After Reading: A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love. 

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.  (Goodreads)

I was up for a bit of different read and picked this up out of my library, hoping for an twisty mystery to keep the pages turning. Instead I got a whole lot of exposition of several people who honestly I didn't really like and found myself nearly putting this book down more than once. The opening chapter, with page upon page of telling me just how sad Truitt was, was enough to make me start skimming. I did keep on, interested in what sorts of secrets these people might be hiding, but in the end never felt like it was enough to keep the whole plot moving. All of the "twists" were entirely predictable, and the ending made me roll my eyes. I did like one of the main themes, that it's possible for people to change and grow, though I'm not sure it was depicted all that well, as the motivations were still heavily biased (hell, I'd change a lot about myself for an endless fortune...). And the prose itself was poorly done--a lot more showing of the emotions that were described for page upon page would have done worlds for the characters. Anyhow, not something that was terribly a great read to start out the new year on, but oh well :)

Have you read this one? I'd love to hear your thoughts!