The First Wife by Erica SpindlerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 3 days
Pages - 352
Publisher - St Martin's Press
Blurb from Goodreads
An idealistic young woman marries a man she barely knows only to discover his first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As a child, Bailey Browne dreamed of a knight in shining armor swooping in to rescue her and her mother. As she grew older, those dreams transformed, becoming ones of a mysterious stranger who swept her off her feet and whisked her away from her ordinary existence; then, suddenly, there he was. Despite the ten-year difference in their ages and her working class upbringing and his of privilege, Logan Abbott and Bailey fall deeply in love. Marriage quickly follows.
But when Logan brings her home to his horse farm in Louisiana, a magnificent estate on ninety wooded acres, her dreams of happily-ever-after begin to unravel. A tragic family history Bailey knew nothing about surfaces, along with whisperings about the disappearance of his first wife and rumors about women from the area who have gone missing, and when another woman disappears, all signs point to her husband's involvement.
My Review
When I first started this book, I thought it sounded so familiar. A couple meet, whirlwind romance, he is older and from money, she is alone as her mother has passed. His first wife disappeared and there is all kind of mystery surrounding his family and she is the new Mrs Logan Abbott. It totally reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, at least the first part did, even down to being met with dislike and almost hostility but those closest to her husband.
Bailey is really quite naive, caught up in the dreaminess of Logan, she marries and heads back to his huge estate. She soon discovers she knows very little about Logan and when she probes about his wifes disappearance Logan becomes distant. Soon Bailey finds there is more than one female has disappeared, the gossip in the village is rife and the chef of police is very open about his suspicion of Logan.
I didn't love Rebecca so the fact this started so alike it took me a bit to get into it. However, soon I wanted to know the family secrets, the hinted at gossip and find out what actually happened to Bailey leading up to her accident and the revelations that follow. The last quarter of the book really kicked off, secrets, lies and all the things you wondered about throughout the story are addressed which I enjoy, I hate loose ends. I would read Spindler again, sure I have read and enjoyed her before, 3/5 for me this time though.
Indeed the story is familiar. I also have not read Rebecca but I have seen the film.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing is that in this day and age there still seem to be people that marry without really knowing each other. It is not just fiction. While Unfathomable to me, these things make for great stories.
I immediately thought of Rebecca too when you first started describing the book.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Reading the synopsis I must admit Rebecca was the first thing that came to my mind.
ReplyDeleteGlad this came good in the end and that you enjoyed it.
I haven't yet read Rebecca so wouldn't make that connection with this one (although I hope to get to it this next year). I also haven't read anything by Erica Splinder, although I recognize her name. Sounds like this book was a mix of good and not so good. I am glad the end proved to be better than the first.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fantastic read! The suspense just kept building and building... Just when I thought I knew who the killer was, I was thrown a curve ball (actually two curve balls)! This is the best Erica Spindler book I have ever read (and I have read all of them). You will not be disappointed!
ReplyDeleteMarlene
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