THE FIRST WIFE

Narrator Tavia Gilbert jumps into this novel with both feet, carrying listeners to the end. Romantic suspense prevails as the author creates a whodunnit with a raft of suspects and a red herring or two. Working-class Bailey Browne is swept off her feet by Logan Abbott, a widower who is 10 years older than she and from a very different background. After they marry, he brings her home to his Louisiana horse farm, where she discovers she hardly knows him at all. Gilbert creates distinctive female and male voices. Especially notable is her ability to instill characters’ voices with strong emotion and complete vulnerability in the same paragraph. As her tone of authenticity lends credibility to the plot, the story becomes a delight for listeners. E.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2015]