The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

 

The signs are all there if Vanessa had known to watch out for them.  Fleeing from a disaster in her college life she has fled to make a new life in New York City.  She has a good friend in her roommate Samantha and a job she loves as a preschool teacher when she meets him.  Richard is older, wealthy, a successful businessman.  He sweeps Vanessa off her feet and soon she is engaged to be married to him.  But there are little things that are off.  Sam and her other friends don't like Richard.  He gives Vanessa a trivalizing nickname, Nellie, rather than using her name.  He arranges all their dates and trips.  He even buys her a huge house in the suburbs as a surprise, without asking her if she wants it or if she wants to move elsewhere.  He assumes she will give up her job after their marriage.

By the time the beatings start, Vanessa has been totally isolated.  She is out in the countryside with no friends, no job and nothing to take up her time except cleaning and cooking for Richard.  When he starts an affair at work, she is more relieved than anything and soon they are divorced with her accepting whatever Richard deems is her right.  But now Richard is engaged again and Vanessa feels that she needs to do whatever she can to keep the marriage from occurring.  Can she thwart Richard's plans?

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen have written a suspenseful tale with twists and turns in the plot at every juncture.  The reader isn't sure if Vanessa is a heroine or a vengeful ex-wife or what her motives are in following Richard's life after their marriage.  The flashbacks to her earlier tragedy fuel speculation about why she does the things she does as does the role of Richard's older sister, the one woman who is a constant in his life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.