#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERNamed a recommended read by Huffington Post, PopSugar, Refinery29, Goodreads, The Skimm, Book Page, Style Caster, and a New York Post Best Book of the WeekDebut 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 … 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.
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Fast paced, twisted, suspense thriller. This book hooked me from the first few pages and kept me in suspense at each turn to the very end. I suspected everyone and no one at the same time. It even answers the question as to why everyone is who they are, which is often left out of these genres. Very enjoyable read.
Beyond brilliant!
If I could give this book a rating of 10 , I would.
Beyond brilliant!
A layer at a time is peeled back, slowly revealing the complex story.
I am at awe!
Nothing is quite what it seems in this suspenseful thriller from Darby Kane aka HelenKay Dimon. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because I don’t want to spoil a single thing.
When a well-liked teacher goes missing, there’s the possibility the disappearance is related to missing students. The cops are looking for any lead that might link these situations together
And then there’s Lila, who knows more than she wants to say and has secrets of her own. There’s so much to uncover in this story.
I love crime dramas to see how they unravel the crime and the motives, and Pretty Life Wife is complicated. But what I loved most about this story is the suspense — that edge of the seat feeling that makes you either put the book down because it’s too intense or stay up all night reading because you want to see what happens next. I like lots of twists too. Pretty Little Wife did both for me.
This was a wild ride. Lots of great twists and turns. Well done.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the chance to read Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Lila discovers her husband Aaron has an awful secret and she is the main suspect when he disappears. Where is Aaron? Even Lila is asking the same thing when he disappears from where she left him! I kept turning the pages until I found myself at the end of this suspenseful thriller. You will not regret the time you spend with this book!
Incredibly hard book to put down. Lila and Aaron Ridgefield live an ideal life. He is a beloved high school teacher. Lila used to be a criminal lawyer, but now dabbles in real estate, only because she wants something to do, and Aaron would rather she didn’t work. Aaron is a demanding husband, and Lila is fine with that until she finds porn videos her husband has taken with teenage girls. Lila is smart and calculating, but we do not find out exactly how smart she really is until the last pages. The small college town is in shock and everyone seems to have loved Aaron and now he’s missing. Coincidentally, young women are missing, and this only adds to the fear in the community. No one is more confused than Lila herself because she thought she was the last person to see her husband’s dead body. Now that body is gone. Lila comes off as cold and calculating without the normal sadness over her husband being missing, and our star investigator Ginny is determined to figure Lila out. Ginny uncovers Lila’s affair which only throws another twist into the story. The tension continues throughout this story with a burst of adrenaline coming 3/4 of the way through. Edge of your seat reading with a super satisfying ending. Well done, Darby Kane!
When Lila Ridgefield discovers that her husband, Aaron Payne, has been having sex with his students and video taping them, she becomes furious and wants revenge. She wonders how long this has been going on, especially when he knew about her childhood trauma. Lila begins to plan his murder, and when she thinks she has taken care of him, all her planning blows up!
Ginny, the investigator, suspects that Lila killed her husband, but there is no body. So begins a game of deception, investigation, misdirection, and having your the best-laid plans go awry.
This is a well crafted thriller with a surprising ending. Twisted!!
Thanks to Goodreads, Scene of the Crime/Harper Collins and Net Galley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.
When Lila’s husband, Aaron, goes missing, Lila becomes the focus of the police investigation. Did she do it? Or is she innocent? Can the police assemble enough evidence against her? Is the investigation properly focused? Should they widen their list of possible suspects and look elsewhere?
If you liked Gone Girl, then there’s a good chance you’ll like this book. I think this one is better than Gone Girl. It starts slowly, but when it finally picks up, it moves at lightning speed. You’ll need to push through that slow part. I know that I almost stopped reading before things began moving.
The characters are interesting. I didn’t feel a close connection to any of them. I didn’t like Lila, but I came to understand why she was made to be unlikable. At heart, I think she was a good person. I loved Ginny Davis, the CID investigator, and her husband. She’s law enforcement at its best, and he’s everything a husband should be. Without giving much away, I’ll say that Aaron is scum, a teacher who entices his female students into untoward activities, just to add another notch on his bedpost and then dump them. That aspect is the core of this book, but it isn’t delved into in great detail, which is a good thing. I don’t think Aaron’s actions can be brushed aside just because his father was brutally mean and physical abusive.
Despite the slow start, this book turned into a very good mystery. Once it got going, I had a hard time putting it down. Readers won’t want for surprises or plot twists.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.
4.5/5
If I could only use one word to describe Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane, that word would be diabolical. This was such a cunning book, and when all is revealed at the end it is a very WHAM BAM kind of thing. I loved the slow burn which felt like a good, slow simmer without being so slow you wanted to quit. And this is a debut thriller? Kane’s writing came off to me as though she’s been writing thrillers for a long time (she does write romance under another name), and I can definitely see her becoming a big presence in the thriller world. This is another one of those books where you won’t like anyone, but Lila really grew on me as the book went on and she was kind of amazing if you think about it.
There is definitely some very disturbing content in the book, but after you’ve read some Karin Slaughter like I have, you can probably handle it too. If you don’t like disturbing though you better stay far away. I was appalled and disgusted, and while most of the book is fine, some of it isn’t for the faint of heart. Pretty Little Wife had me gasping out loud, and I really didn’t expect the end to be what it was. Some of it I could see coming, but that did not fully prepare me for what all would happen. There is something so satisfying about this book, and I couldn’t help giving it a high rating. I also listened to the audio which is narrated by
Xe Sands, and I thought she did a really great job with it. I think the audio made this book even better and I would highly recommend it!
Well, color me impressed! This was my first Darby Kane read and I assure you, it will not be my last! I couldn’t read fast enough. So clever. So captivating. So utterly well written.
Pretty Little Wife has it all.
Murder, secrets, lies and a missing husband who Lila thought she had killed and left his body to be found.
Bit of a surprise for her when Aaron’s body has disappeared.
There is also several girls missing from the area.
Lila is smart and now she has to do her best thinking and strategizing as she becomes the main suspect .
A very clever book with red herrings, twists and turns .
Follow the clues if you dare.
Wow! This book had so many twists and turns I didn’t want to stop reading. I had to know what happened!
Lila and Aaron have the perfect marriage from the outside. Lila is beautiful and Aaron is a high school teacher who gives back to the community, but we learn early on that Aaron has a horrible secret.
There are girls missing in the area, and when Aaron winds up missing, it’s hard to believe the two aren’t related.
Lila is confused because she knows her husband isn’t coming home, but the body isn’t where she left it.
Alternating between multiple POV and back and forth in time, this book doesn’t disappoint with suspense. I had so many theories of what happened, but didn’t fully guess the twist, and I like being surprised. Even at the end, more secrets were revealed and I loved how delicious this book was.
Thank you to Harper Collins, Netgalley and the author for an early copy.
Pretty Little Wife is a riveting story so brilliantly plotted I kept turning the pages all night to find out how a wife could lose her husband’s body. Why hadn‘t he stayed where she‘d put him? Darby Kane is a pseudonym for New York Times bestselling, RITA winning, romantic suspense writer HelenKay Dimon. This isn’t a romance, but a dazzling domestic mystery/thriller debut. Especially recommended for readers of Alafair Burke & Tana French.
You think you know how the book will play out, then a great twist keeps you reading all night. You love to hate the lead character and play the guessing game of who done it all through to the end. Well done ending!
What a diabolically delicious debut!
…and in reality, I’d really like to say “That’s it, that’s the review. Nothing more needs to be said.” But, I suspect you’d like a bit more than that. No plot giveaways here, though. Not a one, you really need to fall into this story and follow it from beginning to ending yourself.
The only really likable character in this book (for me) was Ginny, the police investigator. So why rave about a bunch of unlikeable characters? Simple. They fit perfectly into this little world, their lack of anything I could, often on closer inspection, find redeeming or “likable” is part of the draw to Pretty Little Wife. So many secrets to be discovered throughout this story – many I didn’t see coming in any way, shape, or form. That’s what a really good Thriller / Mystery novel should deliver, in my opinion.
There are other storylines to discover as we puzzle over exactly what did happen to Aaron (or, at least, to his body). And some may not seem all that important, but don’t let your guard down, you will never really know where some lead until the very ending of this one.
All you’d really need to know before picking up Pretty Little Wife can be found in the cover description blurb. If that last line isn’t enough to grab your attention then I don’t know what would.
The only thing plotwise that I’m willing to say is… I did not see that coming. At all. Oh, I had my guesses, my armchair detective hat firmly on but I didn’t see that.
I was engaged from the start, followed all the various twists and turns wondering where we were headed, and made some fascinating discoveries along the way. If you enjoy a really good Thriller / Mystery where you really do need to think about what you’re being told and wonder “what next” throughout the building tensions, then Pretty Little Wife is a perfect novel to start 2021 with.
I own a Kindle edition of Pretty Little Wife.
What do you do when you are married to a man who is beloved in the community, but knowing he, or someone, is slowly gaslighting you and driving you to the edge of sanity? No one will believe you, so there is only one way to save yourself…
Hold onto your hat once you open this book. The ride is fast and dark with twists and turns you can’t see coming. I read this in one sitting and until the very end, although the murderer is revealed in the first chapter, I had no idea where the body was, who moved it, or even if there was a body!
Fast paced, well thought out, with clues so subtle I didn’t recognize them as clues! My goodness, I really want more by this author!
Smart, intriguing, tense. Edge-of-your-seat suspense will keep you turning the pages to find out who will escape justice and who will pay the ultimate price for their crimes. Fantastic!
What happened to Aaron Ridgefield? Beloved teacher and coach, he would never not show up for work. Ever. Where is he? Definitely not where is wife, Lila left him. She planned the perfect murder complete with a reveal of his dastardly deeds and left his car parked on school grounds. She could have sworn he was dead when she left him there, but if he wasn’t…? That won’t bode well for her.
PRETTY LITTLE WIFE is Darby Kane’s debut and it’s a doozy. Lila isn’t the most likeable person, but as the story goes on and more layers are peeled back, she becomes understandable at least. With her past, her marriage to Aaron seemed to be the perfect compromise, undemanding and understanding. Until she uncovers his secret and she realizes that her husband isn’t what he seems and her marriage is comfortable when she’s conforming. Ginny was the perfect person to challenge Lila as the detective worked to figure out where Aaron went and how Lila fit into his disappearance. Add in a local podcast that is shining a spotlight on several girls that have gone missing in the area, and you have a twisted thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and hanging on by your fingernails. This is a well-written thriller that will surprise at every turn on it’s way to a gratifying ending.
This was a well-written novel that kept me lost in the pages as I tried to unravel the mystery of what happened to Aaron Ridgeway. I can’t wait to see what Kane comes up with for her next novel.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#prettylittlewife #darbykane #sceneofthecrime #harpercollins #williammorrow
The hunt is on, in more than one way. Lila was the last to see her dead husband, at least she thought he was dead. Aaron was a beloved high school teacher in their small quaint town, so everyone is shocked that he is missing. Add in the disappearance of three missing women is the last three years.
Both Lila and Aaron have not had the ideal upbringing, no marriage is perfect but it works for them until now.
This is a debut book by Darby Kane that is fascinating but will give you goosebumps with all of the twists and turns with a shocking ending. I read this book in one day, I could not put it down. Highly recommend if you like domestic thrillers!!
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an unbiased review.
Lila Ridgefield seems to be living an idyllic life with her husband Aaron a math teacher. They met at Cornell and settled in NC after they married. Lila had been working as a successful attorney when they moved back to NY because Aaron sought a new teaching position. This was more a marriage of convenience and companionship than love.
Both characters survived incredibly traumatic childhoods resulting in defensive and deeply troubled personalities. They have adopted maladaptive coping skills which allow them to appear like a typical couple. Unfortunately, no one really knows what happens behind closed doors. Privacy is important to Lila who patiently tolerates her nosy neighbor Cassie’s intrusive behavior.
The story begins with a tragedy of Aaron not showing up at work where his best friend Brent is the principal. Given her husband’s physical and verbal abuse over the years Lila seems to have plotted a plan to kill him. Insert investigator Ginny and her side kick Pete to find out what happened to him. Lila’s apathetic attitude make them immediately suspect Lila of foul play.
Lila admits to killing Aaron and leaving his body in his car at the school. She was hoping someone would find him to avoid being a suspect. When he does not show up for work she is astonished to discover the car is no longer parked at the school. She is marginally cooperative with the investigation and as an attorney knows there isn’t any obvious motive or evidence for them to arrest her. She does become increasingly paranoid that he is still alive and out to take revenge on her.
There are many twists in this story as the stories of Lila and Aaron are revealed. Can broken people be repaired? How well do people really know each other? Is redemption possible for those who commit despicable crimes? Can certain crimes ever be justified? So many questions will run through your mind while reading this thriller.