My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer

 

This family trip to New York is just what the family needs.  Michael and Natalie have had some strains in their marriage and this family trip with their children should go some way to patching things up.  The kids are hungry when they get to the hotel so Michael goes to pick up some food.  When he returns, the room is empty and Natalie's phone is going to voice mail.  He searches the hotel and when he doesn't find them, he starts to panic.  Where could they be?

Michael calls the police.  But when they come, they are able to see on camera footage that Natalie and the kids have left on their own and the taxi driver they hailed took them to Penn Station to catch a train.  Michael has to face the facts that Natalie has planned this and has left him.

But would she really leave over a suspected affair or is there more?  Natalie has insomnia and hasn't been sleeping for months.  That condition can have delusions and hallucinations.  But it's no illusion that the woman Natalie suspects Michael is having an affair with is dead, murdered by knife wounds.  Natalie fears that Michael is a killer, never more than when she investigates his past and discovers secrets there she never knew about.  Who is this man she has built a life with?

This is my first title by D.J. Palmer who specializes in suspense novels.  I listened to this title and the narrator had just the right voice to build the tension as more and more of the truth is revealed.  Both Natalie and Michael have hidden the truth so long that it is an earthquake to their marriage when the truth starts to emerge.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.