The Secret Lives of Married Women

Straightforward, effective prose distinguishes this two-part crime novel from Wald, author of the erotic classic Meeting the Master. In “The Man Under the House,” Leda Reeve, whose Broadway career was derailed by a less-than-Stella performance as Blanche Dubois in a revival of A Street Car Named Desire, lands a temporary receptionist job in midtown Manhattan with a small computer-service company, whose owner she ends up marrying. Leda and her husband move to Vancouver, Wash., where they meet handyman Jack Shelby, the cousin of the former owner of their new house. Jack offers to help with odd jobs, but his affability and ubiquity soon turn creepy and lead Leda to reveal parts of her past she has concealed from her spouse. In “Abel’s Cane,” Leda’s twin sister, Lillian, a successful New York City defense lawyer, explores her own darker tendencies. Readers interested in sadomasochism will best appreciate this second narrative. (Oct.)