REVIEW: THE FIRST WIFE, BY ERICA SPINDLER

Bailey Browne and Logan Abbott met in the Grand Cayman Islands, and after a whirlwind romance, returned to Wholesome, Louisiana, to the Abbott Farms, the family compound, with staff and family residents living in cabins and cottages on the property.

Three months later, Bailey is lying in a hospital bed after some kind of accident she cannot recall, and a diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury, with retrograde amnesia.

What happened to her, and why is she so afraid? Why does everything about her life and her new family make her feel vulnerable? And why is Logan’s sister Raine so hostile?

It doesn’t help that the Police Chief, Billy Ray Williams, has been hammering away at her, as if her husband has done something to her. He has an obsessive theory that Logan is a serial killer, and alludes to a host of missing women, including Logan’s first wife True.

What, if anything, does the death of Henry Rodriguez have to do with what has happened? And why does Bailey see herself covered in blood?

The First Wife reveals multi-layered subplots and possible perpetrators, and while Bailey is even suspicious of Logan for a while, too many other possibilities occur to her…and then, just as I thought I had it figured out, there was a final surprise reveal. Definitely a page turner and full of characters with secrets, making most of them suspect. 4.5 stars.