As Long As We Both Shall Live by Joann Chaney

This book flows along the same vein as Gone Girl. Some couples simply deserve each other, until death do them part. The couple in this book is Matt & Marie Evans. They have been married for 20+ years and have two daughters that are in college. They seem much more obsessed with each other however than their daughters. Neither one seems to have a relationship with their children - and their daughters seem to have moved on with their lives without much thought to their parents. I think this is odd, even after we get an inside glimpse of what their lives were like growing up. Their parents had shockingly disturbing "banter" between the two of them at the dinner table. "Family time". Ha! I think if there is a sequel to this story, it should be about the daughters because there is no way they could be well adjusted young adults. No way.

So, Marie "falls" off a cliff in a deserted area of Rocky Mountain National Park, presumably falling into the fast flowing Three Forks River to her death. Matt is brought in for questioning since they suspect that Matt murdered Marie by pushing her off the cliff. The police also discover that Matt's first wife died under suspicious circumstances over 20 years earlier. This is the foundation of the story. Imagine that the story builds like a roller coaster cart making it's way slowly up to the peak of the biggest drop - and then we are on our way: dropping and turning and twisting as the rest of the story unfolds. 

As a side story, one of the detectives assigned to the investigation, Loren, is being re-investigated for the past murder of his former partner - and potentially the former partner's wife and baby who disappeared at the time of the murder. Loren is a crude, ugly man, but is partnered up with the new detective in the department, a woman named Spengler. It's an odd partnership, but it works. They each bring something key to the table as they try to unravel what's going on with the Evans.

It's an entertaining read and the end is as it should be. Or is it?

Wendy's Rating: ****