The Starter Wife
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2.9 • 7 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Girl Last Seen comes "a spine-tingler" (Booklist) of a psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Jessica Knoll.
Local police have announced that they're closing the investigation of the suspected drowning of 37-year-old painter Colleen Westcott. She disappeared on April 11, 2010, and her car was found parked near the waterfront in Cleveland two days later, but her body has never been found. The chief of police has stated that no concrete evidence of foul play has been discovered in the probe.
close the online search window, annoyed. These articles never have enough detail. They think my husband's first wife disappeared or they think she is dead. There's a big difference.
My phone rings, jarring me away from my thoughts, and when I pick it up, it's an unknown number. The only answer to my slightly breathless hello is empty static.
When the voice does finally come, it's female, low, muffled somehow. "Where is it, Claire? What did you do with it? Tell me where it is."
A woman. A real flesh-and-blood woman on the other end of the phone. She's not just in my head.
A wave of panic spreads under my skin like ice water. It's Colleen.
"Laurin knows how to ratchet up the suspense." -- Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Claire Westcott, the principal narrator of this gripping tale of obsession from Laurin (Girl Last Seen), believes passionately that fate brought her together with her husband of two years, charismatic Byron Westcott, a professor at Ohio's Mansfield College, and fate is never wrong. Byron's first wife, Colleen, also a Mansfield professor, committed suicide five years before Claire married Byron. Claire, 20 years younger than her spouse, is consumed with being the perfect second wife and ensuring that Byron forgets Colleen. Plagued with unexplained illness, fainting spells, and days of lost consciousness, Claire is prepared to do anything to keep the marriage that is her destiny intact. When she discovers emails between Byron and an unknown correspondent indicating he "has to get rid of her," she begins to wonder if Byron is a serial wife-killer. A second narrative voice, which belongs to a woman who may be stalking Claire, raises the tension. The bombshell plot twist toward the end will surprise most readers. Laurin knows how to ratchet up the suspense.
