Kate Parker thinks she knows what she's getting into when she becomes the sixth wife of billionaire Hank Tudor-- after all, she was by his side (as his assistant) when his fifth marriage to actress Caitlyn Howard fell apart.
But their honeymoon hasn't even begun when a headless body is found near Hank's summer home. This forces Kate to contend with Wife #1, Catherine Alvarez, who lives as a shut-in with her computers carefully following all business aspects of Tudor Enterprises; and Wife #4, Anna Klein, who runs a bed-and-breakfast where she and her wife keep an eye on things-- in particular Hank's children, Lizzie and Teddy.
A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, not only between Kate, Catherine, and Anna but with Hank and Hank's fixer, Tom Cromwell. Who is the headless woman who was found on Hank's property, and does her death have any connection to that other headless body from eight years ago?
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When I was in my twenties, I devoured all sorts of fiction and nonfiction about Tudor England-- including the book mentioned by the author in her Afterward. I could not resist An Inconvenient Wife, Olson's modern retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. (Are you familiar with "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived" as a way to keep those six women's fates straight?)
Don't worry. If you're unfamiliar with Henry and his wives, you'll still enjoy this book. The machinations of several characters are well worth the price of admission all by themselves. However, if you are familiar with that particular period of history, that knowledge will add some zest-- and some smiles-- to Olson's story. Not only that but there will be surprises, too, because this modern retelling is not a slavish imitation of the past.
An Inconvenient Wife is one of those books in which you can't say much about the story or its characters without giving something inadvertently away, so I am going to resist temptation and merely say that I enjoyed this book and the surprises I found along the way. Give it a try.
An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson
ISBN: 9781639365654
Pegasus Crime © 2024
Paperback, 320 pages
Standalone Thriller
Rating: A
Source: The Publisher
