A Killer’s Wife

A Killer’s Wife by Victor Methos brings murder, suspense, police investigations, and courtroom drama to a well-written legal thriller mainly set in and around Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the first book in the Desert Plains series and my first book by this author.

Our protagonist, Jessica Yardley, is a federal prosecutor, whose husband went to prison fourteen years ago for multiple murders. When some new homicides appear to be similar to those of her ex-husband, Eddie Cal, the FBI asks for Jessica’s help. What follows is an exciting combination of investigations, family crises, and courtroom battles.

While Jessica is definitely strong in her professional career, her personal life is another matter. This gives some balance and a flaw or two, but somewhat stereotyped. I liked her courage and resilience, and was definitely rooting for a satisfactory ending for the story line. But does it happen?

The secondary characters are not as well-developed. However, for most of them, a reader gains enough understanding of them so that one is able to understand how they will react under the pressures of situations they encounter.

There is some changing of points of view between three individuals. The strongest one was that of Jessica and, in my opinion, the others could have been eliminated to make the story more cohesive. Despite some situations that did not seem realistic in today’s criminal justice system, I became quickly engaged with the novel.

The book was well-written and was paced well and had an appropriate mix of dialogue and narrative. The plot had several twists and turns with a few surprises along the way even after readers find out a lot of the ‘who did what’ part of the way through the book. What an ending! Will you see it coming? Other themes include academic boredom, the line between pushing for a justified conviction and convicting an innocent person, inherited traits, nature versus nurture, relationships, alcoholism, drug abuse, heartbreak, betrayal, and much more.

If you enjoy legal thrillers, then I recommend this series. While there are some things, that seemed over-the-top and somewhat implausible, overall, it is an intense book that pulls the reader into its disturbing storyline. It is certainly thought-provoking. While this does not have a cliffhanger ending, there are threads that can be pulled into the next book in the series. Which one or ones will it be? I can’t wait to find out in the next novel.

I purchased a digital copy of this novel. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way.