The Starter Wife

4.5 stars.

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin is a gripping domestic mystery.

Claire and Byron Westcott have been married for two years. She is an aspiring novelist and he is a college professor. Twenty years younger than Byron, Claire lives in the shadow of his first wife, Colleen, who committed suicide years earlier. At first blissfully happy, Claire is troubled by a recent distance between herself and Byron. But exactly how far is Claire willing to go to save her marriage?

Claire initially comes across as an even-keeled woman who is naturally upset by the changes in her husband's attention to her. But she figures she is partially to blame for the growing rift. The past few months have gone by in a bit of haze due to drinking and strange show more bouts of not feeling quite herself. Claire thinks she knows exactly what she needs to do to hang on to her man, but she has a few obstacles to overcome to achieve her goal. She also becomes obsessed with finding out more details about Colleen so she turns to an acquaintance who reveals some very enlightening information. As Claire begins snooping around in Byron's past, she begins to slowly unravel.

Byron is a bit of an enigmatic figure since he is spends most of his time away from home. He is quite solicitous of Claire, but she cannot help but wonder if he has an ulterior motive. Byron takes steps to rekindle their waning romance, but will Claire be receptive to his overtures?

Passages written from an unknown person's perspective add a high degree of suspense to the unfolding story. This person is clearly a bit unhinged and willing to do anything to get close to the object of their obsession. But is this person involved with some of the troubling events occurring in Claire's life?

The Starter Wife is a very entertaining and engrossing mystery. Claire is an intriguing character who slowly devolves over the course of the novel. The storyline is quite clever and fast-paced. With a few well placed red herrings and a series of misdirects, Nina Laurin brings this brilliant mystery to a twist-filled, jaw-dropping conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this suspenseful mystery to readers of the genre. show less

A special thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Hachette Book Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Claire Westcott tries to be the perfect wife to her husband, Byron, but fears she will never measure up to his first wife, Colleen. After all, it's hard to compete with the dead, especially when you are living in her house, surrounded by her artworks.

Colleen, the starter wife, went missing eight years ago. Even though her body was never found, the local authorities deemed it a suicide. So when Claire receives a phone call from a woman she believes is Colleen, it sparks a million terrifying questions.

Claire discovers the couple weren't as happy as they would have people believe. And now she's worried Byron has show more been lying to her. There are secrets in every marriage, but sometimes those secrets are deadly.

Laurin ratchets up the suspense in this incredible thriller by setting the table for her reader—it's all there in the well-placed clues and subtle nuances. Her writing is consuming, expressive, and filled with deception.

The difference between 3 and 4 stars was due to a gaping plot hole. Why didn't Claire investigate Byron before marrying him? A simple search would have uncovered that he was a suspect in his wife's death—the husband is always a suspect. Are we to credit this to her naiveté because she's young?

Although the ending comes to a screeching halt, it is incredibly explosive and makes suffering with yet another unreliable female lead worth it. show less

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin is a highly recommended psychological thriller.

Claire is the younger second wife of Byron Westcott, a professor of literature at Ohio’s Mansfield College. They have been married for two years and Claire is happy, but it seems like Byron is becoming more distant. Byron's first wife, painter Colleen May, also a Mansfield professor, committed suicide five years before, but her body was never found. Now Claire is beginning to wonder what really happened to Colleen, especially when she receives a phone call from a woman she is sure is Colleen.

Claire is the narrator of this riveting, dark, tension-filled psychological thriller, but there is a second narrative voice that belongs to an unnamed woman who may be show more stalking Claire and out to destroy her. The unnamed stalker is obsessed with Byron and wants Claire out of the way. Could it be Colleen? Claire begins to investigate her death and Byron's past, while at the same time suffering from unexplained illnesses. Did Byron kill Colleen and is he now out to eliminate Claire?

While you won't necessarily like Claire, the suspense escalates with the second narrator who seems to be out to get Claire. Byron may also be a part of the scheme. It is a trend now to have unlikable female narrators and, while this follows along that well-traveled path, the ending was a totally surprising twist. The Starter Wife is a novel that you have to wait until the final third of the book for some shocking and surprising incidents.

It is not until the end that I found myself admiring the skillful writing, the intricate plot, and the excellent character development. I thought I knew what was going on and where the story was headed, which is exactly the way I imagine Laurin planned out her novel. Well played Nina Laurin; I was totally surprised and caught unaware.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Grand Central Publishing.
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Out of all the books I've read by Nina Laurin is this the one I had the hardest time reading. Both What My Sister Knew and Girl Last Seen are great thrillers, while this took forever for me to get into. Now, I think it's because I right from the start felt very, very annoyed with Claire, the main character. And, the more I read the less I liked her. What kept me going was the fact that I wanted to know what the heck is going one and if Colleen really committed suicide. The best part was the last 1/3 of the book when you got Claire's husband Byron's POV as well. Now the story starts to make more sense, and I started to understand more about those weird chapters when someone is stalking Byron's wife that were interwoven with Claire's show more chapters.

The Starter Wife is not my favorite Nina Laurin book, the last part of the book did make the reading worthwhile, although I found the ending very abrupt. I found it particularly hard to read the book because of my dislike for Claire (for God's sake she doesn't even like cats), but if the Laurin had that in mind when she created the character. To make her as unlikable as possible, well then she succeeded. I would, however, recommend starting with the author's first two books before going for this one. They are way better!

I want to thank the publisher for providing a free copy for an honest review! show less

I rounded up to three. The Starter Wife read very quickly and held my interest through to the end (if only to figure out who was who and what was going on). The writing/dialog is not witty, but rather blah, none of the characters are likable or particularly stable. A main character metamorphs from somewhat unhinged to full-blown deranged psychopath...if you are okay with that, you might enjoy the story which is kind of crazy and kind of fun with a generous handful of little mysteries and twists laced throughout and a maniacal marauder unmasked at the end.

My Rating 3.5 Stars

For a moment, while reading The Starter Wife, I was reminded of Rebecca by Daphne DeMaurier. That feeling did not last too long in the book.

Was Claire Westcott, married two years to a man nearly twice her age, Byron, living in the shadow of his first wife, Colleen? Colleen, a successful painter, apparently committed suicide almost twenty years ago. Currently, the closing of the case of the suicide begins raising questions to Claire. While the police have finally vindicated Byron, rumors have not. Claire begins believing the rumors. Did Byron kill Colleen after all? Is Claire safe?

This entire story is relayed in two narrations, both in first-person. Quite naturally, we have Claire, with her everyday life and actions. show more Then we have someone unnamed, a person obsessed and who is stalking Byron. She is determined to save Byron. In dialog, she is quite clear that Byron's wife is not worthy of him. She will do anything she can to stop any harm from coming to Byron. Yes, she will go to any means necessary.

My connection to the classic that I alluded to at the beginning of this review? Claire is beset with jealousy and unease with any feelings Byron might have had towards Colleen, who was the starter wife. Claire is living in Colleen's house and enjoys the benefits from the the wealth that Colleen amassed due to her paintings, as well as her years as a college professor. Byron is also a professor, and seems oblivious to any feelings of uncertainty that Claire has.

With two unreliable narrators, and with a man like Byron, it was rather hard to feel drawn into the characters and their stories. However, I do think the story was done quite well, especially when a massive twist occurred in the story. I was absolutely riveted from that point on and my jaw simply dropped at the shocking conclusion.

I am glad to have read this book by Nina Laurin, even with the absolute crazy characters, and I definitely look forward to reading her books again in the future.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion. show less

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin is my favorite type of mystery: a thriller that you want to re-read so you can pick up on some of the clues you might have missed the first time. Byron Westcott is a college professor whose wife Colleen disappeared years ago. The police suspect she committed suicide but have never recovered her body. Several years later, Byron marries Claire, a budding novelist, who idolizes her husband. Cracks begin to appear in this happy marriage and where this is going you will never guess. The tension builds until the very end. I highly recommend The Starter Wife to all mystery readers who like to be surprised. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.