Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny met their freshman year at Carlisle. They are familiar characters - Kate is the spoiled rich girl whose family name is on many of the buildings at Carlisle. Aubrey is the poor little-lost-girl. She grew up poor in Las Vegas and had to claw her way to college. Jenny is the "townie" who grew up knowing she was going to Carlisle. The three young women are as different as different can be, but they quickly bonded as roommates. Their world is shattered one night when Kate's boyfriend jumped to his death from a local bridge. Except Jenny and Aubrey aren't so sure he jumped.
Fast forward to present day. Jenny is the town's mayor, Aubrey is a yoga instructor, and Kate is the lost soul wandering aimlessly through life. All three are married and Jenny and Aubrey both have children. One morning Kate's body is found near the same bridge that changed their lives all those years ago. Even though their relationship with Kate was tumultuous at best, Jenny and Aubrey were devastated to learn of their friend's death. The police immediately zero in on Kate's husband, after all, It's Always the Husband, right?
It's Always the Husband is the book that is getting all of the buzz right now. I thought it got a slow start and the characters were a bit tired from the very beginning. The audiobook that I am currently listening to has three best friends who met in college and one of them is named Kate, so I kept getting confused. But isn't that proof that this storyline has been played out all too often? All three women were deeply flawed and I struggled to like any of them, but Jenny was the least distasteful to me. She had a good head on her shoulders in college and as an adult, even if she did use people to get what she wanted. Half of the story is told in the past and the second half is told in the present. I didn't really find myself "hooked" until the second half. And that was because it wasn't until "present" part of the story is being told that I really cared about what happened. By then I was busy figuring out the "whodunit". The author did a fantastic job of leading the reader down different paths while speculating who killed Kate only to keep the truth a secret until the very last page. I am not going to lie - I was a little bit shocked by the simplicity of it. -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS
Bottom line - I cannot deny that It's Always the Husband is full of cliche characters because it is full of them. But it also full of deception and intrigue and those are always two main ingredients for a good mystery. If you can make it through the first half of the book you won't be disappointed by the big reveal.
Details:
- It's Always the Husband by Michele Campbell
- On Facebook
- Pages: 336
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press
- Publication Date: 5/16/2017
- Buy it Here!
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