Leigh Wren lives with her son Hayden in Cary, N.C. in Bill Floyd's The Killer's Wife. At the start of the novel, Leigh is going about her typical routine, which includes grocery shopping at Harris Teeter at midnight.

But then a man confronts her and we learn the truth about Leigh. Her husband Randy was a serial killer who is spending his time on death row. Leigh had helped the police catch him, and then she changed her name from Nina Mosley to Leigh Wren and took her son to a new place to start fresh.

But it's not so easy starting over, especially with the burden of guilt Leigh/Nina has. The man who confronted her was the father of one of Randy's victims, and he quickly brings Leigh/Nina's past to light.

As Leigh/Nina is shunned by the community and swarmed by media, a copy cat killer is on the loose, taunting Leigh/Nina and communicating with the victim's father.

The Killer's Wife tackles some interesting questions about guilt, letting go and living one's life. Leigh/Nina understands that she did not want to face the truth about her husband, so she tries to explain away signs that indicate his sociopathy until it cannot be ignored. She also comes to the realization that it is impossible to forget or avoid the past.

But The Killer's Wife isn't really a thinker's book; it is a thriller whose main goal, it seems, is to discover the new killer and Randy's involvement in the cases.

As a pre-requisite, of course, Leigh/Nina and her son are threatened and they must put their lives in danger to discover the truth. Floyd's The Killer's Wife does not cover any new territory as far as mysteries go, and Randy is characterized as a fairly textbook serial killer.

Floyd jumps at-times confusingly between the present and Leigh/Nina's past with Randy, and his characters are fairly one-dimensional. Leigh/Nina is the stereotypical mother who will do anything to protect her son, and the other characters in the book are not well-drawn enough to be terribly interesting.

However, The Killer's Wife is a very fast read and a real page-turner. It is mindlessly entertaining and would perhaps be enjoyable for fans of mystery, suspense or thrillers.

- Ashley