It's Always the Husband by Michele Campbell

St Martin's Press | May 2017 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Although there are some underlying tone of domestic issues and unhappy marriages what with that title, this book actually revolves around the friendship of three women - Kate, Aubrey and Jenny. Kate is beautiful, wealthy and wild; Aubrey comes from a poor broken family and through financial aid she arrives at Carlisle hoping that it'd change her path thereafter; and finally there's Jenny who is intelligent and ambitious. Despite the clash of personalities, the trio are roommates and friendship blossoms quickly until they are inseparable. 

Right from the start, we know something bad is going to happen as the author takes her reader immediately to a scene twenty years later that portrays two nameless characters locked in a tense situation with one urging the other to jump off a bridge. As in most cases with problematic couples, it's always the husband who comes to mind first whenever his partner dies under mysterious circumstances.

The story was told in two parts with a different timeline. The first was focused on the three young women and their college life at Carlisle. Here we read about their busy life as they juggle between their studies and their personal life. Wild parties, flirting with boys, drinking and drugs taking seem to be the norm when Kate is concerned. Aubrey is her follower and while Jenny doesn't always approve of their behaviours, she loves her two friends dearly. Unfortunately, a terrible accident happened to an innocent young man during a squabble and that guilt hangs onto the three women till their adult life. The case is closed with the conclusion that the young man was suicidal after he was being forced to stop playing hockey due to his leg injury but of course Kate, Aubrey and Jenny knew better.

The second part moves on to their marriage life and the continuation of their dynamics and each woman now harbours a deep secret and not even their husbands knew what happened on that fateful night which involved their wives (whether directly or indirectly). As one of them dies under a mysterious circumstances, a new police chief in town is asked to look into the case and the past of these women's life is being looked into once again and this time around, it's even more complicated as there are marital woes and deceptions and it's no longer the women's affair alone anymore. Did one of their husbands get murderous? 

This was an average read to me although the premise kept me on edge and I was curious to see how it all played out in the end. And of course I wouldn't turn down on a story filled with secrets and betrayals with an Ivy League setting. Most of the characters are unlikeable and unreliable; I didn't feel any connection to any of them though I felt pity to one or two of them under some circumstances. Overall it was an engaging read and I'd say it's more of a case of characters study and behaviours. 

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