#BlogTour ‘The Replacement Wife’ by Darby Kane

About the book…

A domestic suspense novel that asks, how many wives and girlfriends should disappear before your family notices?

Elisa Wright is a mom and wife, living a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet town. She’s also convinced her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and though he grieved for them he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée.

Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. A laptop filled with incriminating information. Other women.

But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more? The race is on to get to the truth before another disappearance because there’s a killer in the family…or is there?

Published by William and Morrow on 6th January, I am thrilled to be taking part in the Random Things Tour for ‘The Replacement Wife’ by Darby Kane

This is a domestic thriller par excellence which asks the reader to guess if the danger is inside the house, outside, or even if it exists at all.

Opening with a dinner scene that pretty much most us can relate to, where that relative is at the table. The simmering tension, the unsaid words, all explode and eave your jaw on the floor as the hidden becomes the obvious as Elisa and Harris are told, by his brother Josh that he would like to introduce them to his girlfriend. Except there is just the smallest detail that the girl he has been dating, for 3 months, is contextualised by his fiancee, who has been missing for 7  months at this point.

The word indecent does not really cover it…

And Elisa thinks Josh is a killer.

Josh thinks Elisa is mad and suffering from delusions.

Harris is torn between loyalty to the brother he has gone through so much with, and his wife.

And in the middle of all that is their child Nathan, who adores his uncle Josh.

Such a tangled web!

As a reader you really don’t know where the story is going-so much is told from Elisa’s perspective but if you consider her an unreliable narrator, then why is she so worried about her friend, and confidant, Abby, Josh’s fiancée.

Is her concern misplaced? And how does she deal with meeting Josh’s latest, Rachel, and finds she actually gets on with her?

Man there are so many threads to untangle and work out just what is, and isn’t happening, and it highlights how we, as a society, treat those who are mentally vulnerable after experiencing trauma.

As Elisa’s convictions, and evidence, becomes stronger, you are so firmly on her side and fed up with her being told she needs to calm down…when has that ever worked?

Featuring one of the most realistic descriptions of a panic attack which I have recently read, this is a great thriller from someone whom I haven’t read before, but will be sure to check out!
*Apologies to the author, publisher and tour organiser for my delayed review*

About the author…

Darby Kane is the pseudonym of HelenKay Dimon , a former trial attorney, and current award-winning romantic suspense author. A native of Pennsylvania, Darby now lives in California and runs from the cold. When she’s not writing she can be found watching suspense, thrillers, and mysteries.

Links-https://darbykane.com/

Twitter @HelenKayDimon @Harper360 @RandomTTours