1--What is the title of your latest release?
WHAT THE WIFE KNEW
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A woman blackmails a famous national hero into marriage, intending to ruin him but someone kills him first, which is a problem because that was her job
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I write thrillers set in real, bucolic areas as a reminder that terrible things happen in beautiful places. WHAT THE WIFE KNEW is set in Rye, New York. The whole upstate New York/Hudson Valley area is gorgeous. The perfect setting for something devious. I also looked through numerous real estate listings as part of my research into the area. That’s the best kind of research.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes! I love Addison. She’s seen some things. Lunch with her would not be dull.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Driven. Sarcastic. (Reluctantly) empathetic.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I’d never written a book in first-person point of view before WHAT THE WIFE KNEW. When the thriller starts, the husband is already dead and his wife, Addison, is not sad about it. To pull that off and to keep readers engaged with her—wanting to read more and know more—I needed to be right in her head, without any distance. This made me handle unraveling who she was and what happened in a new way. I found the experience thoroughly satisfying.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I revise as I go. In fact, I start every writing day editing a good chunk of the book. That repetitive polishing and reviewing helps me put the book in my head. I can’t imagine waiting until the end.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
French fries should be served with every meal. You all know it. I’m not afraid to say it.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have an office at the house. We converted a bedroom into my writing space. I’m not someone who can bounce around and write in different places or hotels and coffee shops. I need to sit at my desk, typing on my laptop with my laptop screen mirrored on this big screen in front of me. I have bookcases with some of my favorite reads shelved there. I also have a couch, which I can’t sit on or I will fall asleep. It’s far too comfy.
My most prized writing tools are a whiteboard that’s on the wall behind my desk and a notebook I have sitting next to my computer. I write notes throughout the entire book writing process.
10--Who is an author you admire?
The list is so long! One of the authors who pops into my head is Lucy Foley. She writes compelling thrillers and manages to make the locked-room trope fresh and interesting every book.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
I’ve been shaped by so many books. One that I think about all the time because it made me reexamine myth versus reality and my willingness to accept accusations as facts is COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen. It also made me dig deeper into what I thought I knew about people and tragedy and grief. The subject matter is real and difficult, but it’s delivered in a way that’s both empathetic and eye-opening.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I’ve been lucky to get The Call twice in my life. First, from Kate Duffy at Kensington Publishing more than fifteen years ago. I’d submitted an idea for a sexy romantic suspense, and she called and told me “I’m going to be your editor one day…just not today” then she talked me through what she liked about my writing and what I should work on. It was this amazing one-on-one opportunity, which included some great advice: set his book aside and come up with a new idea. I went through two more ideas and wrote and edited a bunch of pages, and eighteen months after that initial call, Kate called again and said, “today is the day.”
My second story about The Call is when my then-romance editor (and still current editor), May Chen at HarperCollins, called to tell me that she was making an offer for the thriller idea I’d sent. A totally new genre for me under a new pseudonym. When I heard her say she wanted to buy what became my first thriller, PRETTY LITTLE WIFE, I cried. I’d read thrillers my entire life and this new opportunity felt so huge.
Two amazing calls from two amazing editors. I remember both as if they happened yesterday.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read everything but give me something with suspense and danger, be it a thriller or romantic suspense, and I’m a very happy reader.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I love movies and television. Dramas, suspense, romance, sci-ci – I’m in! But the one movie I can quote from until you beg me to stop is GALAXY QUEST. I love that movie.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall. I’m an east coast girl who has been living in California for more than fifteen years and I still get grumpy when September and October roll around here and it’s in the 80s. That’s just wrong.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m not a huge birthday celebration person. We usually go out to eat at a nice place on the weekend night closest to the day. If my birthday lands during the week, then it’s Chinese food takeout and, preferably red velvet.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I just finished the television limited series, DISCLAIMER. It’s based on a book. The acting was superb, but I was most impressed by the writing and use of narration and point of view to deliver the story. From a craft and art perspective it was really compelling.
I’m watching THE DIPLOMAT right now. I was late to the party, and I don’t know why because it’s really well done. I marathoned the entire first season one weekend.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I could probably eat Chinese food every day. I don’t - but I could.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I love to sit outside and read when I’m not squeezed by a deadline. I burn off energy and find balance by swimming. Swimming is also a great time for me to think through plot issues in my books. My favorite thing to do is travel to both new and beloved places. After losing my dad and a dear friend a year apart, my husband and I made a pact not to wait for big adventures. An amazing trip to Iceland confirmed our love for this plan.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I have a book coming out March 11th as HelenKay Dimon called THE USUAL FAMILY MAYHEM. It’s lighter and (hopefully) fun. It’s about a woman who returns home due to a work situation and discovers the dear grandmother who raised her might now be in the poison pie business. It has some mystery, some romance, lots of family hijinks, and pie - probably poisoned.
As I wait for THE USUAL FAMILY MAYHEM and WHAT THE WIFE KNEW to release, I’m writing my next thriller. It’s dark and unhinged and will be out in late 2025.
A wife wonders who killed her husband in a twisty thriller of deception and betrayal.
Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with another twisty domestic thriller about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job.
Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He’s also very dead—thanks to a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted ninety-seven days, and he’d had two suspicious “accidents” during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow.
As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, Richmond’s high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago…
Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond’s legacy, she soon becomes a target—with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall: You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she’s not done with him yet.
Thriller Domestic [William Morrow Paperbacks, On Sale: December 10, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063351967 / eISBN: 9780063351974]
Darby Kane is the pseudonym of HelenKay Dimon a former trial attorney and current award-winning romantic suspense author. A native of Pennsylvania, Darby now lives in California and runs from the cold. When she’s not writing she can be found watching suspense, thrillers, and mysteries.
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