Luke Whitney is found stabbed to death at a rural cottage. His second, and final wife, Anna, confesses to killing him. But detectives aren't convinced. There are holes in her story that you can drive a freight train through, there are lies, and there are seemingly easy details about the crime that she can't confirm. I mean, surely if you're going to stab your husband after a fight, you'd remember what the fight was about, right? (Probably threw his socks next to the laundry hamper instead of it in it.)
Luke was a narcissist. A manipulator. A liar. And above all, a serial cheater. In short, a total catch. Not. It seems that there could be quite the list of scorned and dumped women who might like to get their hands on him and hurt him fiercely. But murder? Did Anna kill her husband? Why is she so quick to confess? If she didn't, then who did and why is she protecting this person? Is it wife number one? Someone else? And why?
This is one of those books that is tough to review as it's an entertaining and okay read, but there's nothing about it that really stands out. I had a few niggles throughout as well. It seemed to lack some depth and I never really felt like I got a good handle on the women in Luke's life. I had a hard time with the wives and their attitudes towards this man who treated them like poo. The bargaining, the changing of their appearance, trying to do whatever it takes to make this loser happy when he couldn't even keep it in his trousers for five minutes. Luke wasn't a nice person, in case you hadn't realised that yet. That made it rather impossible to try and figure out whodunnit. It really could have been anyone who decided whatever he did or said was the last straw.
In hindsight, I would never have reached the correct conclusion anyway. At first it was definitely rather far-fetched. Then, true to form for this genre, there was a twist that turned things upside down again. And maybe I would have been okay if things were left done and dusted at that point. Unfortunately, the author decided on another angle and explanation that quite honestly had me rolling my eyes, I'm sorry to say. It's tough to explain without including massive spoilers. Sometimes, enough is just enough, and too much is just too much.
Up until that point though, I was rather enjoying 'The Final Wife'. It's undoubtedly full of intrigue and just like the detectives, the reader is trying to dig through the lies and find the truth. However, it needed that little bit more for me, and I would have liked it less twisty. But maybe that's just me.