I really enjoyed Glass’s book Someone’s Listening last year, and was excited to see that she had another suspense novel releasing this year. I found this new book to be well-written and engaging.
Such a Good Wife is an August 2021 release by Graydon House Books
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
Melanie Hale has the perfect life. Her husband, Collin, is a loving and supportive partner and she loves their small-town home just outside of New Orleans. She doesn’t mind (too much) that she’s given up her career dreams to care for her two beautiful children. It’s all worth it.
So why, when she joins a writers’ group for fledgling novelists, does she embark on a steamy affair with Luke, a local bestselling author who gives a talk during the group? Why does she go back to Luke again and again, when she knows it’s wrong?
And then Luke is found dead, and Mel knows she was the last person to see him alive. Now, she not only has to keep the affair a secret, but somehow avoid being implicated in Luke’s death. But who would want to kill him? And if Mel finds the truth, will she be next? What follows is a sinister cat-and-mouse game that will leave readers guessing until the very last page.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 4 stars
This is an engrossing domestic suspense novel. I enjoyed the first book I read by Glass last year, and this one is just as imaginative.
I do not generally care for cheating in a book, and in this one I barely tolerated it, but since I knew from the beginning that it wasn’t going to turn out well, I just went with it. I could honestly empathize a bit with Mel–trying to be a wife, mother to a teen daughter and special needs son, daughter-in-law to her husband’s aging invalid mother who lives with them, and loses herself in the process. That helped me to care about her and what happened to her, no matter how much I disapproved of some of her choices. The daughter’s teen angst is written SO well, as is the cattiness of the neighborhood ladies. My only issue is that a few of those threads, especially with the book club friends, could have been juicy elements to the story but they are mentioned and then not explored further.
As I said above, this is more of a domestic suspense than a true mystery. There are a couple of decent twists, but overall it’s fairly straightforward. It’s a bit of a slow burn, because there’s not a great deal of action, however the characters (for the most part) don’t do outlandish unrealistic things like in most books I’ve read lately, so it was a refreshing change. It also shows that an author can write a compelling novel without armchair detectives and eye-rolling moments (except the cheating, I will always roll my eyes at that) and still keep the reader entertained and invested.
Overall this is a great summer suspense novel sure to entertain.
About the Author:
Seraphina Nova Glass is a professor and playwright-in-residence at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she teaches film studies and playwriting. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Smith College, and she’s also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright. Seraphina has traveled the world using theatre and film as a teaching tool, living in South Africa, Guam and Kenya as a volunteer teacher, AIDS relief worker, and documentary filmmaker.
Social Links:
Twitter: @SeraphinaNova
Facebook: Seraphina Nova Glass: Author
