I have read all but one of Darby Kane’s books, so I was extremely excited that I got an ARC copy. It had great potential to be a five star for me fell a little flat. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of What the Wife Knew!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
👰🏼 would marry for revenge
👀 love multiple POVs and timelines
🌪️ like twist after twist after twist
♥️ want a character you can empathize with

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He’s also very dead—thanks to a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted ninety-seven days, and he’d had two suspicious “accidents” during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow.

As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, Richmond’s high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago…

Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond’s legacy, she soon becomes a target—with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall: You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she’s not done with him yet.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was a really fun thriller with a lot of twists at the end that just kept coming! I wasn’t sure what to believe by the end because Addison’s mother has proven to be a liar again and again. I really felt for Addison’s character. She had clearly been through a lot and then had to deal with a husband that was downright psychopathic and calculating. When the chapters started to show his POV, I actually wondered if maybe he could be innocent after all. I loved the back and forth of not knowing who to trust!

This book mildly hooked me in the beginning. But about half way through, I lost interest. I couldn’t connect with any of the minor characters. I lost interest in the twists and ultimately, it fell flat. Which is wild because
I can see where the story could have had potential, but it got a little unnecessarily convoluted. 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley And William Morris for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book last night and finished it this afternoon. I was almost immediately hooked and was up way too late last night reading! Have you ever read a book that you were so into that you were glad to be sick and have an excuse to just stay home and read? That’s how I felt today (cough cough). The hits just kept coming in this drama filled story of revenge and I was absolutely here for it! I loved Addison’s sarcastic attitude and her cutthroat way of dealing with everyone and everything, but I also loved it when her soft spots would show through.

Well written book with lots of twists! What happens when someone blackmails someone into marrying them? What did they do? What does she know? I don’t want to ruin this with any spoilers. Very twisty with lots of good sub plots with the ex wife, the children, and the co workers. It will having you guessing until the end. I really enjoyed this book!

✨ 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

What the Wife Knew
Darby Kane
Release Date: December 10, 2024

Special thank you to @thrillerbookloversthepulse and @netgalley for my the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is my first Darby Kane novel and it will not be my last. This is one twisted psychological thriller you won’t want to miss out on.

Richmond Dougherty is a pediatric surgeon and a local hero. One day he turns up dead at his home and the number one suspect is his new wife, Addison. It’s her priority to clear her name but it’s hard to do when she herself is receiving death threats.

Addison’s character was written perfectly. She has a strong personality that she had to develop over her hard upbringing. The mothers in this book are unlike any I have read before.

This story is told in a dual POV with jumps from past to present. The time jumps made the story all the more interesting to me. Each chapter ended in such a way that I didn’t want to put the book down.

There’s a lot to unpack about this book. 😅

There were a lot of things to like about this book. It was fast paced, twisty, and didn’t really drag at any point. I was entertained and I really enjoyed the main character even if she was not the most pleasant person in the world. I thought her inner monologue was so funny and I just enjoyed her attitude.

That being said, there were too many subplots in my opinion. I didn’t find anything about the plot to be difficult to follow, it just got mucked up. There were so many side characters and things that didn’t end up being relevant to the main plot at all. I understand a complex plot to throw a reader off and keep them guessing, but it gets to be laborious trying to wade through all of the moving parts to get to what’s actually important.

And I love a plot twist. I even love multiple plot twists. But there were TOO MANY plot twists at the very end of this book. 😵‍💫 It was just too theatrical and ridiculous which was disappointing since the first 90% of this book was so good.

Overall, I liked this book. I’d recommend to popcorn thriller fans that love wild plot twists.

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow, and Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse for the opportunity to read this advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
There were so many twists in this book that the ending became disappointing by taking the twist too far.
With that said, Darby Kane is an excellent writer. I liked the book all the way up until the last few chapters.
Addison is a very strong main character, her whole life had been shaped by revenge. Richmond, her late husband, was a manipulative man that had created a successful life. Addison is determined to destroy his legacy.

If you love a twisted suspense thriller with buried secrets, shocking truths, revenge and mysterious characters, this is for you.

I love twisted and completely messed up thrillers. In this book, the secrets and truth were more twisted and shocking than one could think. The twists were jaw dropping. That ending was so messy and shocking. This has been narrated in present and past timeline with alternating perspectives. The suspense stayed till the end.

Richmond Dougherty is a pediatric surgeon. He had suspicious accidents and his second marriage only lasted for ninety-seven days and the unfortunate news of his sudden death shocks everyone. While it all feels suspicious. The investigation is going on. Addison becomes the suspect. People disapproved of her because she is young. Truth is twisted, shocking and the kind of that you could not even imagine. The secrets, mystery, suspense and plot twists kept me on the edge. This is a good whodunnit mystery with a revenge plot.

Many Thanks to the publisher for giving me access to the Early ARC. Thanks to the Author and Netgalley. The Author never disappoints.
Absolutely loved the book.

What the Wife Knew was full of twists and turns with an ending I never expected. It was an excellent read where the main character Addison learned her worth. I also thought it was great by she was not only losing something she thought was important she was also gaining something that was actually important. It is an incredible book and I recommend to anyone who likes a good suspenseful book.

This book is wild! I really like a good revenge plot, and this did not disappoint. I’m not the biggest fan of unlikeable characters, so that did detract a bit for me. There were somethings I saw coming, and a few I didn’t. Would recommend.

This is not my first Darby Kane read as I read "Pretty little wife" first. so seeing this I was thrilled to pick it up. The tempo of the story keeps up pace and you can tell there are some suspicious characters right away. there were many WTF moments especially at the end - which the last couple characters were a bit much but alas that's what we want with a thriller. The last twist about Addison's father, I feel like it wasn't needed.

There were some parts where it was confusing just because there was so much going on- such as some motives with some of the minor characters and storylines. I was confused about the murderer's motives and what exactly happened, as well as Lizzy's motives and why she was so fixated on the past.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

This book grabbed me from the first chapter and I absolutely had to know what happened! If you love domestic thrillers, What the Wife Knew will be a five star read for you, without a doubt. So many twists I got a little dizzy!

What the Wife Knew
by Darby Kane
Pub Date: Dec.10th
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with another twisty domestic thriller about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job.
Wow! I was intrigued with this book until I wasn't. Way too long.
This book had such potential to be 5 stars. It started out strong and immediately had me intrigued. I was thinking about all of these different outcomes and who the real murderer was. But when I got to about chapter 40 I was thinking dang, how much is left in this book? Which is never something you should be thinking about when you're only halfway through. This book has 70 chapters which is WAY too many. The author could have cut about 25 chapters and still gotten their point across. The ending didn’t feel as satisfying because by the time I got there I was just ready to be finished with this book. I also guessed the ending pretty early on so there was no shock factor for me. I do appreciate that the author tried to add in some additional twists but at a certain point it becomes too twisty and doesn’t make sense. Overall, this was a good book but the pacing goes from fast to slow and the writing can feel a bit repetitive. I would still highly recommend it.

This one started out strong and I enjoyed the beginning but the twist just wasn’t for me. The end dragged a little and was just yuck. Took me much longer to read than usual. I appreciate the ARC

Addison Doughtry is the young widow of the well-known pediatric surgeon Dr. Richmond Dougherty. He died by falling down the stairs. What's even more suspicious are the two accidents he had during his very short three month marriage to Addison. Now everyone in town believes Addison murdered her late husband and wants her gone. The police are starting to investigate her as a suspect, and Richmond’s ex-wife is putting pressure on Addison to leave, but Addison has unfinished business. She's determined to destroy Richmond’s legacy. Even the threats that's she's been receiving won't stop her. Richmond may be dead, but she's still determined to take him down.

This was my first Darby Kane book, and it was insane!!! I have never enjoyed a FMC character as much as I did Addison. She was a sassy, snarky, vengeful, badass who didn't put up with crap from anyone. Not even her now dead husband, who someone ended up killing before she could do the deed first. As Addison is trying to figure out who is framing her for the murder of her husband, she starts to uncover even more secrets about him that she didn't already know. This one is a wild, crazy ride steeped in secrets, blackmail, spite, and revenge. It takes a close look at how far people are willing to go for the people that they love and how greed is a motivating factor in people's actions. I found myself turning the pages trying to uncover all the secrets in this one. The Dougherty's dysfunctional family dynamics were an addictive read.

This is read in one sitting because you know the twists will keep coming kind of book! Darby Kane has a way of drawing readers in right away. Alternating between his and her perspectives and each chapter has a timeline that needs to be followed and paid attention to, will keep the readers interest peaked and trying to get little clues throughout the book. Filled with family drama, revenge and long buried secrets, What the Wife Knew has new players and action sprinkled perfectly throughout leaving you wondering how it will end on every single page. Addison (our FMC) has such a great snarky attitude that she has HAD to adapt just to get through life. I promise, you will be cheering her on by the end. Thank you to Darby Kane, NetGalley, William Morrow Books for a chance to read this in advance.

This book grabbed me right away and kept me flipping pages in my kindle! I really loved it! It was quick paced and I appreciated the sarcastic personality of our MC, Addison. There were a couple great twists, especially at the end- with a bunch of WTH moments sprinkled throughout.

This one comes out in DECEMBER 2024! Preorder so you can read it right away!

I had a great time reading this book! I thought it was good. Well written and an interesting read. Great work!

One of the best parts of being part of Thriller Book Promotions The Pulse is getting to read such highly anticipated books so early.. and we are so spoilt to have What the Wife Knew. Not out until December, this is one that you need on your radar. Who doesn’t love a book full of revenge and family drama!! I binged it in a day and I am not sorry about it.

Addison is wife number 2 for Richmond Dougherty, acclaimed paediatrician and famous for his actions back when he was a teenager. They have been married for a sort few months when Richmond is found dead. Obviously, Addison is prime suspect but what about all the others that held grudges against him? it is clear early on that theirs was not a happy marriage so what is going on with that??

There are some really nasty characters in this story, but I loved Addison. She was strong and snarky and didn’t take any crap from anyone. I would not want to be in her bad side.

Thanks so much to William Morrow on NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. This book publishes on December 19th.