Pretty little wife A novel

When her husband, Aaron, doesn't turn up to teach his classes at the local high school, Lila is expecting his boss to call, but her stomach drops when she learns that his car isn't in the school's lot. It should be: that's where Lila parked it, with Aaron's body inside, after she murdered him. Weeks ago, Lila discovered videos documenting Aaron's sexual abuse of his students and resolved to put an end to it. While struggling to corral her fear that Aaron has somehow survived and is coming for her, Lila draws from her past life as a criminal-defense attorney and plays the concerned wife, planting hints that Aaron has likely left her. Lila knows she's met her match, however, when she encounters Ithaca, New York's lead CID detective, Ginny Davis, who senses something dark behind Lila's cool demeanor and risks her job by hunting for the truth behind Aaron's disappearance. In the meantime, someone is leaving menacing notes for Lila that promise her ruin, and a podcast reporting on the disappearances of several local women has placed Aaron and Lila in the spotlight. Debut mystery author Kane blends tense domestic suspense with procedural details and legal thriller--like verbal sparring. A page-turner built on skilfully layered plotting and an intriguing protagonist.

Early in Kane's intriguing if uneven debut, Lila Ridgefield murders her abusive husband, popular teacher Aaron Payne, and leaves him overnight in his car at the Ithaca, N.Y., high school where he teaches, staging the scene to look like a suicide. The first hint that her plan may not unfold seamlessly is when his body disappears. Has Aaron survived, and is he returning for revenge? Or is someone else determined to take justice into their own hands? The answers are rooted in a shocking--and all-too-believable--evil hiding beneath the peaceful community. Despite the detailed scene-setting and gripping plot, some readers may find the constant cross-cutting across time frames and points of view feels forced. Those who prefer fair play may feel cheated by Kane's withholding key characters and events only to introduce them deep in the book. Nonetheless, the detective on the case, Ginny Davis, is a nuanced character many will hope to meet again, and the plot twists reinforce the central moral ambiguity driving the story: How far will a woman go when she discovers she's married to a monster? Kane is off to a promising start. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Jan.)