Tall, dark, and handsome Alex, widowed nearly a decade ago, is now married to beautiful, charismatic, and exciting Natalie.  They share a home near the sea with his teenage daughter, Jade.  Life is pretty good for Alex – his marriage definitely has that spark, his daughter and new wife have a playful banter that is better than he could have hoped for, and everything fell perfectly into place at the bar where he was just meeting with some clients from London.  As Alex approaches his home upon returning from the bar, his thoughts immediately shift from sensual fantasies about his wife to horror, confusion, and grave concern for his daughter when he realizes his house is on fire and she can’t immediately be found.  What follows in Rebecca Fleet’s THE SECOND WIFE is the convergence of sins of the past and sinister secrets of the present as Alex searches to uncover the truth about how and why the fire began. 

THE SECOND WIFE shines with refreshing believability of its timing and escalation.  This could easily be a true-crime story you’d find in a dramatized, narrated documentary!  Secret motives, unsavory and haunting pasts, and unspoken jealousies are all brewing just under the surface of perfectly polished facades.  Seemingly mundane events, like the discovery of a photo or a question about someone’s well-being, become points of no return that serve as catalysts for imminent disaster.  Fleet wastes no time with filler – you will feel a great sense of satisfaction that all of the novel’s subplots feed seamlessly and meaningfully into the primary story arc.

Avid thriller fans will appreciate that Fleet’s novel is told from perspectives of multiple well-developed characters, shining a light on each one’s feelings, skeletons, and calculated actions.  You’ll also love that the tension, drama, and mounting sense of danger are equally intriguing in both the past and present.  Detail-oriented readers will astutely pick up on clues Fleet leaves to foreshadow what might happen next.  THE SECOND WIFE culminates with a bombshell ending that will surprise even the most attentive of readers.  Fleet expertly layers twist upon twist upon twist, inviting you to let your imagination wander as to what else could happen next.  If you are looking for a read with the right combination of sexiness and foreboding, then look no further than this!