The Senator’s Wife

Brainy, beautiful Washington, D.C., philanthropist Sloane Chase Montgomery, the protagonist of this deviously plotted if character-challenged psychological thriller from the pseudonymous Constantine (The Stranger in the Mirror), looks to be leading a charmed life following a tragedy. Just two years after the murder of her first husband, Robert Chase, she has embraced a second chance at happily ever after with Robert’s best friend and Senate colleague, Whit Montgomery. But the honeymoon may soon be over. The first signs of trouble are the brazen moves on her husband that Sloane witnesses by D.C. power broker Madelyn Sawyer, advances Whit explains he has to rebuff gently so as not to jeopardize Madelyn’s husband’s campaign contributions. Then, following Sloane’s scheduled hip replacement surgery and subsequent lupus flare-up, the home health aide Whit hires to supervise her care, stunning Athena Karras, appears to have a hidden agenda. Physically deteriorating and increasingly isolated from concerned family and friends, the sympathetic Sloane fights to figure out what’s happening to her. This perfect storm of perfidy swirls to a shocking climax, though readers should be prepared for some cartoonish villains. Constantine reliably delivers what her fans expect. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (May)