Review of "The Wife: A Novel of Suspense" by Alafair Burke

The Long Island Hamptons are among the ritziest vacation destinations in the country, with a robust service industry composed of year-round residents. Summer visitors may date the locals, but that's usually as far as it goes. So it's a big surprise when Jason Powell proposes to Angela - the pretty Hamptons caterer he met at a party.



Jason and Angela are something of an odd duo. Jason is a gregarious economics professor at NYU and Angela is a reserved single parent who never went to college. Still, the two wed and settle in Manhattan with Angela's school-age son Spencer.

The couple lives quietly for a few years until Jason becomes an unlikely celebrity. The professor - a strong proponent of fairness in the workplace - publishes a book called "Equalonomics", which posits that companies can 'maximize profits by making corporate decisions based on principles of equality.' The book becomes a best-seller and leads to Jason becoming a talking head on television, opening a successful consulting business, and launching a popular podcast.



Jason's newfound fame and wealth allows the couple to buy a carriage house in Greenwich Village.....



......send Spencer to an expensive private school, and treat themselves to the best of everything. You'd think all this would make Angela happy.....but not so much. It turns out that Angela is hiding a big secret, which she fears might be exposed by her husband's renown.

Still, the couple's lives are rolling along smoothly until Jason is accused of sexual harassment by a student intern named Rachel.



Rachel claims that she went to Jason's office to deliver a memo, and - when she took the opportunity to show the boss her new engagement ring - he put his hand in his pants and made suggestive remarks. For his part, Jason says that he happened to be changing his clothes when Rachel entered his office, and the supposed 'suggestive remarks' were sardonic comments about getting married too young.

It seems like this 'he said - she said' incident might blow over until another woman, Kerry Lynch - who works for one of Jason's consulting clients - accuses Jason of raping her two months before.



This time Jason suggests that Kerry is making false allegations to deflect attention from her company, which was about to be exposed for shenanigans related to supplying fresh water to poor African villages.

As often happens in cases like this, Angela stands by her man - asserting that she believes Jason.



Moreover, Angela doesn't want to upset Spencer, who thinks of Jason as his dad.



Still, Angela becomes increasingly anxious, obsessively watching the news and scanning social media - to see what it says about Jason.....and herself.

The story is told from the dual points of view of Angela and Detective Corinne Duncan - the investigator who's looking into the charges against Jason.



Duncan - who doesn't need all the Dunkin' Donut jokes.....thank you very much 😏 - knows that sometimes accusers are mistaken or untruthful about accusations of sexual harassment and/or rape, but from a 'politically correct' perspective, all allegations have to be treated as gospel truth (at least at first).

Jason's life goes down the toilet when the indictments surface.....and heads to the bottom of the sewer when Kerry Lynch suddenly disappears.



The investigation escalates at this point, and secret after secret after secret is exposed, leading to an explosive climax.

The book has an interesting array of secondary characters, including Angela's close friend (and former catering client) Susanna - an aging television journalist who's worried about her job; Jason's best friend Colin - a lawyer who has a secret crush on Angela; and Angela's mother Ginny - a fierce woman who has Angela's best interests at heart.

The book's biggest problem (IMO) is that - for purposes of plot secrecy - the author withholds a lot of information. This makes Angela's behavior appear dubious and distorts the flow of the story. Thus the book starts off a bit too slowly, but escalates to a full on gallop by the end. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to mystery fans. 

Rating: 3.5 stars