Happy Wife

TV writer Lavender and former communications consultant Shores debut with a lukewarm Cinderella story turned murder mystery. Nora Davies, 28, works as “an aimless swim instructor slash receptionist” at a ritzy country club in Winter Park, Fla. There, she meets Will Somerset, a wealthy, recently divorced lawyer in his 40s. Their attraction is immediate and mutual, and before long, Nora becomes Will’s second wife and his teen daughter’s stepmother. Her bliss is interrupted by animosity from Will’s social circle: Winter Park’s women see Nora as “a harbinger of younger second wives,” and everyone else considers her little more than a gold digger. When Will disappears from his lavish birthday party, the rumor mill churns, and Nora finds herself at the center of his murder investigation. To clear her name, she digs into Will’s past, uncovering information that makes her wonder whether her whirlwind romance might have been too good to be true. Lavender and Shores keep the pacing brisk and the prose clean, but their characters are frustratingly two-dimensional, and the workmanlike plot fails to make much of an impression. This disappoints. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (June)