The Replacement Wife

Elisa Wright, the protagonist of this convoluted domestic suspense novel from Kane (Pretty Little Wife), is in a fragile mental state following a traumatic occurrence at her former job in administration at a Philadelphia hospital. Now, 11 months after the incident, she’s working from home part-time as an accountant and not venturing far from her neighborhood. Elisa becomes even more stressed after she learns that her brother-in-law, Josh Wright, just seven months after the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, her friend Abby, is serious about a new woman. She’s shocked by Josh’s cavalier disregard for Abby’s fate and begins to believe that Josh knows more about Abby’s whereabouts than he’s admitting. When she voices this opinion, Josh and her husband urge her to see a therapist or get additional medication. Are these remedies what she needs, or are they merely a means of distracting her from discovering the truth? Kane does gaslighting scenes well, but they get repetitive after a while, and Eliza takes too long to take even tentative steps toward regaining her sense of self. Kane has enough talent to suggest she can do better next time. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Dec.)