It's Always the Husband

MICHELE CAMPBELL

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, St. Martin's Press, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: She stumbled through the dark woods, the trees dripping raindrops onto her hair and her party dress.

My thoughts: Despite the fact that there is murder involved and “whodunit” and some twists at the end, this book didn't really feel like a suspense/mystery. While the narrative occasionally goes back and forth between past and present, the first half of the book is more focused on past, where the three girls meet when they are assigned as college roommates their freshman year. From there it's more of a character study about the three girls, and I really enjoyed getting to know them. They are all so very different from each other, and yet they become fast friends.

Then the second half is focused on the present, where the girls are still friends but have drifted apart a bit. More time is spent with Jenny and Aubrey than with Kate, and frankly, I didn't really care for the grownup adult versions of Jenny and Kate. Neither girl is particularly likable, especially Jenny who is now the controlling, power hungry mayor of their small town. I did like Owen, the new chief of police investigating the present time murder, but towards the end of the book Jenny is determined to get rid of him because he won't answer to her, and then suddenly he's just gone with no explanation and not heard from again, which really disappointed me.

As far as whodunit, I was kept guessing, thinking I knew and then being proven wrong. Although the method used to get the victim to the spot where the death occurred seemed very contrived and unrealistic.

Regardless, the book definitely kept my interest and overall I enjoyed it. 

Goodreads synopsis: Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump.

How did things come to this?

As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?