Ten years after her husband’s tragic death, the memory still haunts Aileen. When a new clue emerges, Aileen’s world is once again turned upside down, reigniting her trauma and plunging her into a dangerous path of secrets and lies.
Cooper is used to solving mysteries, but he never expects to become this entangled in Aileen’s case. Despite their initial friction, neither can deny their growing attraction as they work together to uncover the truth. As answers become clearer, both must tread carefully, for the truth they seek could destroy everything.
If you enjoyed the suspense and romance of “Gone Girl,” you’ll love this gripping tale of love, loss, and betrayal. With its heart-pounding twists and turns, “The Broken Wife” will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Ten years after her husband’s tragic death, the memory still haunts Aileen. When a new clue emerges, Aileen’s world is once again turned upside down, reigniting her trauma and plunging her into a dangerous path of secrets and lies.
Cooper is used to solving mysteries, but he never expects to become this entangled in Aileen’s case. Despite their initial friction, neither can deny their growing attraction as they work together to uncover the truth. As answers become clearer, both must tread carefully, for the truth they seek could destroy everything.
If you enjoyed the suspense and romance of “Gone Girl,” you’ll love this gripping tale of love, loss, and betrayal. With its heart-pounding twists and turns, “The Broken Wife” will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Prologue
It’s been ten years today since I lost the love of my life. They say time heals all wounds, and I guess that is true to an extent, but there are still times when it physically hurts. It’s an ache deep down in my body that I carry with me every day. The kids appear to be fully healed, but they were so young when it happened. I bet they barely remember the early morning when the officer knocked on our door, how it startled me to see him standing there. The smell of stale coffee on his breath. His hands veined and weathered, holding his hat in front of him, asking if he could come in.
10 Years Earlier
Chapter 1
It’s early Wednesday morning when I hear a knock at the door. I hop over from the kitchen quickly. I have just finished brewing my morning espresso and don’t want to risk the children waking up before I can enjoy it. Peeking through the door window, I see an officer standing there, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filling the air. The sight of him startles me, and I silently thank God that the house is clean. There was a time with three young children when this wouldn’t have been the case. Has anyone ever refused an officer entry to their untidy home? The thought leaves as quickly as it came. I open the door to see his oversized black boots. Hat in hand, he asks if he can come in. I open the screen and welcome him inside.
“Are you Aileen Reed?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply. “Come in. May I get you some coffee?” I ask. “Water?”
“No, thank you, Ma’am,” he responds as I bring him to the sitting area in the front of the house. Perhaps this is about the neighbors, I think, even though I know that can’t be it. I’ve been watching their disaster show for years now, but maybe they have finally caught someone else’s attention.
“Ma’am.”
I wish he would stop calling me that. At 29, I know I am reaching the old, parent, never get a second glance stage, but I’ve worked hard to keep myself fit, young. I’m not the aging mom across the street who lets her kids run wild while she drinks her Natty Lite, cigarette dangling from her mouth as her midsection droops over her waistline.
“Ma’am.”
I look into the officer’s deep gray eyes and know instantly this isn’t about the neighbors. There’s kindness there, mixed with sorrow and an overwhelming sense of dread. Whatever he is about to tell me, he isn’t looking forward to.
“There’s been an accident,” he begins, and my heart drops—an accident. A million questions run through my head, but my mouth is unable to articulate them. I sit there frozen, mute, unable to look away from the wrinkled blue fabric of the officer’s unpressed uniform.
“Your husband, Thomas,” he continues. “He was found dead in his hotel room this morning.”
I stare blankly. Certainly, this can’t be true. My husband is young, healthy, and full of life. It should be impossible that he could be dead in his hotel room. I hear the coo of a mourning dove from the cracked window; feel the cool morning breeze flow in. I see the sun slowly peeking up to say hello. It is going to be a beautiful day. This has to be a misunderstanding. I reach for my phone on the rustic farmhouse end table nearest to me. One simple phone call will be all it takes to clear this up.
“Mrs. Reed.”
The officer’s soothing voice startles me.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Something in the tone of his voice, or maybe his body language, stops me cold. Compassionate but assured, I look deeply into his eyes; all I see is truth. There is no misunderstanding. I drop the phone in my hand. My husband will not be picking up. Thomas, my young, fit, full-of-life husband, is dead. I hear the noise before I recognize the cause. A deep, guttural moan like that of a mortally wounded animal, but it isn’t an animal that is suffering, just a part of me now damaged, dying, broken.
Ten years ago, Aileen’s successful, healthy husband, Tom, died of a heart attack while on a business trip. No stranger to grief, Aileen has made a career as a grief therapist in the years since his death. When new technology leads to the discovery that Tom was drugged, the case is reopened as a murder investigation. Detective Cooper doesn’t expect much to come from such an old case, but solving it would reinstate his status at the police department. When Aileen offers to help him investigate, he figures he has nothing to lose. The longer they spend together, the harder it is for the two to ignore the spark between them, and the deeper they dig, the more apparent it becomes that more than one person had a motive. Shattering his facade as the perfect family man, Tom’s secrets, lies, and betrayal will be laid bare. Can the murderer be identified after so many years when so little evidence exists and memories have faded?
The Broken Wife is much more than just a murder mystery or police procedural. It is a deep exploration of grief–how grief impacts people differently and how it forever changes us. Kay Elem masterfully captures those moments that stop time in its tracks–the dichotomy of how your senses burn the memory into your brain despite the haze that causes you to disassociate from your body. It also portrays the lengths to which people will go to uphold the pretense of family harmony, sometimes allowing codependency to cause them to undervalue their own feelings and experiences. And finally, it illustrates how part of healing is allowing yourself to find happiness and experience love again.
The story is told in a dual timeline, alternating with each chapter. Half of the story is told in the years leading up to Tom’s death, beginning with Aileen and Tom’s wedding and following their journey through love, loss, and raising a family. The other half depicts the months following the lab’s discovery of a drug called Kratom in Tom’s bloodwork. As each chapter reveals a new clue, the book becomes impossible to set down.
I connected with this book on a deep level, which I had not been expecting. In a particularly emotional scene, I was brought to tears. Anyone who enjoys romantic suspense, domestic thrillers, and books that consume you emotionally will devour The Broken Wife.