Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 9781250202550

A young woman thinks she’s getting a second chance at love when “the one who got away” comes back. She’s swept into a marriage that lands her in the lap of luxury but also in the middle of a murder investigation. Now she doesn’t know whether to trust the man in her life or her instincts. Author Michele Campbell writes less thriller and more an exercise in a woman’s paranoia in her newest book The Wife Who Knew Too Much.

Tabitha Girard is stuck in a dead-end job. True, the people she works with are great, and she appreciates the paycheck. But she didn’t imagine herself as a waitress with no prospects to become anything else. Until Connor Ford walks back into her life.

It seems like a lifetime ago when she and Connor had their summer fling. Back then, Tabitha worked at the country club and Connor attended with his ultra rich family. Despite all odds, and the wagging tongues of the local gossips, Tabitha and Connor started going out together. In a typical rich-boy/poor-girl romance, though, their families discovered the relationship and put a stop to it.

Even after the passage of more than a dozen years, Tabitha goes weak in the knees when Connor walks into her restaurant. He’s just as surprised to see her but also relieved. Everyone knows Connor married New York socialite Nina Levitt, the widow of the head of Levitt Global, an international powerhouse. Connor reveals to Tabitha that he’s miserable with Nina, and he hasn’t stopped thinking about their sweet summer romance.

Tabitha thinks this is their second chance at love. Connor reassures her he’s going divorce Nina. He just has to find a way to do it so the prenup he signed isn’t triggered. If he’s not careful he could end up without a dime, and he’s definitely in the marriage for the money.

Then Nina dies. Suicide, the tabloids say, but Tabitha can’t be bothered with the details. She’s going to be the new Mrs. Ford and have a fabulous life, and that’s all that matters. Except the police keeping poking around, and Tabitha starts to get the sneaking suspicion that maybe Nina’s death wasn’t suicide at all. Maybe there’s something more sinister at work here. She just has to figure out if she’s in danger next.

Author Michele Campbell starts the novel with an ominous diary entry from Nina Levitt. In it, Nina states that if she’s dead then the person reading should assume she’s been murdered. The mystery, though, quickly devolves into a romance for part of the book. Tabitha pines for Connor, and she jumps at the opportunity to be with him again. She doesn’t question any of his suspicious behavior. At some point, readers might wonder why she doesn’t see that her life is slowly starting to turn into a Dateline special.

Marketing materials might lead readers to believe this book is as much about Nina as anyone else, but Nina’s story gets second billing to Tabitha’s growing insecurity. After she marries Connor, she steps into life as Mrs. Ford with unease. Her sixth sense, though, seems to be speaking more to readers than to her. Tabitha becomes jumpy and questions various elements of life with Connor, yet she doesn’t question Connor himself.

The title, too, is misleading. Tabitha seems like the wife who didn’t know enough. She’s always one step behind her shady husband. If Nina is supposed to be the titular wife, she’s dead for most of the book and can’t really do much about Tabitha’s fate.

More than anything, readers will have a clear picture of Tabitha’s handwringing. Before she and Connor get together, she frets constantly about when they’ll reunite. After they get together, she keeps looking over her shoulder for some unseen threat. 

That threat, though, never materializes with clarity. Connor loves money, yes, but that seems to be his one defining personality trait. Campbell may have intended for Connor’s “shades of gray” to keep readers guessing about whether he killed Nina or not. Instead, the approach comes off as wishy-washy. As a character, he’s somewhat disappointing.

Those looking for a fast read might like this one. Otherwise, I give The Wife Who Knew Too Much 3 stars.