

“The Golden Couple” by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Published by St. Martin’s Press

Finished 3/11/22 – 4/5 stars

I greatly enjoyed the majority of this book…I just didn’t like the ending.  It felt too packaged up with a neat little bow on top.  But the rest of the book kept me thinking, wondering when the next twist or reveal would show up.  And it goes at a fairly quick pace, which I love.  It’s about a therapist who lost her license but continues helping people using her own unconventional 10 step process and “The Golden Couple” who come to her to help save their marriage.  It then becomes a “just how well do you know the people around you” kind of situation.  I definitely recommend it.

This is the 2^nd book I’ve read by these co-authors.  “The Wife Between Us” was also a 4 star book for me so I guess you could say I think they make a good team.

 Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy to read and provide an honest review.

Rock Paper Scissors

 

“Rock Paper Scissors” by Alice Feeney

Published by Flatiron Books

Finished 3/6/22 – 5/5 stars

I was torn as to how to rate this book but in the end, I just don’t know how I cannot give it a full 5 stars.  I can’t really tell you about it without giving anything away but will say it completely blindsided me.  I’m one of those people that when reading a mystery will look for clues and foreshadowing to try to figure it out before the author fully reveals everything.  I thought I was doing really well but this author obviously knows there are people like me.  She purposely threw little bits into the story so that the reader would make assumptions, sometimes the wrong assumptions.  And sometimes those little nuggets thrown in ended up having nothing to do with the story, you just didn’t realize it at the time.  When the first major twist came, I actually found myself going backwards to check out a couple things to see what I missed (luckily, I have the physical book and not an ebook).  So, due to the way it was written, it has earned the 5-star rating from me.  

This is the first Alice Feeney book I’ve read but it won’t be my last.  Luckily, I have 2 more of her books in my bookcase and definitely look forward to reading them soon.