Review: Dear Wife

Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Oh, how I planned for this day. My first day of freedom.

Imagine being so terrified of your husband that you need to run, because you can’t live one more day with him. So you set in motion a plan to leave him. You slowly start setting money aside. You plan everything out well. You get a new car. You set a false trail. You run.

You’re smart, so I have to be smarter. Cunning, so I have to be more cunning.

That is the story of “Beth Murphy”, a woman on the run from her violent and abusive husband. One Wednesday, she packs up and goes on the run.

You have three moods lately: offensive, enraged or violent. That moment when you come around that corner and I see which one it is always inches bile up my throat. It’s the worst part of my day.

Meanwhile, in the same city, and on the same day, Jeffrey comes home to discover his wife Sabine missing. Jeffrey and Sabine have not had the easiest of marriages. Their marriage has been strained for several months, with Jeffrey resenting his wife for bringing home a bigger paycheck and owning the house they live in, and he is known to have been abusive on at least one occasion.

I know how this looks, believe me. I lost my temper with my wife, and now she’s gone. Maybe she’s trying to punish me for what I did, or maybe my earlier hunch is right, maybe something is really, really wrong. Either way, you don’t have to tell me. I am the husband with a history of violence, the man living for free in the house his wife owns, the person with the most to lose or to gain. This doesn’t look good for me.

The story is told through three points of view; that of Beth, Jeffrey and the detective who is investigating Sabine’s disappearance. Beth’s true identity was not revealed until much, much later in the book and it was intriguing to try and discover who she really is. Is she Sabine, or someone else altogether?

Kimberly Belle has woven another expertly crafted tale. The story unfolds, layer by layer, until, eventually, all secrets are laid bare. I highly recommend this book if you love a suspenseful and thrilling read.


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