Review: "The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress" by Ariel Lawhon

WOW!! What an absolutely fantastic story! This was a book club choice and I couldn’t put it down.

This is the story of the disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater in 1930. He vanished from a New York hotel, without a trace. He had ties to the criminal underworld so it’s anyone’s guess what happened to him. This tale is based on historical facts and people. Ms. Lawhon weaves these details with her own spin on what could have happened and has written a first rate who-dun-it.

All the characters are well defined. I was drawn into the story through the mixture of emotions that the three main individuals evoked. The plot is also intriguing and finely tuned. All loose ends are tied up fully by completion of the story in such a fashion that left me speechless . You do have to pay attention though, because the author switches back and forth from present to past

I highly recommend this story for anyone who loves a great mystery with some historical facts thrown in. Before starting, make sure you have plenty of time to read because you won’t want to put it down.