The Loving Husband

At the start of this engrossing psychological thriller set in rural England from Kent (The Crooked House), Fran Hall awakes early one winter morning to discover that her husband, Nathan, is missing from their bed. A search of their dilapidated farmhouse reveals nothing but the Halls’ two young children. The door is unlocked and the mat is muddy, so Fran heads outside, where she finds Nathan’s bloody corpse in a drainage ditch. As the murder investigation progresses, the police become increasingly suspicious of Fran. She starts to do some digging of her own, and it’s not long before Fran realizes that she was married to a stranger. Skillfully integrated flashbacks permit both Fran and the reader to conduct a marital postmortem, and the harsh weather and isolated locale help amplify the tale’s inherent tension. The plot features some clever twists, and though Kent doesn’t fully earn her ending, she’s crafted an emotionally charged mystery that will keep readers guessing until the final chapter. Agent: Victoria Hobbs, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Mar.)