BOOKISH FRIDAY: “THE WIDOWER’S WIFE”

Welcome to another Bookish Friday, in which I  share excerpts from books…and connect with other bloggers, who do the same.

Let’s begin the celebration by sharing Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and let’s showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.

To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.

Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!

What a great way to spend a Friday!

Today’s feature is a book I just finished reading.  The Widower’s Wife, by Cate Holahan (click for my review), is a story about a marriage, a cruise, and deadly secrets.

 

Beginning:  (November 16)

Ryan Monahan liked liars.  Not the three-times-a-conversation fibbers, who prettied up the truth to appear less pedestrian at parties and would swear to God they’d had just one, Officer.  Those average assholes weren’t even trying.  No, Ryan liked the real deal, the kind of folks who weaved falsehoods into the very fabric of their lives until they wore their fictions like fine-knit sweaters, feeling safe and warm, wrapped in their bullshit.  They were the challenge.

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56:  She shook her head like a petulant teenager.  “No way.  He’ll just deny it and I’ll be out the best paycheck of my life.”   She again lowered her voice to a whisper.  “But I do think that he should be held accountable if he did anything to drive some woman to…Well, you know.”

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Synopsis:  “In this chilling cat-and-mouse tale… Holahan keeps the action going.”
—Publishers Weekly

Ana Bacon, a beautiful young wife and mother, tumbled off a cruise ship into dark and deadly waters. Ana is gone–leaving behind her wealthy husband and adorable daughter–but not everything about her disappearance adds up. What secrets did she leave behind?

Investigator Ryan Monahan is a numbers man. So when his company sends him the Bacon case, which could net a ten-million-dollar payout, Monahan doubts that her death is just a tragic accident. But the husband has a substantial alibi and a number of witnesses claim to have seen Ana fall, and the official ruling seems to hold up.

Still, the more Monahan uncovers about Ana’s life, the more he realizes how many people would kill to keep her secrets hidden. And the closer he gets to the truth, the greater the odds grow that he, too, will take a fatal fall.

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What do you think?  Do the excerpts grab you?  Would you keep reading?

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