IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND Review

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite being as different as three women can be. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey, on financial aid, came from a broken home, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. And Jenny was a striver—brilliant, ambitious, and determined to succeed. As an unlikely friendship formed, the three of them swore they would always be there for each other.

But twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge, and someone is urging her to jump.

How did it come to this?
Kate married the gorgeous party boy, Aubrey married up, and Jenny married the boy next door. But how can these three women love and hate each other? Can feelings this strong lead to murder? When one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

A suspenseful, absorbing novel that examines the complexities of friendship, It’s Always the Husband will keep readers guessing right up to its shocking conclusion. (synopsis from Amazon)

IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND brought to mind something my mother would say if she thought a friend was a bad influence, “with friends like that you don’t need enemies.”

The past never really dies, usually coming back to haunt, and often bite, as it does in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND.  Ms. Campbell opens with someone being encouraged to jump from a bridge. Who and why we discover later, after a trip down memory lane to explain the why if not the who.

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny meet as roommates freshman year at Carlisle College and become known as The Whipple Triplets. They vow to always be there for each other and they are, in their own pernicious way.

The character driven plot isn’t for those inclined toward action packed adventures. That being said, only one of the characters in Ms. Campbell’s debut was likeable. Yet, as disagreeable as they were I was sucked in by my curiosity regarding who was on the bridge and why.

Hats off to Ms. Campbell. IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND kept me questioning my deductions right until the bitter, satisfying end.

4.5 stars