The Dangerous Secrets Spouses Keep -- Review of the thriller, The Paris Widow

When two people get married, they usually feel like they know each other pretty well. 

Their likes and dislikes. What makes them laugh, and the things that make them sad or upset. Their habits and eccentricities.

 

But how well do we ever really know another person? There’s always something we’re holding back... something embarrassing, that we’re ashamed of, or that we simply know our partner wouldn’t be cool with.

 

That’s normal.

 

The thing is, there are little, unimportant secrets... and then, there are deep, dark, hidden things that have the power to change everything we think we knew.

 

Kimberly Belle delivers a tempting souffle of the latter variety, in The Paris Widow.

 

 

From the moment Stella and Adam had their meet-cute, it seemed they were meant to be together.

 

A quiet, calm guy—who nerded out over the cool old architectural interior treatments he found and sold to his wealthy clients—Adam fell hard for Stella’s vibrant, fun personality and was thrilled by their mutual love of travel.

 

And Stella? She appreciated the sense of normalcy and steadiness which Adam brought to her previously topsy-turvy life.

 

Until one day, when their happy, normal life was shattered, in a matter of seconds.

 

In the middle of their idyllic Paris vacation, an explosion rocked the little café where they’d just eaten... and which Adam had run back to, after realizing enroute to their hotel that he’d left his sunglasses behind.

 

It wasn’t until Stella couldn’t reach him on his phone, though, that panic started to creep in. Had Adam been at the restaurant, or nearby, during the explosion? Her brain refused to believe it.

 

Hours later, Stella tried to comprehend how her husband could just be gone. No traces of him among the dead, or among the injured.

 

Days passed with no news for “The Paris Widow”, as the media was calling her... until one day, when the French investigator in charge of the case stopped by to drop (another) bombshell on her.

 

He explained that a police task force had been watching Adam for years... as someone they suspected of making millions of dollars dealing in stolen antiquities on the black market.

 

As much as Stella couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea her husband was dead, or even just missing, she definitely couldn’t believe he was... what, this criminal mastermind, hawking priceless, pilfered treasures to ruthless billionaire collectors??

 

Determined not only to find Adam—or at least find out what happened to him—Stella vowed to clear his name. 

 

But soon she had to consider there might be at least some truth to police suspicions, when she realized she was being followed.

 

And drawing on her own checkered past—the one her husband knew nothing about—might well be the only way to survive.

 

 

I made a point to save The Paris Widow for my trip to Paris. (How appropriate, ne c’est pas?)

 

And what fun it was, reading about neighborhoods and landmarks I was seeing, firsthand! Belle leads the reader on a colorful path all around Paris, as Stella seeks answers. 

 

The characters—especially Stella and Adam—are compelling and relatable, and the subject matter—the illegal acquiring and selling of rare, precious artifacts—a serious one, with far-reaching ramifications.

 

There’s some fine suspense at play, too, in the gradual revealing of who (is behind everything), what (really happened), why (actions were taken), and how (Stella is gonna get out alive).

 

The Paris Widow is a fast-paced thrill ride that I absolutely raced through. 

 

Regardless of whether or not you’ve got a jaunt to The City of Lights planned, if you’re looking for a great read set in an historic, glamorous locale, you should seriously consider picking this one up. 

 

~GlamKitty