My first Darby Kane novel, and certainly won’t be my last. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is a good pick for you. Peppered with dysfunction, revenge, and twists at every turn, this book will keep you guessing and flipping pages! No spoilers from me… other than it’s a fun read. My utmost appreciation to the author and publisher for providing an advance copy for my reading pleasure!!

This is about a wife trying to find out who killed her husband twice before succeeding. Dr. Richmond Dougherty is dead, he fell down the stairs. His wife Addison might get the blame for this. Could it be the first wife, Kathryn? This story becomes a "war of the roses."

Addison and Richmond are not a good match. Why are they together? He has it all, the mansion, the career, the perfect family. He throws this away for the younger, hotter wife. From Kathryn to Addison. Who is the killer?

This book is twisty and shocking. It will grab the reader from the beginning! This is family drama at it's best!

Twists and Turns, A Slow Burn, and Whodunnit Mystery!

3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 12/10/24.

I just couldn't get into this one! It started out feeling sooo far fetched that I had a hard time finding the story believable enough to feel engaged with.

What a wild ride and nothing that I was expected. Kane came in hot and did not stop the story. I loved the plot and the characters though not fully developed-- did they need to been?

A psychological thriller with multiple twists and turns that will leave you guessing up until the end. Everyone in this story has secrets and lies, making for an interesting web of deceit.

Thank you @williammorrowbooks & @netgalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

DR. RICHARD DOUGHERTY, a highly successful and affluent surgeon, is hailed as a hero. Twenty-seven years ago, he survived the tragic murders of his family and heroically thwarted a mass shooting by taking down the assailant, which solidified his status in the community.

Now married to his second wife, ADDISON, their relationship is far from a fairytale. Addison's motivations for marrying the much older surgeon are not based on love; she harbors her own ambitions.

Complicating matters is the constant presence of Richmond’s first wife, KATHRYN, full of anger towards Addison. Yet, Kathryn carries her own share of secrets that could change everything.

The narrative unfolds through alternating timelines and perspectives, showcasing “His” and “Hers.” Addison's character is initially portrayed with a snarky edge, but her humor and depth gradually emerge, making her more relatable as the story progresses. In my opinion the beginning is a little slow and somewhat confusing. The tensions builds by the halfway mark, and the final third of the book is a whirlwind of unexpected twists and turns guaranteed to keep readers guessing. For those who enjoy domestic thrillers, this book comes highly recommended by my friends @thrillerbookloversthepulse.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a great whodunit with so many possible suspects. I liked seeing the different timelines, and how the story comes together!

This was a thrilling game of misdirection and long carried secrets. Addison is determined to find out who killed her husband Richmond, a prominent pediatric surgeon, because that was supposed to be her job! As she looks further into his life, secrets start to spill out and it appears that more than one person had a motive to kill Richmond, including her. Can she figure out the puzzle before the detectives close in and she is caught up in this web?

I really enjoyed the first ⅔ of this book as the author kept you on your toes with new information and flashbacks to scheming and manipulating. The last third of the book did come on quickly and while it was satisfying, you were able to piece the puzzle together a little on your own before the reveal.

I also thought the final reveal of her father was a little over the top but I did appreciate how Addison kept her composure and finally got out from under this long game she had been playing and finally got her own sense of closure.

Lots of misdirection and kept me on my toes and I thought this was a solid thriller that was well written and enjoyable.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this book’s digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book through a digital ARC from NetGalley
Author: Darby Kane
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

2.5 stars rounded up.

For me, a good thriller/mystery requires two things: an engaging plot and character development. But, for an engaging plot to succeed, it needs strong character development. Take Knives Out...it works because yes, the mystery is good, but also that family is wild!

This is what I wanted for What the Wife Knew. It had a compelling hook: a successful do-gooder doctor dies tragically, and all eyes are on his much younger wife of barely six months as the suspect. And for reasons that gradually unfold, she wanted him to suffer, but not die.

Most of the characters in this book are caricatures and don't have much depth. This book lost some steam at the climax.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

DNF
not for me. The writing just wasn't it. I was super excited for this one. It sounded great...but it just wasn't.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book was kind of slow at times, but kept me guessing. I was never totally sure where it was going or who to trust. That was sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. I didn't really like any of the characters in this one, but the plot was twisty. The ending was bizarre in an okay way. I didn't really like it, but it was a surprise. I kept thinking it's not really going to go there is it and then it did.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

If you haven’t read any books by Darby Kane, that simply needs to change! This book was the definition of addicting! She has written some of the most twisty domestic thrillers and this book is no different! I was fascinated with the characters, all the rich family drama, and the juicy twists at the end bumped this book to a solid 5 star read!

Read if you like:
Domestic thrillers
Morally gray characters
Revenge plot lines
Binge worthy & twisty reads

This book comes out soon! So put your preorders in!

I really enjoyed this plot. Addison has a plan, actually more of her mother’s plan, to expose Richmond’s secrets. This was a book that dragged a good bit, but had a lot of action and twists. It was interesting to see the people Addison ended up being able to trust…. and those she couldn’t.

My favorite Darby Kane yet! This one drew me in fast with all my favorites: Murder, dysfunctional families with truckload of secrets, revenge, blackmail and twists galore. Addison’s husband that she is in a mind game contest with is murdered and she is suspect #1. The whole town has been poisoned against her by his exwife and even the stepkids think she did it but someone is framing her and this means she is in danger as she tries to figure out who also hated her husband. . It was a fast paced and fun read!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for thecARC!

What The Wife Knew is a thrilling novel following Addison after her new husband is murdered, but she’s confused because even though she is a suspect, and she did want him dead, she didn’t do it. The book started out very fast, but became a slow burn. Overall a good read!

Overall this was a good read. I loved the build up and twists, but some things were a bit of a stretch. I did enjoy the storyline and will be checking out more books by this author in the future,

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!

I received this as an arc from netgalley. Overall, I liked it. I felt that there were definitely some oddities and unrealistic happenings but it was still a good read. You wanted to find out how it all tied together and who did what. Would recommend.

The beginning is quite engaging, but it soon takes a turn for the bizarre. Unfortunately, none of the characters are particularly memorable. Thanks NetGalley for sending me an advance copy

"What the Wife Knew" by Darby Kane is about a marriage based on blackmail. Addison Dougherty is the second wife of Richmond Dougherty. Addison's troubled marriage in the death of her husband. The marriage begins to unravel as Richmonds dark secrets are exposed. Addison's knowledge of Richmond's fake heroism during a high school shooting exposes the secrets of his first marriage. In an exciting conclusion of family secrets, Addison learns the truth about her mothers twisted motive in her marriage to Richmond.

"What the Wife knew" is a twist of dark family secrets that has a twist you won't seeing coming till the very end. I highly recommend this book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
What the Wife Knew is a wild ride of a domestic thriller, and perhaps Darby Kane’s most juicy book since Pretty Little Wife. No wonder, as they both involved dysfunctional marriages/families and dead husbands. In fact, this one was perhaps more jaw-dropping in how it explored those themes, because of the extent of the family ties. It’s also highly implausible, but that didn’t make it less entertaining.
All the characters, from Addison to Richmond to everyone else are all incredibly unlikable, but this is balanced by making them incredibly entertaining to follow. They each have their own secrets and motivations for backstabbing each other, and I loved digging into all of that. Perhaps the most intriguing was Addison’s mother, whose past with Richmond sets Addison on her path of vengeance, but even that is not entirely what it seems at the outset.
The plot itself has a lot of twists and turns, and I liked how the structure of the book played into that. Initially, the book is told solely from Addison’s perspective in the present, with some flashbacks to the past during her brief marriage. But over time, we get some flashbacks to Richmond’s perspective, filling in the gaps, highlighting Richmond’s awful behavior, and further foreshadowing the killer reveal. While the reveal of the killer was a little obvious, the extent of the family drama and rot made this story truly horrifying, especially finding out how Addison is connected to both Richmond and the Dougherty family.
This was such a twisted read about a deeply dysfunctional family, and I recommend it to readers looking for a juicy, drama and suspense-filled domestic thriller.