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Boston television reporter Jane Ryland lost both her job and her reputation when a source disappeared on her and the grocery magnate that she accused of misdeeds won a million-dollar verdict against her TV station for libel. She's forced to take a "six month tryout" with a local newspaper just as her on-again off-again love interest, detective Jake Brogan, is starting to investigate a series of brutal murders of young women that Jane's colleague at the newspaper is attempting to exploit with sensational headlines. Jane, however, is given the assignment of doing a fluff piece on the wife of former Massachusetts governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Owen Lassiter - a far cry from her storied career of important investigative reporting. Much to the chagrin of her boss, Jane takes notice that Moira Lassiter has seemingly disappeared from the campaign trail just as the polls are showing her husband's lead evaporating and just as a beautiful young blonde in a red coat starts showing up in pictures with her husband. Jane wants this to be more than your typical candidate-wife profile and her curiosity is further piqued when the campaign is reluctant to give her access to the candidate's wife. As Jane tries to uncover the truth, a strange young woman starts volunteering with the campaign and appears to have an unhealthy obsession with the candidate and a series of strange mishaps start happening to the campaign leading many to suspect sabotage. Detective Brogan is fighting a two-front war himself: investigating a series of brutal murders of young women and attempting to stave off public panic caused by the sensationalized headlines of Jane's newspaper. Brogan quickly finds that all the young women are connected with Arthur Vick - the grocery magnate that Jane made her fateful accusation about that cost her so dearly. With Vick stonewalling and threatening further litigation, Brogan continues to investigate with assistance with Jane as they slowly realize that their respective investigations may be closely intertwined with each other. THE OTHER WOMAN in many ways is a real treat - author Hank Phillipi Ryan, a practicing investigative reporter on Boston television and a former staffer in the United States Senate clearly knows her stuff - and creates a convincing and authentic political environment full of political dirty tricks and misdirection for Jane to operate in. Moreover, Ryan is able to create dual plotlines that keep the audience interested and the book humming alone at a brisk pace. Ryan is able to delve into many tricky ethical issues regarding politics and journalism, and is able to approach it with a moral tact that is never preachy. The novel does sputter when it comes to the not as well-drawn serial killer subplot and Ryan needlessly bloats the narrative with a romantic subplot that serves little purpose; in the final act, the plot descends into soap opera theatrics that is unfortunate to say the least.Minor qualms aside, THE OTHER WOMAN is a quality, taut political tale that is able to deliver a strong and authentic story that will make fans of political thrillers and suspense tales with a twist be eager for the next Ryland/Brogan tale. § Ben Neal is a public librarian in northeastern Tennessee and likes to fancy himself an amateur writer, humorist, detective, and coffee connoisseur in his spare time. He can be reached at beneneal@indiana.edu.
Reviewed by Ben Neal, January 2013
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