Sandy Appleyard

The Wife of a Lesser Man (Volume 1) Sandy Appleyard

They were deeply in love, their days and nights filled with scintillating romance and passionate love making?even after 20 years of marriage. Then fate delivered a hammer blow when a heart attack led to Mark?s impotency and Shelley?s unbearable frustration. Encouraged by a friend, Shelley becomes flirtatious and unfaithful, finding those moments of glorious intimacy for which she hungered with another man. Mark, a police chief, suspects nothing as he channels all his time and energy into tracking down a serial killer. But when the murderer leaves a terrifying final clue too close to home, only Shelley can solve the case. *22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards Judge Comments* "THE WIFE OF A LESSER MAN, By Sandy Appleyard, is an interesting story of a police captain and his wife whose marriage is troubled by the captain's health problems and an unsolved murder that is complicated by his wife's unknowing acquaintance with the killer. When Shellie Tame's husband suffers a heart attack, the illness puts a not unusual strain on their marriage. The once active police captain of necessity slows down, leaving his vivacious wife with free time on her hands. Of course, their lives are complicated by a local murder that is slow to be solved. Meanwhile, Shelly meets an attractive man at Yoga class who shows an interest in her to the point of kissing her goodnight at her car in the parking lot. Nothing comes of the attraction, but Shelly can't help thinking what might be. There are a lot of interesting characters in this novel, but not too many to confuse the reader. The police scenes seem real with the captain worried over the progress of his murder investigation and also the private lives of members of his force. When the FBI enters the investigation because of the hint of a serial murderer, the captain's job is complicated further. The book needs a little more careful editing as the dialogue (which character was speaking) not always being clear, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of this fast paced murder mystery."