April 2022

Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors, so I happily plucked her new thriller, THE YOUNGER WIFE, from my shelves and devoured it. The catalyst for the idea for this one came from her great aunty Gwen. A throwaway line from Gwen got her thinking about a plot point that comes later in the book. Who is the “younger wife,” and what is going on in this family? It opens with a wedding. But it also opens with blood! So from the start, you know things are not going to go well.

Then we flash back months earlier when Dr. Stephen Ashton takes his daughters, Tully and Rachel, to lunch and delivers some big news. He is getting married. His new bride is Heather, and she is a lot younger than him; she is even younger than the girls. It would be strained but still lovely sans one thing: Stephen is still married to Pam, who is living in an extended care facility as she suffers from dementia. He plans to divorce her. And he wants Tully and Rachel to accept and embrace Heather. But their worlds have troubles beyond what they are thinking about a younger stepmom. There are many more secrets.

Pam shares some clues in her state of confusion, but readers still need to pay attention to unearth the mystery of what happened. There were times when I was reading that I could picture Sally upping the ante on the thrilling details as she writes and edits. What readers get is a fun read --- and their questions answered!