An inconvenient wife A modern Tudor mystery

Going from personal assistant to sixth wife, Kate Parker thought she was aware of what it would mean to marry billionaire Hank Tudor. However, two weeks after their City Hall wedding, the reality is peppered with surprises. When the headless body of a woman is found in the marsh between Hank's Greenwich cottage and the B & B owned and operated by his fourth wife, Anna, the details are eerily similar to an old, unsolved murder on a different Tudor property. With a relatively small cast of characters, it is the wives in this story who offer glimpses of interesting backgrounds and ranges of emotions that feel more and more relatable as we start to understand just how the family dynamics could be connected to two murdered women. As multiple mysteries begin to unravel, legitimate hints and red herrings are revealed. Fans of Dirty Laundry, by Disha Bose; The Last Word, by Taylor Adams; or Goodbye Earl, by Lessa Cross-Smith, will be interested in giving this book a look.

In this clever riff on the saga of Henry VIII, Olson (the Annie Seymour mysteries) introduces executive assistant Kate Parker, who's just become billionaire Hank Tudor's sixth wife. Kate's knowledge of her husband's many divorces has prepared her for the possibility that their marital bliss might be short-lived, but not for the discovery of the headless body of Hanks's fifth wife, Caitlyn Howard, near their honeymoon villa in Tuscany. Caitlyn's corpse is found in the same condition as Hank's late second wife, Nan, who died eight years earlier, raising the possibility of a serial killer or copycat (Hank had strong alibis for both murders). Worried her head may be next on the chopping block, Kate sets out to solve Caitlyn's death, zeroing in on a series of suspects including Hank's three children, his first and fourth wives, and his ruthless business partner. Some readers may balk at the conclusion's loose ends, but Olson's intelligent plotting--in which she recasts Tudor dynastic maneuverings through the lens of 21st-century ultra-wealth--make this much more than a simple in-joke for history buffs. Those willing to go along for the ride will be happy they did. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (Apr.)