"The Second Husband"

Kate White is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels of suspense: eight standalone psychological thrillers, including the newly released The Second Husband, and eight Bailey Weggins mysteries.

White applied the Page 69 Test to The Second Husband and reported the following:

Once again, this Test proves to be uncanny. Halfway down page 69, you find this paragraph:

She felt like a traveler who starts off to explore a foreign city, game for adventure and a look at the unknown, and accidentally ends up in a forbidding neighborhood, one ripe with a sense of imminent danger.

This segment is part of a flashback chapter, in which the protagonist, thirty-something trend forecaster Emma Hawke, is beginning to have grave doubts about Derrick, the man she’s about to marry. He’s in a stressful new job and has become increasingly unpleasant and nasty to her. She’s very tempted to call off the wedding, but since her parents have already paid a great deal of money for the reception, and they’ve booked their flights from London, she decides to go ahead, convincing herself that things will get better with Derrick over time. We eventually learn that they didn’t get better, and that Emma was miserable in the marriage--and had to fake her grief when Derrick was murdered in what appeared to be a random street crime. Just over a year later, she marries a charismatic, successful widower named Tom. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, the police reopen the investigation into Derrick’s death, and it’s clear they’re viewing Emma as a suspect.

Here’s what I find so interesting about the Test. Though the highlighted section above refers simply to how Emma feels when she realizes her first husband is not who she thought he was, it’s really an incredible metaphor for what begins to happen to Emma through the rest of the book. She begins to question and fear everything around her, including her new marriage. Her entire world now feels ripe with danger.

Visit Kate White's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: Even If It Kills Her.

The Page 69 Test: Eyes on You.

The Page 99 Test: The Gutsy Girl Handbook.

The Page 69 Test: Have You Seen Me?.

--Marshal Zeringue