What We Thought: The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan

The Other Woman

by Hank Phillippi Ryan

“Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” Robert Louis Stevenson

The Other Woman is an intricately plotted story of suspense written by bestselling award-winner Hank Phillippi Ryan. The theme of the first year of the Holmes Mystery Readers Book Club is "First in a Series," and in The Other Woman, heroine Jane Ryland makes her debut as a high-profile television reporter who has lost her job and now works for a Boston newspaper.

The time flew by with a very lively discussion of the characters with plot twists and turns making the discussion move along just as speedily as the writing style of the author. Members felt that Ryan’s background as a television investigative reporter and journalist drove the pace of her story. Although some readers were not very interested in the details of a political campaign they did pay attention to the scandals that were generated by many of the characters as a result of typical political intrigue. They were especially interested in the lights-out scene during an important fund raising event. The bridge killer red herring initiated a discussion of Boston bridges and descriptions of their favorites. The comment was made that “It’s tough to kill people.”

Some readers thought that the characters of adult children and spurned girl friends were confusing and needed more elaboration to set them apart from each other. Readers also said that  the character of Owen Lassiter, a candidate for governor seemed quite naïve for a current-day, experienced campaigner and perhaps should have disclosed more of his background to avert the scandal  surrounding his family and stop the tragedy resulting from it.

This discussion of The Other Woman was very productive with everyone participating with fascinating opinions and ready to read the sequels; The Wrong Girl and Truth Be Told to find out more about the blossoming romance between Jane and Boston Police Detective Jake Brogan.