As Husbands Go

As Husbands Go
Susan Isaacs
Scribner, 2010

Astonished when her seemingly devoted husband is found murdered in a prostitute's apartment, Susie, a mother of four-year-old triplets, bristles at the idea that her husband cheated on her. She thought they had the perfect relationship, even if they were super busy with their careers and children and didn’t have much time for each other. Determined to prove that her husband would never stray, Susie undertakes her own investigation to prove that the high class call girl did not kill her husband, even if it means she alienates everyone around her except her long-lost grandmother.

I picked this title up to read because I had never read this author before, and she is considered one of the first to write in the genre of Women’s Lives and Relationships. In fact, I had heard that Jennifer Weiner, my of my favorite authors, considered Susan Isaacs to be her personal favorite. All I can say is: WHAT? I couldn’t have been more disappointed in a book. Now I’m wondering if I happened to pick up the worst book she ever wrote and maybe should try another one of hers just to make sure. Maybe she was having a bad week when she wrote this one. In any event, I could not stand the main character, who seemed more worried about the embarrassment of her husband sleeping around than her husband being dead. And there are more red herrings thrown around than a reader knows what to do with.

And I could care less about designer clothes, jewelry and name brands, which meant that about half the book was meaningless to me. If I was going to be fair, I would have to admit that I finished it just to verify the identity of the murderer, which I knew anyway, but I had to be sure. So, that deserves two cupcakes instead of the one I was going to give this book. Sigh.

Rating:

Other novels by this author:
Compromising Positions (1978)
Close Relations (1980)
Almost Paradise (1984)
Shining Through (1988)
Magic Hour (1991)
After All These Years (1993)
Lily White (1996)
Red, White and Blue (1998)
Long Time No See (2001)
Any Place I Hang My Hat (2004)
Past Perfect (2007)

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