A Circle of Wives
When Dr. John Taylor, a plastic surgeon who specialized in treating disfigured children, is found dead in his hotel room, the case is assigned to Palo Alto detective Samantha Adams. More accustomed to investigating bike thefts, Samantha is astonished to discover that her first homicide case contains layers upon layers. It seems that Taylor was a bigamist, married to three women at the same time; only his first wife, the icy Deborah, knew of his complicated marital history, as she was obsessed with holding onto the status and the money that came with being married to a wealthy plastic surgeon and even helped manage her husband’s hectic schedule, penciling in time for his two other wives, earth mother MJ and pediatric oncologist Helen. Each chapter, narrated in turn by his wives as well as the detective, reveals a complicated man whose different marriages nurtured different aspects of his personality. LaPlante, coming off the triumph of Turn of Mind (2011), crafts a page-turner that also offers much ironic commentary on the dynamics of love and marriage, emphasizing the great mystery at the heart of any romantic relationship. --Joanne Wilkinson