Contemporary Authors

• It's Always the Husband ( novel) St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2017
• Most Wanted William Morrow (New York, NY), 2005
• The Finishing School William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006
• Cover-Up William Morrow (New York, NY), 2007
• Notorious William Morrow (New York, NY), 2008

1. Most wanted https://lccn.loc.gov/2004044964 Campbell, Michele, 1962- Most wanted / Michele Martinez. 1st ed. New York : William Morrow, c2005. 366 p. ; 24 cm. PS3613.A78648 M67 2005 ISBN: 006072398X (acid-free paper) 2. The finishing school https://lccn.loc.gov/2005043415 Campbell, Michele, 1962- The finishing school / Michele Martinez. 1st ed. New York : William Morrow, c2006. 387 p. ; 24 cm. PS3613.A78648 F56 2006 ISBN: 0060724005 (alk. paper)9780060724009 (alk. paper) 3. Cover-up https://lccn.loc.gov/2006050199 Campbell, Michele, 1962- Cover-up / Michele Martinez. 1st ed. New York : William Morrow, c2007. viii, 344 p. ; 24 cm. PS3613.A78648 C68 2007 ISBN: 006089900X (alk. paper)9780060899004 (alk. paper) 4. Notorious https://lccn.loc.gov/2007023125 Campbell, Michele, 1962- Notorious / Michele Martinez. 1st ed. New York : William Morrow, c2008. 336 p. ; 24 cm. PS3613.A78648 N68 2008 ISBN: 9780060899028 5. It's always the husband https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050222 Campbell, Michele, 1962- author. It's always the husband / Michele Campbell. First edition. New York : St. Martin's Press, 2017. 327 pages ; 25 cm PS3613.A78648 I87 2017 ISBN: 9781250081803 (hardcover)

• Michelle Campbell - http://www.michelecampbellbooks.com/michele-campbell/

  Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases. A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels. She has had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her.

  Michele currently lives in New Hampshire.

• Michele Martinez - http://www.michelemartinez.com/michelemartinez.htm

  ABOUT MICHELE

  Read an interview with Michele
  Contact Michele
  Join Michele's mailing list
  Download press photos of Michele
  Read news about Michele
  Michele's tour dates
  "Writing Suspense: Fiction vs. Reality"
  "Second Acts: How My Kids Helped Me Kick My Crime-fighting Addiction and Find a New Career as an Author"

  Anybody who's been a prosecutor or a cop in a big city for any period of time has unbelievable war stories. Stuff the average person doesn't know, would never see, and might not even believe if they heard about it. Some of it sickening, some of it totally hilarious, but all falling into the category of "you can't make this stuff up."

  Like Melanie Vargas, the main character in her novels, Michele Martinez had the privilege of serving as a federal prosecutor in New York City. For eight years she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, which covers some of the most drug- and gang-infested areas of Brooklyn and Queens. She specialized in narcotics, and we're not talking about busting high school kids selling pot, either. The Eastern District includes the airports and the ports serving New York City, so Michele had jurisdiction over the biggest narcotics organizations in the world. We're talking Mexican cocaine cartels loading forty or fifty million dollars of cash at a time into tractor trailers to send back across the border. Burmese warlords controlling hundreds of kilos of heroin secreted in seemingly innocent shipments of goods from Southeast Asia. And local kingpins operating massive crack and heroin supermarkets 24/7 on the streets of our cities, pitching drugs to young children as they walked to school. Michele prosecuted all these cases, and more, many of them involving serious violence, weapons charges, even murder. Doing the cases in New York, where everything seems to move faster and happen bigger, she got a whole lifetime's experience of serious crime in eight years.

  It wasn't easy for Michele to get there, nor was it at all a sure bet. Like Melanie, Michele came from very modest roots. Her father was born in Puerto Rico during the Depression, the son of a cigar roller on a tobacco plantation and a teenaged mother. His father died in an accident when he was about six years old, and his mother, who couldn't afford to support him, gave him to an aunt who brought him to New York City. He grew up with relatives in the Washington Heights neighborhood, dropped out of high school, joined the military where he got his G.E.D., and eventually, after Michele was born, went to college on the G.I. Bill. Michele's mother was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Connecticut, lived modestly and worked hard all her life, and never had the opportunity to go to college. While Michele was growing up, her father worked in the Connecticut prison system running inmate education programs, and her mother was a secretary. Her family didn't have much money. They lived in a small apartment in a tough section of New Haven, and Michele went to inner-city public schools during the height of urban racial tensions and rioting in the late 60s and 70s.

  But her parents were great believers in the American Dream, and they taught Michele that she could achieve anything if she worked and studied hard. Michele feels like living proof of that. She made it to Harvard University and to Stanford Law School, clerked for a federal judge, and landed a position at a fancy, high-paying Manhattan law firm. But she'd been raised to believe that there was more to life than being a hired gun in disputes between big corporations. All along, she had her sights set on being a prosecutor, which she felt was the best way to use her skills to make a difference. In 1993, Michele became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and the next eight years were some of the most thrilling and challenging of Michele's life.
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  But during that time, some other thrilling "little challenges" arrived. Michele and her husband had two little boys, and for five years Michele juggled her very intense job with being a mommy to two major whirlwinds. Any working parent knows that's a tough situation. When you're trying to give a hundred percent to your children and a hundred percent to your job, the math doesn't quite work out. Michele felt a lot of guilt in both directions, and began to wonder if she should stop working. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to give it up. Being a prosecutor felt too important to her. She needed to find a meaningful alternative that would allow her more flexibility.

  Then one night she had a dream -- literally. About a fire in a townhouse that killed a handsome silver-haired lawyer who may have been leading a double life. The next morning, she woke up and wrote it down. That dream became the opening scene in her debut thriller Most Wanted, and pointed the way for Michele to share her insider's knowledge of the real world of crime and law enforcement with her readers.

  Now Michele writes every day about the adventures of Melanie Vargas. Even though she still works really hard, her husband and kids are thrilled that she's around more, and totally excited about her new career. She brings to life the same types of vivid characters and intense situations she lived through as a prosecutor. And she pours her other life experiences into her writing as well. The Melanie Vargas thrillers reflect Michele's unique background -- from humble beginnings to the halls of the Ivy League, from the mean streets of Brooklyn to the glamorous environs of Manhattan's wealthiest neighborhoods, from working late to changing diapers. With plenty of sex and violence thrown in for good measure. She hopes you'll have a blast reading them.

• New Mystery Reader - http://www.newmysteryreader.com/michelle_martinez.htm

  Please welcome Michele Martinez, author of the new legal thriller series featuring Prosecutor Melanie Vargas, with her second new title, The Finishing School!

  The Finishing School

  Most Wanted

  Synopsis:

  The Finishing School by Michele Martinez

  NYC Prosecutor Melanie Vargas returns in the second outing of this exciting and invigorating new series from Martinez, this one featuring the intrepid and fearless lawyer battling drug dealers, the wealthy and powerful and, of course, her own personal struggles with being a single mom, having a boss from hell, and falling in love.

  It all begins when two wealthy teenage girls are found dead by what looks like an apparent overdose, with a third girl missing and presumed to be the one responsible for the deaths. But the further Melanie, along with her love/hate interest FBI agent Dan O'Reilly, look into the case, the more complicated it becomes, with a plethora of suspects who have more than just drug dealing on their minds. Their search will take them to an elite private school where both students and faculty have much to hide and plenty of secrets that just might kill. And so as the two battle their feelings for each other, along with some very devious criminals, it will take all they have to uncover the truth that so many are trying to hide.

  The strength of this story lies in Melanie herself, independent and so completely human, that rooting for her success in conquering love and crime comes easy. Add to that some breathless suspense, a story with plenty of twists and turns, and you have one hell of a fine read to keep you going through a cold winter's night.

  Interview:

  Q. What made you decide to start writing your first book, Most Wanted?

  A. Honestly, it was more like the book decided to write itself. At a time in my life when I was totally confused about whether to continue being a prosecutor, which I loved, or stay home with my kids, who obviously needed me, I literally had a dream that contained the opening scene of Most Wanted. That dream answered a question I'd been asking myself for years: how could I put the vast storehouse of insider knowledge about violent crime, narcotics and law enforcement that was kicking around inside my head to decent use if I left my job? Once I had the first scene, the rest of the book just flowed -- although with many drafts, rewrites, and revisions.

  Q. You were a lawyer for your entire career. What made you think you could write fiction?

  A. Being a prosecutor is different from being any other type of lawyer. A lot of what I did on the job was investigate crimes side by side with the police, before any arrests were even made. When I appeared in court, I had to stand up in front of a jury and explain complicated, scary events in a way people could understand and relate to. I learned to think on my feet, to speak clearly and to tell a good story -- all skills I use every day in my writing. Also, like many writers, I simply love to read. And I learn a huge amount from reading other writers. While writing Most Wanted, I embarked on a major thriller-reading campaign that helped me figure out some important issues of pacing and plotting. Besides, I had so many great stories and characters in my head -- they were just itching to jump onto the page!

  Q. How did you go about the process of starting to write a novel from scratch when you'd never done it before?

  A. Nothing magical. I sat down at my computer and started to write the story that was in my head. I worked on it a lot -- hours and hours every day. About halfway through the first draft, I read a bunch of thrillers and decided mine was too slow and, well, too lawyer-like, so I threw the whole thing away and started over again. Practice makes perfect, right? The next draft I really liked, but I knew it still needed work, so I decided to start showing it to people. I also took a writing workshop through New York University and got some great feedback there. Eventually, the book was polished enough to get me my fabulous agent, Meg Ruley, who gave me still more feedback. You get the picture: rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. Work, work, work. Eventually, we sent it out into the world, and my wonderful editor, Carolyn Marino, loved it, and gave me even more great feedback. The bottom line is, it took lots of hard work, determination, and faith that it would all come together in the end -- not to mention endless pots of coffee strong enough to peel paint!

  Q. How are you like or different from your main character, Melanie Vargas?

  A. We share many characteristics. Melanie, like me, is half-Puerto Rican, comes from modest roots but has an Ivy League education, loves being a prosecutor but experiences great stress juggling her demanding job with being a mommy. But Melanie is also NOT me. She has her own separate life -- a different office, boss, husband, baby, parents, sibling, apartment, etc., etc., than I have. She also faces much more extreme circumstances that I do. I've gone up against dangerous criminals in the courtroom, but never -- thank God! -- in a burned-out basement with a nine millimeter in my hand. I'm happily married, whereas Melanie's marriage is in deep trouble and may not last, meaning she'll face all the challenges of being a divorced mom. Despite the differences, I still like to think that if I were placed in Melanie's difficult (although stylish) shoes, I'd kick butt the way she does.

  Q. Are any of the other characters in your books based on real people?

  A. The short answer is no. The longer answer is more complicated than that.
  When I write a character, often the first thing I "get" is the character's voice. How do they sound when they talk? Because, to me, writing credible dialogue is the single most important factor in making the book believable to the reader. If I can't hear a character's voice in my head, I can't write the character. While no character in my books is truly based on any real, live human being, I'm definitely heavily influenced by certain people's voices when I listen to my characters "speak" inside my head. And, every once in a while, some real life person makes himself or herself felt in other ways -- whether in a facial expression, a turn of phrase, an attitude. That's inevitable, since all believable fiction springs from close observation of real life. But I can honestly say that all the characters in my books are really and truly themselves, rather than thinly-veiled alter egos of people I know.

  Q. What does the New York City setting mean to your books?

  A. New York gives my writing its guts. There's a lot of crime here, and there are also a lot of dedicated, honorable, hard-working people in law enforcement whose job it is to stamp it out. That battle between these real-life forces of good and evil, played out against the always fascinating and vibrant landscape of this city, with all its unforgettable settings and characters, will never loosen its grip on my imagination.

  Q. What does your Puerto Rican background mean to your books?

  A. Like most people who had one or more parents who were first generation immigrants to the mainland United States, and like anyone who came from modest roots economically, I have a great appreciation for the opportunities that this country can offer. My books will always reflect that at some level. (Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens, but surely the experience of coming to New York and learning English as a child was the same for my father as for any immigrant.) Melanie came up from humble beginnings, but she never forgets where she's from. Like me, she has both a great love for hard work and a tremendous sympathy for the underdog. As for throwing in some Spanish words, or writing about flan or arroz con pollo (yum!), hey, that's plain FUN.

  Q. Where do you get your plot ideas?

  A. My first book, Most Wanted, was unusual in that I literally dreamt its opening chapter. But there is no shortage of fascinating characters and crime stories in the waking world. During my years as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office, I had contact with hundreds, even thousands, of cases, each one different. Every day that I open the newspaper or turn on the TV, there are still more. Even a small element of a crime can be worked over in my head to generate an entire imagined plot, complete with characters, scenes, dialogue. And that's just the crime stuff! Beyond my experience as a prosecutor, I've been fortunate to lead a pretty interesting and varied life. I grew up in modest circumstances, went to Harvard, worked in a fancy law firm, met lots of fascinating and influential people. I've lived in tons of different places, including for many years now on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where I get to observe all sorts of noteworthy (and sometimes bizarre) behavior up close and personal. It's endlessly engrossing and a blast to write about.

  Q. How much research do you do?

  A. Probably less than a lot of writers who write crime, because I have so much first-hand experience. If a book begins with a particular crime, I already know how the police and prosecutors would go about investigating it, without having to look anything up. But having said that, many details still require research and leg-work to get them right. For example, locations. I often set scenes in places I have been, yet still find that I need to visit the place again and take notes to get it perfect. Or sometimes, I want to write something that experience has not prepared me for. Like when Melanie faces down the bad guy (I won't say which one, so I won't spoil the surprise) at the end of Most Wanted, and her gun runs out of bullets. I personally did not know what that would feel like (other than "Oh s##t!!") So I called a friend of mine in law enforcement who told me how it feels to pull a trigger when the chamber's empty. For my next book, The Finishing School, which involves murder, drug dealing and intrigue set in a tony New York City girls' school, I had to research things like the pampered lives of NYC's doggies (manicures, pedicures, Chanel outfits!). But the broad strokes of criminal investigation . . . those I know by heart.

  Q. What is your writing schedule like?

  A. I could pretend to be one of those writers who gets up at four in the morning and produces 20 pages before the sun comes up. But that would be a lie. The fact is, I hate mornings. I live in New York, and this is a late-night town, not a "rise and shine" one. The best I can do is keep to something resembling a New York lawyer's schedule, which means I get to my "office" around nine -- if I'm lucky. Okay, sometimes it's later. And if my kids need me, I take a break. But when I'm really in the middle of a novel, I write eight or ten hours a day, so I'm often working late into the night. And I often work weekends -- in fact, I'm writing these words at 11:40 on a Saturday night. Luckily my supportive husband is very willing to pitch in and watch the boys (for example, he took them all day today so I could work!).

  Q. What are you working on now?

  A. I am hard at work on the third book in the Melanie Vargas series, called Cover-Up, in which Melanie investigates the serial murders of the patients of a prominent Park Avenue plastic surgeon. It’s due out in January 2007. I’ve also recently written a couple of really fun “standalone” short stories that will be appearing in collections of short stories by crime and suspense writers next year. Stay tuned for more details.

  Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers who are trying to get published?

  A. The best advice I can give is, treat your writing like a job rather than a hobby. Show up to work on your project every day, with whatever free time you have. Seek out advice and criticism from people whose judgment you trust -- not your mom who's just going to look at it and say "Oh, honey, this is wonderful!" but rather objective people, ideally with some actual experience in writing or publishing. Take their comments seriously. Constantly reevaluate and revise your project until it's the best it can possibly be. Then revise it some more. Getting published is like a marathon. Work your butt off and eventually you're bound to get somewhere!

  Q. What are your most and least favorite things about being a writer?

  A. I have tons of favorite things about being a writer! First of all, I get to live a double life -- who wouldn't love that? As I write I get to ride along on all Melanie's adventures, whether she’s facing down a vicious killer, flirting with Dan O'Reilly or just changing Maya's diapers. I also love how creative writing is. I not only love reading, but I love music, movies and television. I can let my favorite books, movies and songs influence me, and creep into my work in subtle ways that pay homage to them.

  On the down side, being a writer is very solitary. I'm an outgoing person, and logging all those hours alone at a desk makes me a little crazy sometimes. I do find myself walking down the street talking to myself, reciting dialogue out loud. But then I'll have a great day choreographing a gunfight (or a sex scene!), and I'm hooked all over again.

  Q. Do you ever miss being a prosecutor?

  A. Constantly.

  Q. Can you talk a bit about Melanie's personal style versus her sister Linda's?

  A. Melanie dresses in a way that's sophisticated and professional, but not fancy. Her closet is full of attractive but serious suits for work, and nice jeans and sweaters for the weekends. She tends to shop at places like Banana Republic, J.Crew or Ann Taylor. A splurge for her is buying a new suit for an important jury trial -- after all, she's a mother with a young child to support, and she doesn't feel justified in spending excessive amounts of money on herself. But she likes to feel pretty and feminine, and no matter what, she always wears perfume, lipstick and tacones (high heels). Linda, on the other hand, is a fashionista of Sex and the City proportions, a self-described "label whore" who wouldn't dream of letting non-designer duds touch her body. She switches handbags as often as the rest of us change socks -- more, even! And those handbags had better be Louis Vuitton, Fendi or Gucci -- or fuggedaboudit!

  Michelle's Bio:

  Anybody who's been a prosecutor or a cop in a big city for any period of time has unbelievable war stories. Stuff the average person doesn't know, would never see, and might not even believe if they heard about it. Some of it sickening, some of it totally hilarious, but all falling into the category of "you can't make this stuff up."

  Like Melanie Vargas, the main character in her novels, Michele Martinez had the privilege of serving as a federal prosecutor in New York City. For eight years she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, which covers some of the most drug- and gang-infested areas of Brooklyn and Queens. She specialized in narcotics, and we're not talking about busting high school kids selling pot, either. The Eastern District includes the airports and the ports serving New York City, so Michele had jurisdiction over the biggest narcotics organizations in the world. We're talking Mexican cocaine cartels loading forty or fifty million dollars of cash at a time into tractor trailers to send back across the border. Burmese warlords controlling hundreds of kilos of heroin secreted in seemingly innocent shipments of goods from Southeast Asia. And local kingpins operating massive crack and heroin supermarkets 24/7 on the streets of our cities, pitching drugs to young children as they walked to school. Michele prosecuted all these cases, and more, many of them involving serious violence, weapons charges, even murder. Doing the cases in New York, where everything seems to move faster and happen bigger, she got a whole lifetime's experience of serious crime in eight years.

  It wasn't easy for Michele to get there, nor was it at all a sure bet. Like Melanie, Michele came from very modest roots. Her father was born in Puerto Rico during the Depression, the son of a cigar roller on a tobacco plantation and a teenaged mother. His father died in an accident when he was about six years old, and his mother, who couldn't afford to support him, gave him to an aunt who brought him to New York City. He grew up with relatives in the Washington Heights neighborhood, dropped out of high school, joined the military where he got his G.E.D., and eventually, after Michele was born, went to college on the G.I. Bill. Michele's mother was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Connecticut, lived modestly and worked hard all her life, and never had the opportunity to go to college. While Michele was growing up, her father worked in the Connecticut prison system running inmate education programs, and her mother was a secretary. Her family didn't have much money. They lived in a small apartment in a tough section of New Haven, and Michele went to inner-city public schools during the height of urban racial tensions and rioting in the late 60s and 70s.

  But her parents were great believers in the American Dream, and they taught Michele that she could achieve anything if she worked and studied hard. Michele feels like living proof of that. She made it to Harvard University and to Stanford Law School, clerked for a federal judge, and landed a position at a fancy, high-paying Manhattan law firm. But she'd been raised to believe that there was more to life than being a hired gun in disputes between big corporations. All along, she had her sights set on being a prosecutor, which she felt was the best way to use her skills to make a difference. In 1993, Michele became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and the next eight years were some of the most thrilling and challenging of Michele's life.

  But during that time, some other thrilling "little challenges" arrived. Michele and her husband had two little boys, and for five years Michele juggled her very intense job with being a mommy to two major whirlwinds. Any working parent knows that's a tough situation. When you're trying to give a hundred percent to your children and a hundred percent to your job, the math doesn't quite work out. Michele felt a lot of guilt in both directions, and began to wonder if she should stop working. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to give it up. Being a prosecutor felt too important to her. She needed to find a meaningful alternative that would allow her more flexibility.

  Then one night she had a dream -- literally. About a fire in a townhouse that killed a handsome silver-haired lawyer who may have been leading a double life. The next morning, she woke up and wrote it down. That dream became the opening scene in her debut thriller Most Wanted, and pointed the way for Michele to share her insider's knowledge of the real world of crime and law enforcement with her readers.

  Now Michele writes every day in a little office next to her kitchen on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Even though she still works really hard, her husband and kids are thrilled that she's around more, and totally excited about her new career. She brings to life the same types of vivid characters and intense situations she lived through as a prosecutor. And she pours her other life experiences into her writing as well. The Melanie Vargas thrillers reflect Michele's unique background -- from humble beginnings to the halls of the Ivy League, from the mean streets of Brooklyn to the glamorous environs of Manhattan's wealthiest neighborhoods, from working late to changing diapers. With plenty of sex and violence thrown in for good measure. She hopes you'll have a blast reading them.

  Interview and bio re-printed courtesy of Michele Martinez

• Book Reporter - https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/michele-martinez

  Michele Martinez

  Michele Martinez, a graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School, was a federal prosecutor in New York City for eight years. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two children.

Campbell, Michele: IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Campbell, Michele IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND St. Martin's (Adult Fiction) $26.99 5, 16 ISBN: 978-1-250-08180-3
Three college roommates find their lives inextricably linked after the death of a friend.Aubrey, Jenny, and Kate are assigned to room together at Carlisle College. Aubrey is banking on Carlisle to help her escape her mother's poverty; Jenny grew up in the college town but hopes Carlisle will help her channel her ambitions; and Kate is the rich wild child whose father's connections helped her get admitted to the school. Their relationships quickly become complicated. One of the guys Kate begins to date, Lucas, dated Jenny in high school. Aubrey's grades suffer after her mother's death and because of her drug use with Kate. Jenny agrees to keep Kate's father apprised of his daughter's activities, especially given that Kate has been suicidal in the past, in return for future connections. All of these tensions lead up to Aubrey's decision to commit suicide with Kate, except that Lucas inadvertently dies instead. The girls keep quiet about the circumstances of Lucas' death, but 20 years later, they all end up living back in their old college town. Now all of them are married, and there are new tensions and secrets. Kate has married another boyfriend from college, Griff, though she is unfaithful to him; Aubrey married a doctor, though she has feelings for Griff; Jenny has become mayor and married Lucas' cousin, Tim, though their memories of the night Lucas died are quite different. When Kate dies at the same railroad bridge where Lucas fell to his death, questions resurface not only regarding who killed Kate, but what happened on the bridge 20 years ago, too. Kate's friends, lovers, and husband all become suspects in her murder, but nearly everyone would rather her death be labeled a suicide and the investigation closed. Campbell's debut novel is an intriguing whodunit that examines the explosive potential of secrets to destroy friendships, marriages, and lives. While the novel is a page-turner, the characters at times lack depth and humanity, as each person betrays either a friend, a romantic partner, or both. At times, the characters' self-involvement detracts from the suspense of the novel, as introspective moments are spent reflecting on lies that have been told rather than the more serious ethical and moral implications. However, perhaps this is part of
1 of 23 11/13/17, 5:34 PM
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Campbell's larger point: complicity through silence contributes as much to each of the crimes as the acts of violence. Moody and dark in its portrayal of friendship and marriage.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Campbell, Michele: IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017.
PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA485105349&it=r&asid=19d4c1138d2a5a5edcb77cedd061639a. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
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It's Always the Husband
Publishers Weekly.
264.10 (Mar. 6, 2017): p40. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
It's Always the Husband
Michele Campbell. St. Martin's, $26.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-08180-3
Thrust together as roommates freshman year at New Hampshire's tony Carlisle College (think Dartmouth) sometime in the 1990s, three wildly disparate young women forge a bond that will shape--and later shatter--their lives in this suspenseful if soapy debut from former federal prosecutor Campbell. You can't blame emotionally needy scholarship student Aubrey Miller, daughter of a struggling Las Vegas single mom, or even hypercompetent townie Jenny Vega, for being sucked into the orbit of dazzling, daring golden girl Kate Eastman, along with Carlisle's most eligible males, including fabulously rich Griff Rothenberg and hunky hockey player Lucas Arsenault (who also happens to have been Jenny's high school crush). But anyone too close to the dangerously troubled Kate risks getting burnt, as evidenced in a shocking tragedy freshman spring--and murder two decades later. Demonstrating diabolical plotting chops and an ability to convincingly conjure settings, Campbell crafts a twisty page-turner that might have been even more powerful if so many of the principals didn't prove rotten at the core. 100,000 announced first printing. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"It's Always the Husband." Publishers Weekly, 6 Mar. 2017, p. 40+. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA484973628&it=r&asid=10ce208d36ce3fcc606ab49d7fa68dc1. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
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It's Always the Husband
Tracy Babiasz
Booklist.
113.16 (Apr. 15, 2017): p23. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
It's Always the Husband. By Michele Campbell. May 2017.320p. St. Martin's, $26.99 (9781250081803).
Campbell turns the tables on readers who easily identify the usual suspects in this debut taking place in the New England town of Belle River. Jenny, Aubrey, and Kate, roommates at Carlisle College, couldn't be less alike. Growing up in Belle River, Jenny is hardworking and studious. Aubrey leaves her difficult childhood for the halls of Carlisle yet doesn't feel that she fits in. Kate's party-girl reputation hides the troubled girl behind the facade. They form a strong bond in the first months of school until a tragedy changes everything. Twenty years later, they're back in Belle River, struggling with adult responsibilities and difficult relationships with each other and their husbands. When one is coaxed to her death in the opening scene, it seems obvious. It's always the husband. Isn't it? Twists, turns, and a puzzling mix of suspects, as well as alternating time frames between college and the present, will keep readers turning the pages. The close friendship never quite gels realistically, but the edge-of-your-seat pace and dark atmosphere will appeal to suspense lovers.--Tracy Babiasz
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Babiasz, Tracy. "It's Always the Husband." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2017, p. 23. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA492536131&it=r&asid=e029558676272fe73c888a10784f88ea. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A492536131
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Martinez, Michele: Most Wanted
Kirkus Reviews.
73.1 (Jan. 1, 2005): p13. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2005 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele MOST WANTED Morrow/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $23.95 Feb. 15, 2005 ISBN: 0-06-072398-X
A young federal prosecutor snags the most important case of her career just as her personal life threatens to spin out of control.
While walking in New York City with her baby daughter Maya, prosecutor Melanie Vargas happens upon a bustling crime scene that turns out to be the violent murder of high-profile attorney Jed Benson. Benson's troubled teenaged daughter Amanda was also left for dead by the killer(s), with several of her fingers cut off. Melanie schmoozes her way into the apartment and later aggressively lobbies her tough boss, Bernadette DeFelice, for the career-making case. Bernadette counters with criticism of Melanie's lighter schedule since Maya's birth. To get the case, Melanie commits to killer hours, not telling Bernadette (or anyone else) that husband Steve has recently moved out after a fight about his extramarital affair. Further complications ensue as Melanie grapples with the tyranny of Maya's nanny, mixed emotions about Steve (who'd like to reconcile), and a strong attraction to Dan O'Reilly, the hunky FBI agent assigned to the case. Benson's widow, Neil, tries hard to stop Melanie from talking to Amanda, whom she describes as fragile. Evidence points to the C-Trout Blades, a local gang heavily into the drug trade that was successfully prosecuted by Benson. Everyone seems to fear the Blades' leader Slice, reluctantly fingered for the murder by a witness named Rosario. Dan promises protection, but Slice gets to Rosario anyway. Slice's ex-girlfriend, a prostitute named Jasmine Cruz, suffers a similar violent death. In between episodes of the investigation, there's much girl talk twixt Melanie and sassy sister Linda, architect pal Sophie, et al. The more layers she peels off the complex case, the less open-and-shut it seems, suspicion pointing not only at the Blades but also at Benson's legal colleagues.
First-timer (and former federal prosecutor) Martinez stokes reader interest with a large, attractive cast, though she could use more subtlety in both writing and plotting. (Agent. Meg Ruley/Jane Rotrosen Agency)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Martinez, Michele: Most Wanted." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2005, p. 13. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA127194103&it=r&asid=360ce78f593c59010e7ca02e7ecfe7ef. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
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Martinez, Michele: Cover-Up
Kirkus Reviews.
75.2 (Jan. 15, 2007): p45. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2007 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele COVER-UP Morrow/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $23.95 Lg. Prt. $23.95 Mar. 13, 2007 ISBN: 0-06-089900-X Lg. Prt.: 0-06-123314-5
A feisty female federal prosecutor pursues the brutal killer of a beautiful muckraking television journalist while at the same time balancing her growing feelings for a hunky FBI agent.
Melanie Vargas (Most Wanted, 2005, etc.) tags along with ruggedly handsome agent and lover Dan O'Reilly to the scene of a bloody rape/murder in Central Park, and before you can say "DNA," Vargas lands in the middle of the slaying of Suzanne Shepard. Shepard, a hard-hitting tabloid-TV journalist who specialized in exposing the misdeeds of the rich and famous, died at the hands of a killer the press quickly brands the "Central Park Butcher." In an unlikely plot twist, the FBI and NYPD encourage Vargas to head the investigation. Soon she identifies the homicide's only known witness--attorney David Harris. But Harris, who has secrets of his own, isn't eager to talk to Vargas or the cops. The investigation also focuses on three very different suspects, any of whom might be the killer: the ambitious Clyde Williams, a powerful city official with his eye on the mayor's mansion, who knows a scandal would derail his campaign; Miles Ortiz, a streetwise personal trainer specializing in keeping his rich clients happy--especially the gorgeous Kim Savitt; and Benedict Welch, a plastic surgeon with some dark habits and big skeletons in his closet. But the probe gets personal when the Butcher casts his eye in Vargas's direction and turns the hunter into the hunted. Stalked by the killer and confused by her lover's apparent duplicity, Vargas finds herself in a deadly trap when the pieces to Shepard's killing finally fall into place, and the case spins out of control, heading for a deadly confrontation and a breathless conclusion.
The dialogue is clunky in places and Vargas's role in the case seems implausible, but this fast- paced, suspenseful chick-lit thriller combines sexy romance with enough action to keep readers engaged. (Agent: Meg Ruley/Jane Rotrosen Agency LLC)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Martinez, Michele: Cover-Up." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2007, p. 45. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA159787013&it=r&asid=69840e9cc611ee10f599981f6135eeaf. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A159787013
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Martinez, Michele: The Finishing School
Kirkus Reviews.
73.20 (Oct. 15, 2005): p1103. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2005 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele THE FINISHING SCHOOL Morrow/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $23.95 Jan. 1, 2006 ISBN: 0-06-072400-5
A feisty Manhattan attorney struggles against drug thugs and a dangerous attraction to a hunky FBI agent.
In the middle of the night, federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is called to a grim murder scene. Wealthy teen Whitney Seward's been found dead of an overdose in her Park Avenue bedroom along with her best friend Brianna Meyers. Melanie suspects that Carmen Reyes, a third girl recently seen with them, may hold the key to the mystery. But she doesn't know that studious Carmen, whose father Luis, the building's superintendent, pressed her into Whitney's fast crowd, is being held captive by an unidentified kidnapper. Headmistress Patricia Andover, at the exclusive school the three girls attended, offers full cooperation, but starchy lawyer Ted Siebert balks at every turn. Meanwhile, Patricia is secretly having an affair with Whitney's stepfather James and is extorting money from the school to boot. Whitney's alcoholic mother Caroline is often drunk and may have been home at the time of her daughter's death. Brianna's boyfriend Trevor eagerly goes undercover, to the discomfort of Melanie, who thinks he's a loose cannon. If these and other crosscurrents make the case complex for Melanie, her personal life raises the bar. She's recently separated from her philandering husband Steve and raising a baby daughter alone. The FBI assigns Dan O'Reilly, the agent Melanie nearly fell into bed with during a previous assignment (Most Wanted, 2005), whose clueless sidekick Bridget also seems to have the hots for him. When forensic evidence points to foul play, the investigating team, helped by Melanie's sis Linda, a trendy entertainment reporter, gets access to Screen, the club where Whitney's dealer hung out. The trail takes Melanie and company to Puerto Rico, leaving Trevor behind in mortal danger.
This chick-lit thriller lacks finesse but never stops throwing colorful subplots at you and never lets up the pace.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Martinez, Michele: The Finishing School." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2005, p. 1103.
PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA138312874&it=r&asid=d5ac18d0251bc417023d2144a2a38c9b. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
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Martinez, Michele. The Finishing
School
Jenny McLarin
Booklist.
102.5 (Nov. 1, 2005): p28. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2005 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School. Jan. 2006. 304p. Morrow, $23.95 (0-06-072400-5).
After hitting the ground running with her debut, Most Wanted (2005), Martinez doesn't slow down a bit in this successor. Sexy Latina prosecutor Melanie Vargas is back, clawing her way up the career ladder as an ambitious New York City prosecutor while at the same time yearning to spend quality time with her young daughter, Maya. When two teenage girls, students at ultraposh Miss Holbrooke's School, are found dead in a Park Avenue apartment, Melanie is assigned to the case--along with her former heartthrob, FBI agent Dan O'Reilly. Melanie begins closely investigating the school and everyone in it, much to the dismay of the administration. When it's discovered that the girls overdosed on heroine that they may have been transporting in their stomachs, Melanie realizes they're dealing with a highly dangerous situation. Martinez generates plenty of suspense while painting a vivid picture of Manhattan life and exposing the underbelly of an elite prep school. Melanie's fiery love scenes with Dan add heady romance to an already intoxicating brew.--Jenny McLarin
McLarin, Jenny
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
McLarin, Jenny. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2005, p. 28.
PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA138705046&it=r&asid=0dc309e842e64d44a0b5a042f73f69bf. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A138705046
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Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted
Rebecca House Stankowski
Library Journal.
130.3 (Feb. 15, 2005): p119. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted. Morrow. Mar. 2005. c.384p. ISBN 0-06-072398-X. $23.95. F
Melanie Vargas is struggling with new motherhood and a demanding career as a federal prosecutor in New York City. A smart young woman who doesn't want to succeed just because she's female and Hispanic, Melanie is also trying to forgive her cheating husband while resisting her attraction to charismatic FBI agent Dan O'Reilly. When former prosecutor Jed Benson is found brutally murdered in his home, Melanie jumps at the chance to prove herself in a high- profile case. But it's an uphill battle against a petty boss, dirty cops, and creepy killers who make her their next target. In her debut, Martinez joins Linda Fairstein in the ranks of prosecutor turned authors, bringing real-life detail and emotion to this thriller. Melanie Vargas is not yet Alexandra Cooper, and Martinez still needs to tighten her prose and hone her plotting strategies. But she'll have that opportunity in the promised sequels. Recommended for general collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/04.]--Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN
Stankowski, Rebecca House
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Stankowski, Rebecca House. "Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted." Library Journal, 15 Feb. 2005,
p. 119. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA129460646&it=r&asid=bf6082cf72740a595c32847ea1c4445a. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A129460646
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Martinez, Michele. The Finishing
School
Stacy Alesi
Library Journal.
130.18 (Nov. 1, 2005): p66. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School. Morrow. Jan. 2006. c.304p. LC 978-0-06-072400-9. ISBN 0-06-072400-5. $23.95. F
Manhattan federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas returns in this entertaining sequel to Martinez's debut, Most Wanted. This time out, Melanie's separation from her cheating husband has made juggling the demands of her job and her one-year-old daughter even more complicated. Then two Park Avenue prep school girls overdose on heroin and a third girl goes missing, prompting a middle-of-the-night summons from Melanie's difficult, politically scheming boss. Melanie's assignment: get the dealer and get him jailed, pronto. One of the girls is the daughter of a U.S. senatorial candidate, and things heat up even more when FBI hunk Dan O'Reilly gets assigned to the case. But there is more to this story than fast times at Holbrooke High and the twists keep coming. The romance is hot and the suspense high in this absorbing, fast-paced thriller. Highly recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/05.]--Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton, FL
Alesi, Stacy
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Alesi, Stacy. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2005, p. 66.
PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA139034394&it=r&asid=3bafacb75aa24f951f3e7800d4fb0e27. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A139034394
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Martinez, Michele. The Finishing
School
Denise A. Garofalo
Library Journal.
131.12 (July 1, 2006): p120. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School. 10 CDs. unabridged. 12 hrs. Sound Library: BBC Audiobooks America. 2006. ISBN 0-7927-3901-9. $94.95. F
In this legal thriller, federal prosecutor and single mother Melanie Vargas goes undercover in her hometown of Manhattan to investigate the drug supplier of two recently deceased wealthy teenagers. A third girl turns up missing, and Melanie is determined to solve these seemingly unrelated mysteries. Through her investigations, she sheds light on the more hidden aspects of an elite Manhattan prep school and the darker side of Manhattan night life. Politics are involved as well, adding another dimension to this well-written and edgy suspense story. FBI agent and Melanie's romantic interest Dan O'Reilly is on hand to help. Isabel Keating's reading of this finely written mystery enhances the presentation of the various characters as well as keeping the listener in suspense through the fast-paced action. Recommended.--Denise A. Garofalo, Astor Home for Children, Rhinebeck, NY
Garofalo, Denise A.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Garofalo, Denise A. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Library Journal, 1 July 2006, p.
120. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA149461923&it=r&asid=326b6c6b6b509e3472b5e403f13718ac. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A149461923
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Martinez, Michele. Cover-Up
David Pitt
Booklist.
103.12 (Feb. 15, 2007): p41. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2007 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele. Cover-Up. Mar. 2007. 352p. Morrow, $23.95 (9780060899004).
What tough, streetwise federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas wants more than anything--well, almost anything--is a break from high-profile cases. What she gets instead is a dead television reporter, a shady Park Avenue doctor, and an anonymous e-mail stalker who seems very determined to get Melanie off the case. Oh, and her relationship with FBI agent Dan O'Reilly is heating up, but can she find a few moments in her busy schedule for love? Author Martinez, a former federal prosecutor, handles the mystery elements of the novel very well, although some readers might find the romance subplot more than a little clumsy, feeling almost tacked on. But the novel's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, and the success of the first two volumes in the series-Most Wanted (2005) and The Finishing School (2006)--ensures that fans will want to check this one out.--David Pitt
Pitt, David
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pitt, David. "Martinez, Michele. Cover-Up." Booklist, 15 Feb. 2007, p. 41. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA159963344&it=r&asid=9c8463354a7650ecc9347599e83dd355. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A159963344
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Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted
Jenny McLarin
Booklist.
101.11 (Feb. 1, 2005): p946. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2005 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted. Feb. 2005. 384p. Morrow, $23.95 (0-06-072398-X).
An edgy New York setting, a sexy and smart Latina federal prosecutor, and a blue-eyed, hard- abbed FBI agent get this debut mystery off to a fast start. Gorgeous Melanie Vargas, the prosecutor, is raising a six-month-old daughter while dealing with a cheating husband and a killer job. When Jed Benson, a prominent New York citizen, is found tortured and murdered in his posh townhouse, Melanie grabs the case and won't let go. Proving herself to her hard-nosed boss, Bernadette, isn't Melanie's only hurdle--she must also deal with a growing attraction to Dan O'Reilly, the FBI agent (he of the hard abs) assigned to the Benson murder. The plot turns predictable early on, but the characters, especially lovable Melanie, will hold most readers' interest. Fans of Mary Higgins Clark, in particular, will devour this tasty trifle.--Jenny McLarin
McLarin, Jenny
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
McLarin, Jenny. "Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted." Booklist, 1 Feb. 2005, p. 946. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA131083903&it=r&asid=a1aabeeb90e63ac38440d8d07f10db8f. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A131083903
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Most Wanted
Publishers Weekly.
252.4 (Jan. 24, 2005): p219. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2005 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
MOST WANTED MICHELE MARTINEZ. Morrow, $23.95 (384p) ISBN 0-06-075969-0
Martinez's effervescent debut thriller comes on like a series pilot, with a winning heroine and a large cast of colorful supporting characters drawn in broad strokes and primed for future episodes. Young, ambitious Melanie Vargas, a federal prosecutor in Manhattan gets the big break of her career almost by mistake: she's pushing her baby daughter through the nighttime streets when she walks into a crime scene. A fire has nearly destroyed the house of hotshot attorney Jed Benson, and cops are everywhere. Melanie fast-talks her way into the apartment where Benson has been brutally murdered. Melanie desperately wants the case--and she has to fight to get it-- but she's hard-pressed to put in the hours it requires. She's booted out philandering husband Steve, a development she has yet to disclose to her nosy sister or her meddling mum, and she has a prima donna nanny. Martinez gives equal time to Melanie's balancing act and the complicated case, which begins as a probe of the C-Trout Gangsta Blades gang, but widens to include Benson's white-shoe law firm. Though still contemplating reconciliation with Steve, Melanie finds herself drawn to FBI agent Dan O'Reilly. The plot doesn't quite gel, but Martinez has crafted an enormously appealing heroine and a breezy, entertaining tale. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Mar.)
Forecast: Can we say J. Lo vehicle? Blurbs from Evanovich, Johansen and others, plus Martinez's street cred (she was a New York City federal prosecutor herself), should give this debut a kick.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Most Wanted." Publishers Weekly, 24 Jan. 2005, p. 219. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps
/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA128022552&it=r& asid=979e824a8b6b1d961fcefab1799fe469. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A128022552
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The Finishing School
Publishers Weekly.
252.36 (Sept. 12, 2005): p37. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2005 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Finishing School MICHELE MARTINEZ. Morrow, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 0-06-072400-5
At the start of Martinez's gripping second thriller (after 2005's Most Wanted), New York federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is summoned at two in the morning a week before Christmas to a sadly bizarre death scene on Park Avenue. The teenage stepdaughter of Wall Street mogul and would-be U.S. senator James Seward has died of a heroin overdose, along with a fellow student at a posh East Side girls' school. Melanie soon finds herself up to her neck in politics: Seward's first call on discovering the bodies is to the police commissioner, not 911, and the agent in charge of the case is from the Elite Narcotics Task Force, which her boss is trying to impress. As the various agencies involved fight for turf and power, it's largely up to Melanie to find out what really happened to the two dead girls. The author draws from her own background as a lawyer and special prosecutor with years of experience in drug cases to raise this well above the common run of suspense novels. Agent, Meg Ruley. 12-city author tour: (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Finishing School." Publishers Weekly, 12 Sept. 2005, p. 37. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1& id=GALE%7CA136339949&it=r&asid=cfced8f372c912543bb2659c6e794fda. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A136339949
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Cover-up
Publishers Weekly.
254.2 (Jan. 8, 2007): p33. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2007 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Cover-up MICHELE MARTINEZ. Morrow, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-089900-4
The brutal rape and murder of Suzanne Shepard, a scandal-mongering New York City TV journalist, provides a welcome high-profile case for Melanie Vargas in Martinez's stellar third thriller to feature the sharp and sexy federal prosecutor (after The Finishing School). Melanie accompanies her boyfriend, FBI agent Dan O'Reilly, to the grisly crime scene in Central Park, where someone, later dubbed the Central Park Butcher, has carved "bitch" into the victim's stomach with a hunting knife. In the ensuing joint state-federal investigation, Dan, Melanie and NYPD detective Julian Hay pursue a number of slippery suspects, including a well-known politician who the media claim is getting special treatment. Then Melanie starts receiving threatening e-mails. Could it be the same guy who stalked Shepard, or a celebrity cosmetic surgeon, a fitness trainer who also deals drugs, or a suspicious witness? Martinez, herself a former federal prosecutor, supplies plenty of insider savvy as she juggles the large cast with elan. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Cover-up." Publishers Weekly, 8 Jan. 2007, p. 33. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps
/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA157363682&it=r& asid=586b7158c78b19cfcb5f35f39513d5b8. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A157363682
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Notorious
Publishers Weekly.
255.2 (Jan. 14, 2008): p41. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2008 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Notorious MICHELE MARTINEZ. Morrow, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-089902-8
The exciting fourth legal thriller from former federal prosecutor Martinez to feature Melanie Vargas (after 2007's Cover-up) starts with a bang: a car bomb detonated by a cellphone explodes outside the Manhattan federal courthouse and kills Lester Poe, a distinguished defense attorney who was opposing Melanie in her murder prosecution of rap legend Atari Briggs. Melanie, a workaholic single morn who was attracted to Poe, witnesses the horrific crime, which occurs moments after the defense attorney advised her that Briggs was willing to give the feds the goods on wanted terrorist Gamal Abdullah. This Pelican Brief--like opening, alas, isn't matched by the rest of the book, which takes a predictable course involving a transparently evil attorney who succeeds Poe in representing Briggs and a young female attorney with self-esteem issues who's tempted to compromise the Briggs prosecution. Martinez may yet hit the top rank of suspense novelists if she melds her engaging series sleuth with more sophisticated plot lines. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Notorious." Publishers Weekly, 14 Jan. 2008, p. 41. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps
/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA173555610&it=r& asid=20f5342254b6a1e8f94d3e0af511d756. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A173555610
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Notorious
Rebecca Porter
Trial.
44.12 (Dec. 2008): p64. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2008 American Association for Justice http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/4938.htm
Full Text:
Notorious
Michele Martinez William Morrow
www. harpercollins.com 352 pp., $23.95
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This Notorious comes without Cary Grant or Ingrid Bergman. I'm guessing its title alludes not to Sir Alfred but to Notorious B.I.G., because the plot involves a drug kingpin turned rap star.
One look at the classy dust jacket photo of the author, who graduated from Harvard University and Stanford Law and lives in New Hampshire, and you might wonder: What does this girl know about rap culture and gangs? Eager to find errors, I dived right into this book.
But the flaws were not where I expected to find them. Eight years as a federal prosecutor specializing in narcotics cases in New York City seem to have acclimated Michele Martinez to the culture she describes, at least enough to lend the bad boys in her story some credibility. The book is written from experience, noticeable when the female lead treats a visit to a high-security lockdown prison and the violence that occurs there as if it were a weekly staff meeting.
Melanie Vargas, the attorney heroine from Martinez's previous three books, is about to prosecute rap star Atari Biggs on narcotics and weapons charges. But his lawyer, Lester Poe, gets blown up on the courthouse steps. As she wonders why and begins investigating, characters start
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converging fast and furious. Melanie, the hard-bitten assistant deputy prosecutor of Major Crimes, shares quick scenes with her confidante and boss, Susan; her temperamental ex-boss who's now the case judge (though the story never gets to the courtroom); the dead Lester; his shadowy wife; other office personnel; and various FBI and DEA agents.
There's mention of an Afghani drug cartel, which--like other red herrings in this tale--eventually flops out of the bowl and dies. Biggs's replacement lawyer appears, clearly the black-hat character to watch. And a smart young thing, new to Melanie's office with top-drawer law degrees but not an ounce of sense, gets sucked in.
We meet some types--informants, homies, and shorties--and they all whiz through the plot blender at high speed. Odd details attempt to clot the puree: at one point Melanie has dinner with her debonair ex-boyfriend who has never tried Thai food. But there's no time to question the quirks, because there's another shady character lurking on the next page.
Sprinkled somewhat awkwardly throughout the story are random soliloquies in which our heroine wonders if she really liked Lester as more than a colleague or if she should get another job so she doesn't work so much and can spend more time with her daughter. (At one point, the prosecutor arrives at home, relieves the sitter, and kisses her sleeping two-year-old goodnight. The daughter is then shuffled out of the plot for a weekend with the ex-husband and never appears in the book again.) The ex-boyfriend, completely superfluous but apparently pretty, pops up occasionally to remind the reader that Ms. Prosecutor is a human being with emotions.
Perhaps, since I couldn't find serious flaws in the hip-hop parsing, I focused too much on the lack of character development. I know that unless I want to read the previous books in this series, I have to buy that the character is the way she is without background. OK, so this series features an ex-husband, an ex-boyfriend, a child, and an ex-boss judge. Got it.
After I stopped being annoyed at petty trivialities and a few plot holes, I sped through the rest of the book, which moved quickly and ended spectacularly, though without ever getting within spitting distance of a courtroom.
REBECCA PORTER is an associate editor at TRIAL. Porter, Rebecca
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Porter, Rebecca. "Notorious." Trial, Dec. 2008, p. 64+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps
/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA193886394&it=r& asid=4be2137b512847f31c4a1efd62eb2621. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A193886394
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Notorious
Theodore Feit
Reviewer's Bookwatch.
(Apr. 2008): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2008 Midwest Book Review http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Notorious
Michele Martinez
W. M. Morrow
c/o HarperCollins
10 E. 53rd St., NY, NY 10022
9780060899028 $23.95 www.harpercollins.com 800-242-7737
Melanie Vargas makes her fourth appearance in this novel, this time as the chief assistant in her role as an U.S. Assistant Attorney in New York City. As its predecessors, Notorious is highly readable, well-plotted and swift reading. And it starts off with a bang--literally. Melanie is heading up the prosecution team in a murder trial, with a much-loved rap star as the defendant. While standing in front the court house in Foley Square after speaking with defense counsel, she witnesses his murder when he enters his car and it explodes.
No novel in the series is without all sorts of complications, and this one is no exception. To begin with, who is responsible for defense counsel's murder? The defendant? His new counsel, who was sort of the former attorney's partner? Then there is the question of intimidation (or even possible elimination) of witnesses. And, of course, no plot is complete without danger posed to the protagonist. Or without a potential love interest.
As in previous entries in the series, the basic cast of characters remains familiar, even Melanie's "former" love, an FBI agent she has "spurned." This leads to some "schmaltzy" reactions on Melanie's part which in a way reflect badly on her character and really have nothing to do with the plot; one assumes they are put there to humanize her. Nevertheless, the book is on a par with its predecessors, and is recommended.
Feit, Theodore
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Feit, Theodore. "Notorious." Reviewer's Bookwatch, Apr. 2008. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&
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id=GALE%7CA177817848&it=r&asid=735954f6223c0a252e45617d2a6b29e4. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A177817848
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"Campbell, Michele: IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA485105349&asid=19d4c1138d2a5a5edcb77cedd061639a. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "It's Always the Husband." Publishers Weekly, 6 Mar. 2017, p. 40+. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA484973628&asid=10ce208d36ce3fcc606ab49d7fa68dc1. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Babiasz, Tracy. "It's Always the Husband." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2017, p. 23. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA492536131&asid=e029558676272fe73c888a10784f88ea. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Martinez, Michele: Most Wanted." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2005, p. 13. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA127194103&asid=360ce78f593c59010e7ca02e7ecfe7ef. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Martinez, Michele: Cover-Up." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2007, p. 45. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA159787013&asid=69840e9cc611ee10f599981f6135eeaf. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Martinez, Michele: The Finishing School." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2005, p. 1103. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA138312874&asid=d5ac18d0251bc417023d2144a2a38c9b. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. McLarin, Jenny. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2005, p. 28. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA138705046&asid=0dc309e842e64d44a0b5a042f73f69bf. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Stankowski, Rebecca House. "Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted." Library Journal, 15 Feb. 2005, p. 119. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA129460646&asid=bf6082cf72740a595c32847ea1c4445a. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Alesi, Stacy. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2005, p. 66. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA139034394&asid=3bafacb75aa24f951f3e7800d4fb0e27. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Garofalo, Denise A. "Martinez, Michele. The Finishing School." Library Journal, 1 July 2006, p. 120. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA149461923&asid=326b6c6b6b509e3472b5e403f13718ac. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Pitt, David. "Martinez, Michele. Cover-Up." Booklist, 15 Feb. 2007, p. 41. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA159963344&asid=9c8463354a7650ecc9347599e83dd355. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. McLarin, Jenny. "Martinez, Michele. Most Wanted." Booklist, 1 Feb. 2005, p. 946. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA131083903&asid=a1aabeeb90e63ac38440d8d07f10db8f. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Most Wanted." Publishers Weekly, 24 Jan. 2005, p. 219. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA128022552&asid=979e824a8b6b1d961fcefab1799fe469. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "The Finishing School." Publishers Weekly, 12 Sept. 2005, p. 37. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA136339949&asid=cfced8f372c912543bb2659c6e794fda. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Cover-up." Publishers Weekly, 8 Jan. 2007, p. 33. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA157363682&asid=586b7158c78b19cfcb5f35f39513d5b8. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. "Notorious." Publishers Weekly, 14 Jan. 2008, p. 41. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA173555610&asid=20f5342254b6a1e8f94d3e0af511d756. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Porter, Rebecca. "Notorious." Trial, Dec. 2008, p. 64+. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA193886394&asid=4be2137b512847f31c4a1efd62eb2621. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017. Feit, Theodore. "Notorious." Reviewer's Bookwatch, Apr. 2008. Book Review Index Plus, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA177817848&asid=735954f6223c0a252e45617d2a6b29e4. Accessed 13 Nov. 2017.

• All Readers
  http://allreaders.com/book-review-summary/most-wanted-29485
  Word count: 503

  Most Wanted Book Summary and Study Guide
  Michele Martinez Booklist
  Michele Martinez Message Board
  Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Most Wanted

  Morrow, March 2005, 23.95, 384 pp.
  ISBN 006759690

  When Melanie Vargas had proof that her husband cheated on her, she threw him out. One night, her six-month old baby is crying and won't go to sleep, so she takes the infant out in her stroller walking in the direction of police sirens. The home of former U.S. Prosecutor Jed Benson is in flames and his body is all chopped up and riddled with dog bites.
  Click here to see the rest of this review

  Melanie, a federal prosecutor, wants to take part in this high profile case so she convinces the policemen that her boss sent her there as the attorney who will try the case when they catch a suspect. Her boss admires her chutzpah and gives her the case. She is teamed up with FBI agent Dan O'Reilly; sparks fly from the moment they meet. They team up very well but the investigation goes badly from the start. Witnesses are murdered and evidence disappears. Melanie believe someone is leaking information to the killer, perhaps even Dan and when her boss tries to throw her off the case, she makes a final attempt to find the killer and that makes her the potential next victim.

  Harriet Klausner

  The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner

  Chapter Analysis of Most Wanted
  Click on a plot link to find similar books!
  Plot & Themes
  Composition of Book
  descript. of violence and chases 10%
  Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 40%
  Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 40%
  How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 10%
  Tone of story
  - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
  How difficult to spot villain?
  - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
  Time/era of story:
  - 2000+ (Present)
  What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?
  - 70%
  Kind of investigator
  - skilled citizen investigator
  Kid or adult book?
  - Adult or Young Adult Book
  Any non-mystery subplot?
  - feelings towards family/friends
  Crime Thriller
  - Yes
  Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
  - Yes
  Main Character
  Gender
  - Female
  Profession/status:
  - a lawyer creature
  Age:
  - 20's-30's
  Ethnicity/Race
  - Hispanic
  Setting
  United States
  - Yes
  The US:
  - Northeast
  Writing Style
  Accounts of torture and death?
  - generic/vague references to death/punishment
  Amount of dialog
  - significantly more dialog than descript
  Books with storylines, themes & endings like Most Wanted
  Savage Garden by Denise Hamilton
  Trace by Patricia Cornwell
  The Tawdry Yellow Brick Road by David Bischoff
  Down Here by Andrew Vachss
  Redemption by Nancy Geary

• Mostly Fiction Book Reviews
  http://mostlyfiction.com/sleuths/martinez.htm
  Word count: 1112

  Michele Martinez
  Author's Bibliography
  Book Marks
  About the Author
  Book Reviews & Recommend Books
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  Bloodlines

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  Bloody Waters

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  Entombed

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  In Her Defense

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  Missing Justice

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  Black Water

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  Melanie Vargas - Federal Prosecutor, Brooklyn, New York
  "Most Wanted"

  (Reviewed by Jana L. Perskie MAY 7, 2005)
  "She turned the stiff Polaroid over. On the back the phrase 'NO JOKE' was scrawled shakily in black marker, the capital letters lopsided, childishly formed. She took it as a message of evil intent, and it sent a chill of fear straight through her."

  "Or was the chill real? Leaning forward, hair spilling over her shoulders, Melanie felt a small draft kiss the exposed back of her neck. She heard no sound, saw no change in the light. But the stirring of the air told her that somebody stood silently in the open doorway, watching her. She knew the exact feeling. Knew it indelibly. Frozen, paralyzed, something dangerous behind her. Her father did what he could to warn her."

  "'Corre Melanie!. El tiene pistola!' She tried to run, but the man was too fast. Legs kicked out from under her before she knew it, carpet rushing up to meet her face. The flash, the thunder of the report. 'Papi, noooo.'"

  "Here and now, she knew somebody was behind her. Whoever it was, he might have been standing there for a long time, so absorbed had she been examining the photographs. She knew the best option was to face him of her own accord. Why proclaim her fear by pretending to ignore him? Slowly and deliberately, she gathered her courage and turned around to see who stood behind her."

  Most Wanted by Michele Martinez

  Melanie Vargas, a young federal prosecutor in New York City's US Attorney's Office, and a brand new mother, stumbles onto a crime scene one steamy summer night while she is out walking her daughter, Maya. Police officers bustle outside a building, keeping crowds away, just a few blocks from Melanie's own apartment, while firefighters in full regalia hose down the remnants of a fire. Vargas recognizes the posh town house of Jed and Nell Benson, business acquaintances of hers. Jed had once been a famous prosecutor, almost a celebrity, then switched career paths and made a bundle of money in private law practice. His dead body was just discovered in his study, burned almost beyond recognition, but not enough to hide a bullet hole in his forehead and savage dog bites on his body. Melanie sees her friend and old college roommate, Sophie Cho, outside the crime scene. Sophie, an architect, had spent the last year renovating the building, and is devastated at her employer's loss of life. She offers to take Maya home while Melanie investigates. Ambitious to further her career, Ms. Vargas wants in - she wants the case badly. This will be the high profile, headline-grabbing story of the year. The Benson's teenage daughter, Amanda, was also found at the scene, unconscious, with a few fingers chopped off, and the maid had been beaten senseless. Both are in the hospital.

  Melanie finagles her way onto the murder scene and then lobbies her tough boss, for the case. She promises to work 24/7, putting herself in a bind obtaining last minute, off-hour childcare for Maya. She also keeps the lid on her marital situation, which is miserable. Husband Steve was caught in an extramarital affair shortly after the baby's birth and Melanie insisted on a temporary separation - still in effect. Steve very much wants to reconcile, but Melanie has mixed feelings about the nature of their relationship and his commitment to it.

  Dan O'Reilly, a very handsome, competent and caring FBI agent is assigned to work the case with her. There is instant chemistry between the two, and although both acknowledge the mutual attraction, they remain professional. The evidence leads them to investigate the C-Trout Gangsta Blades gang, and their sadistic kingpin Slice, who just happens to have a dog trained to kill. Additional information points to suspicious dealings at Benson's exclusive law firm and another motive. And a series of dangerous events, including the brutal murder of three witnesses, bring Melanie to the conclusion that there is at least one major leak high-up in the investigation. As work proceeds, the case becomes more complex and is not as open and shut as it had first appeared.

  I couldn't put this book down. It is Michele Martinez's debut novel and she packs it with suspense, thrills and a riveting storyline. The mystery is an interesting one, although not too difficult to figure out. The development of her protagonist, and other characters, are what impressed me the most. Melanie is muy simpatica - an extremely intelligent woman, she is a Latina who was brought up on the mean streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn, and has a past which haunts her. She adores Maya and is thrilled with her new role as mother. Only now is she discovering how different her definition of marriage is from her husband's. She is attempting to overcome her hurt and confusion at his infidelity and do the right thing, making a major effort to ignore her growing feelings for Agent O'Reilly. Her strength of character, courage and tenacity assist her in getting through some really scary situations, and persisting until she solves this difficult case. Melanie typifies grace under pressure. Her sister Linda is adorable as the family's Latina princess, and O'Reilly is almost too good to be true. The villains run the gamut from bad news to animalistic sadistic psychopath. And Bernadette is the boss from hell!

  Michele Martinez, a former prosecutor, writes a taut narrative and has created a page turner. OK! I'm ready to read novel number two. Please get busy Ms. Martinez, your fans are waiting!

  Amazon readers rating: from 38 reviews

  Read a chapter excerpt from Most Wanted at author's website

• ABC News
  http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Entertainment/wireStory/review-husband-riveting-47437121
  Word count: 376

  Review: "It's Always the Husband" is riveting novel
  By The Associated Press May 16, 2017, 10:43 AM ET

  "It's Always the Husband" (St. Martin's Press), by Michele Campbell

  Relationships — whether marriage or friendship — have the power to enrich lives or destroy them. Some relationships do both as Michele Campbell shows in her riveting novel "It's Always the Husband."

  Campbell, a former federal prosecutor who has written several novels under different names, expertly explores the line between love and hate and the effect of toxic relationships. While the mystery elements blanket the story, "It's Always the Husband" spins on the friendship of three very different women and the calm and chaos surrounding them.

  Scholarship student Aubrey Miller, ambitious local girl Jenny Vega and wealthy New Yorker Kate Eastman meet on their first day at New Hampshire's Carlisle College. The three are suite-mates and are soon known as the Whipple Triplets after the dorm where they live. But the nickname isn't always a term of endearment. The emotionally fragile Aubrey struggles with her background, her grades and her inability to fit in. She hero-worships Kate, a spoiled rich girl with drug and anger issues. Only Jenny seems to rise above, though she is constantly being drawn into her roommates' drama. At the end of their first year, a tragedy occurs that binds them together and divides them. "It's Always the Husband" alternates between the women's college days and 22 years later, when each has a drastically different economic situation and place in society.

  The novel opens with the murder of one of the women 22 years after their college days. Campbell keeps the murdered women's identity secret for nearly half the story — a device that works well to amp the tension. Although readers will probably guess which of the friends met an untimely end, the unveiling is still a surprise, amplified by the shocking motive.

  Campbell keeps the tension high as she exposes her very flawed characters, each of whom is realistically explored. As most of the characters must realize, sometimes the only way to save yourself is to sever a toxic relationship, no matter how painful.

  ———

  Corrects spelling to Michele in second paragraph.

• Collective Voice Magazine
  http://www.collectivevoicemag.com/2017/05/21/its-always-the-husband-a-great-reads-book-review/
  Word count: 1293

  One thing about me no one would guess (not even those who know me) is I love to read! Why wouldn’t those close to me know this? Simply because I don’t take the time to find that next great book and do it. Hoping I am not asked the well known question, “So, have you read any good books lately?” Today, my answer to that question is Yes, It’s Always The Husband by Michele Campbell.

  Admittedly, not just any book grasps my attention and makes me want to continue turning the pages. But, when I do take the time to do so, I remember how much I love it. There is nothing like finding a book that gets your attention. For me it is almost as if I am a part of the story, living the experiences right along with the characters.

  When the book has come to an end, I ask myself every time, “Why don’t I take the well deserved down time and enjoy reading more often?”

  I do not have an answer to that question, by the way.

  Recently, I teamed up with SheSpeaks.com and joined their “Unboxed Book Club”. SheSpeaks was launched in 2007 and is a community of women bloggers. The website was formed with the goal to elevate and amplify women’s voices. In addition to Giveaways, Product Review opportunities, they also offer opportunities to joined various clubs.

  Among those clubs are Book Review Clubs, such as the one I mentioned. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, simply follow the links provided and check them out.

  With the thought of wanting to find that next good book to bury my nose in, I joined the book club. And, let me say, “It was a success!”

  Image created on Canva.com by Teresa Branam Wilgus, Collective Voice Magazine

  Upon joining the “Unboxed Book Club”, I was fortunate enough to be 1 of 5 selected to receive an early copy of the novel “It’s Always The Husband” by Michele Campbell. And, the “icing on the cake”, I received my pre-sale copy FREE from SheSpeaks!
  My debut Great Read Book Review!

  As a member of the book club and being chosen to receive my copy, not only early but free as well, we are asked to do a Book Review for “It’s Always The Husband”. This commitment is another “Win” for me for a couple reasons.

  First, finding my next book to enjoy will take no time at all now being a book club member.

  Secondly, this opportunity gives me an area of writing I have yet to attempt. Since I have been blogging/writing, I’ve not written a review for a novel.

  I first wrote a review for “It’s Always The Husband” on my Personal Lifestyle website, Midwest Girl’s Dreams. Now, have a profile on GoodReads.com (one of the Book Review site choices as a member) have a full review there as well. And I wanted to share a review with our audience here at Collective Voice as well.

  Finding new engaging books and sharing my thoughts in a review on a regular basis is a goal I have challenged myself to reach. Combining my passion for writing and getting absorbed in a great book makes a perfect pair.
  “It’s Always The Husband” by Michele Campbell ; My Thoughts.

  Image by Unsplashed.com

  When a novel can be describe as suspenseful, engaging, a “who dunnit”, a page turner and shocking, it is a hit, in my opinion. A novel in which the characters are realistic, all with various personalities and backgrounds.

  Michele Campbell has successfully included them all and then some. “It’s Always The Husband” is the author’s debut novel. Congratulations out to her for producing such a novel as this one. My attention was caught from page one.

  The story is based around the lives of three girls who met their first day of college. Kate, Aubrey and Jenny were assigned to be dorm mates. These three girls were all from completely different backgrounds and walks of life. So much so, there was not a chance this arrangement would last the whole Freshman year.

  Kate, from money, a mother who died when she was young and now on her third Step-Mother whom she cared very little for and thought all friendships could be bought. Jenny, from a modest middle class family, raised in the small college town (a townie), a perfect little family, very organized and serious. Then there is Aubrey, raised solely by her mother who worked as a waitress and struggled to put food on the table, a father she never knew, study hard to get scholarships and low self-esteem. They each brought their own individual personality and beliefs, butting heads a bit at first.

  As the school year began, the girls differences actually seemed to compliment one another. Eventually, they molded into a trio, complementing one another where the other fell short. This trio eventually developed a circle of friends and moved around the Fraternity and Sorority Social Circuit.
  It is very apparent from the beginning of the story, tragedy was in the future.

  Image by SheSpeaks.com

  Michele Campbell’s style of writing in this novel had me convinced I knew who, what, when and where, then to figure out I was wrong. Makes a reader want to continue turning those pages to find answers.

  All of a sudden, when I wasn’t completely expecting it, the worst happened.
  Combining the past, present and future of the characters lives.

  This style of writing allows us, the reader, get to know each character. Understanding the type of childhood they had, how they handled college issues and it all flowed into adulthood. Some of the friends moved away and came back, some never left the small college town.

  The suspense that built up was then finalized in Part One of the book. I was a little curious as to how the author would continue to hold our attention.

  Part Two was engaging as these boys and girls grew into adults, got married, some divorced, some having children. Drama in the three girls lives was very present. However, as adults the drama and conflict was more serious and sometimes back stabbing.

  To my surprise, since the fatal events all happened in Part One, Part Two provides the reader with a surprise as well. This one, I did not see coming.
  My final thoughts I would like to share.

  I highly recommend heading on over to Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble to order your copy and get it on

  Image by SheSpeaks.com
  Image by SheSpeaksUp.com

  it’s way to you. Believe every word when I say, this is one you will not want to set down! While you are there, you can read more reviews on Michele Campbell’s, “It’s Always The Husband.”

  I would love it if after you have read her debut novel, come on back and let me know your thoughts.

  Simply use the comment section below so other readers can engage. It would be awesome to get a dialogue going as if we have our own online book club!

  Have you read a good book lately, you would like to recommend? Please do!

  Happy Reading!

• MW Ladies Who Lit
  https://mwladieswholit.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/its-always-the-husband-by-michele-campbell/
  Word count: 514

  Synopsis (from Goodreads):

  Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump.

  How did things come to this?

  As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

  I really liked this book. A lot. It turned out to be one of those exactly-the-book-I-needed-to-read-at-exactly-the-right-time books. I went into it with zero expectations, having heard no reviews prior to opening the front cover and knew nothing more than what the synopsis from the inside flap told me. I prefer to read books “blind”, and once again it worked.

  I would describe this book as a mix of women’s fiction and death-related suspense, with the focus being on the women. Campbell does a great job of dissecting the intricacies of the relationships between the three main characters, Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny, and using their distinct personalities to play them off, and sometimes against, each other and hooking your interest. The fact that she threw a spoonful of death into the mix only made it that much more exciting. The setting was another plus: an Ivy League-esque college campus situated in an idyllic small town. . . How are you supposed to keep secrets when everybody knows everybody else and scrutiny is everywhere?

  I’m definitely recommending this one be added to your summer reading list (or should I call it your summer reading “pile”?) if you’re looking for an exciting round of scandalous, deceitful women’s fiction (with a spoonful of death). It’ll be a great way to whittle away some hours out on the patio in the sunshine.

  Purchase links: iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Amazon

  About the author (from her Website):

  Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases. A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels. She has had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her. Michele currently lives in New Hampshire.

  Connect with Michele on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

  Thank you to Booksparks for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

• Letter Pile
  https://letterpile.com/books/Its-Always-The-Husband-by-Michele-Campbell
  Word count: 1202

  It's Always the Husband by Michele Campbell
  Updated on July 10, 2017
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  A tale about three unlikable women and their faux friendship

  I work in my local library and when this book came in I was intrigued by the description on the dust cover about three friends who become enemies over time to the point one is trying to get the other to jump off a bridge and kill herself. I hadn't heard about the rave reviews this book had gotten. Unfortunately, having partially read it [I couldn't put myself through the torture of reading the whole thing] I have to wonder if they actually read the book. The description on the dust cover isn't even accurate. It isn't one friend trying to get the other to jump. It's someone else trying to get one of the women to jump.

  My biggest problem with the book was the fact that none of the three lead characters were even likable. If I had to decide which of the three was most likable I'd probably have to say it was Jenny who was a better friend to the dimwit, Aubrey, than she actually deserved. But she seemed to be a friend to Aubrey more out of a feeling of obligation than real friendship. Aubrey was just this pathetic creature who needed taking care of and she felt obligated to take care of her.

  At page 100 I started skimming ahead of the slow-moving story aka Saved By The Bell: The College Years to see if it was worth continuing to slog through this tripe. I ended up peeking at the final chapters to see if it was a good ending that would inspire me to read through the entire book and it wasn't. I did want to see how Tim and Jenny ended up married but it wasn't worth having to put myself through this tripe.

  Just how bad was it. By the second or third chapter I was hoping the Aubrey character was the one forced to kill herself. I can't use enough negative adjectives to describe this pathetic little worm of a character. As I said, Jenny does more for her and she's never grateful and is always worshiping her ideal Kate. Her relationship with Kate is akin to a devoted dog that gets kicked by its master and keeps coming back for more. The little sycophant even dyes her hair to try and make herself look like Kate. She's like one of those guys that loves a woman even more the worse she treats him. We also have one of those in this story, too, and dumb little Aubrey wants him, probably because she knows he wants Kate.

  The premise for the Kate character is she's supposed to be this bright shiny star everyone is drawn to even though she's toxic.Think Dr. Adam Bricker on the Love Boat being the show's love stud when even when Bernie Kopell was young he wasn't hot or Doogie Howser being this big ladies man on How I Met Your Mother. You have to suspend belief. Kate murders a guy who dumps her and gets away with it because she's rich and her dumb little sycophant Aubrey lies about what really happened. It seems she has a pattern of getting sycophants like Aubrey to agree to a suicide pact with her then not going through with it after said sycophant kills herself.

  Things come to a head in the present when the insipid moron, Aubrey, learns Kate is screwing her husband [who she's well aware is a serial cheater] but the lapdog still stays with him. When she learns Jenny knew and didn't tell the big dummy she vows revenge on her, too, conveniently forgetting all that Jenny has done for her, including to helping her build a business for herself. Then she does something so nasty and repellent she achieves her lifelong goal of becoming Kate and has no redeeming qualities just like her precious Kate. And, apparently, like her precious Kate, she gets away with it and receives no punishment for what she does.

  The only one of the three who gets what could be called a happy ending is the Jenny character. Her part of the story ends with her marriage becoming more stronger and best yet after what that foul Aubrey tries to do to Jenny's husband, she's finally free of the nasty albatross for good. Win-win.

  I read a lot of reviews on Amazon where people actually loved this book, so it may just be me who didn't like it. But for me the best thing about this book and perhaps the only thing good about this book is the title. When you read the end of it you'll understand why I said that.

  I think the three women could have been more likable if written differently. When the Aubrey character discovered her idol, Kate, was screwing her husband, it could have been a turning point and she could have gotten some much-needed dignity by having it out with Kate and finally seeing what a fool she'd been instead of what she did which just made the character a complete waste of space. Ditto for the Kate character, whose problems all seemed to be imagined and not even real, which made me have zero sympathy for her and her supposed problems.

  Ultimately for me this is a book about nasty people who did nasty things and never had to pay for their crimes. And as I said, I didn't even buy that this was even a real friendship between these three women. It seemed more about having to putting up with each other because they were stuck sharing a dorm room together.

  Rating-wise I'll be generous and give it three stars: * * *

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• Huff Post
  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/its-always-the-husband-an-interview-with-michele_us_591f50e3e4b0b28a33f62bf7
  Word count: 900

  It’s Always The Husband: An Interview with Michele Campbell
  05/19/2017 04:11 pm ET

  Three wives. Three husbands. When one of the wives turns up dead, who is to blame? The new page turning thriller by Michele Campbell, It’s Always the Husband, leaves readers guessing until the very last page.

  One of the most intriguing facets of this book is your use of multiple points of view. How did you decide which points of view to include and when? Who do you think owns this story?

  This book is about three women from very different backgrounds who meet when they’re assigned to room together on the first day of college. They form an intense bond, despite being completely wrong for each other. A tragedy at the end of freshman year leaves them with a dark secret. Twenty years later, one of them is murdered. Did the husband do it, like the cops think, or was it one of the friends?

  The first half of the book focuses on freshman year and is told in rotating chapters by our three frenemies. They’re complicated women who engage in some pretty bad behavior. I give each roommate her own chapters so the reader can get inside her head and better understand her motives and her vulnerabilities. If I had to pick one who dominates, it would definitely be Kate — the rich, spoiled bad girl who’s the queen bee. Her misbehavior drives the plot. Almost everything that Aubrey and Jenny do wrong is in reaction to something Kate did. Kate’s chapters were very fun to write. They’re extremely entertaining but also quite dark.

  In Part Two of the book, two significant male characters get their own chapters – Kate’s husband, and the police chief who’s investigating the murder. Part One develops the characters and Part Two is a mad rush to find the killer, with a lot more testosterone. The difference in tone between the two parts of the book makes for an intense and engrossing read.

  Why is it always the husband? What about that relationship leads to violence?

  The title of my book is a reference to the plain fact that most female murder victims are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. Knowing this, the police often zero in on the husband as a suspect, ruling him in or out before following up on other leads. (I’m a former prosecutor, by the way, and this dynamic interests me very much.) In most cases, the suspicion of the husband is justified. In a few cases, it can lead to false accusation. This book explores that murky and dangerous territory.
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  Now, if you’re asking me why relationship violence exists, that’s a profound question to which I don’t claim to know the answer. What I can say is that It’s Always the Husband is about not only deceit and betrayal in friendship but also about marriage. About how the power dynamics between spouses can shift over time. About adultery and jealousy and, yes, violence in marital relationships. I hope it will get you thinking as well as entertain you.

  You capture people’s fears and insecurities so well on the page. What would it take for a book to scare you? Have you ever wanted to kill somebody?

  That question scares me. I’m fascinated by the dark impulses that exist in the hearts of normal people, much more than I am by the motives of psychopaths or serial killers. There are two unnatural deaths in this book, either or both of which could be called a murder. Both deaths are the result of slow-burn emotions by people who would never think of themselves as criminals. My goal is to get the reader sufficiently inside the heads of these “killers” to understand and even empathize with their actions. Maybe we’re all capable of murder, given the right circumstances. That’s what scares me.
  Sigrid Estrada

  Which books are in your to be read pile? Do you stick to thrillers or read more widely?

  Like many writers, I’m a book hoarder. Between my actual, physical nightstand and my e-reader, I have enough books to keep me reading for months, if not years, to come. I read across genres, but I especially love to read accomplished thriller writers, so I can learn from their techniques. I’m currently reading The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, a headlong rush of a book, with a flawed yet entirely relatable heroine. Next up is The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger. She writes such classic, heart-pounding thrillers. Also in my TBR pile are Where It Hurts by Reed Farrell Coleman, The Couple Next Door by Shari La Pena, and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. There are series whose next installments I await breathlessly, including the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin and the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon. I also read non-fiction, and just got Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, which somehow I have never read despite living in the town where it’s set.

• Pop Sugar
  https://www.popsugar.com/love/photo-gallery/43506803/image/43506815/Always-Husband-Michele-Campbell
  Word count: 84

  It's Always the Husband by Michele Campbell

  Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny are three longtime BFFs with a love-hate relationship — but could their deep-rooted envy and shared secrets lead to murder? When one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, all fingers are pointed at the husband. However, there is a much more sinister force at play. A shocking page-turner from the first page to the addictive last, the whodunit that is It's Always the Husband will leave every suspense-loving mama stumped.

• Valley News
  http://www.vnews.com/Michele-Campbell-writes-thriller-It-s-Always-the-Husband-10392944
  Word count: 1124

  Lebanon Crime Novelist Focuses on Relationships

  Michele Campbell, of Lebanon, started writing crime procedurals using her experience as a federal prosecutor as a jumping-off point, and said she has turned to a more character and relationship driven story in "It's Always the Husband." Photographed in Hanover, N.H., Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Purchase a reprint »

  Michele Campbell, of Lebanon, is the author of the thriller "It's Always the Husband." Campbell wrote much of the book at the Howe Library in Hanover, N.H., where she stood for a portrait Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Purchase a reprint »

  Michele Campbell, of Lebanon, started writing crime procedurals using her experience as a federal prosecutor as a jumping-off point, and said she has turned to a more character and relationship driven story in "It's Always the Husband." Photographed in Hanover, N.H., Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Purchase a reprint »

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  By Nicola Smith
  Valley News Staff Writer
  Thursday, June 01, 2017

  Print

  Lebanon NH Michele Martinez Campbell It's Always the Husband

  As a former federal prosecutor and deputy chief of the narcotics unit in the Eastern District of New York, Michele Martinez Campbell is well-versed in the conventional wisdom of law enforcement.

  And one of the most conventional of wisdoms is that, in the majority of cases, if a woman is murdered then the husband or lover is the likeliest culprit.

  That might hold true in life, but in fiction it’s another story. Part of the writer’s brief is to hint at many possible suspects, throw big fat red herrings along the trail and play with misdirection.

  All of those elements are at work in Martinez Campbell’s new novel, It’s Always The Husband (St. Martin’s Press), which is set in the fictional New England college town of Belle River.

  But the mystery, while important, is not the sole focus of Martinez Campbell’s writing; rather, it’s the relationships between the three women who are the main characters.

  “I was interested in the intersection between women’s fiction and crime and thrillers,” Martinez Campbell said in a phone interview.

  Although she has written police procedurals featuring a New York federal prosecutor named Melanie Vargas, this novel about three women who become caught up in a terrible tragedy, with the narrative toggling between the past and present, is a more complex creation.

  “This is a different, richer experience and more character-driven,” Martinez Campbell said. Her influences weren’t necessarily other crime novels but such piercing examinations of class as Wharton’s The House of Mirth, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and the 19th-century English novel, with its acute dissection of social dynamics, status and mores.

  Martinez Campbell grew up in Connecticut, graduated from Harvard College and went on to get her law degree from Stanford. After working in New York, she moved to Hanover 10 years ago with her husband and taught criminal law at Vermont Law School in South Royalton until leaving that position a few years ago to write full-time. She now lives in Lebanon, but wrote much of the book at the Howe Library in Hanover.

  “I’m not one for writing in coffee shops,” she said.

  Martinez Campbell had always been interested in writing, and although the law requires the ability to write scholarly, lucid prose, it obviously wasn’t the same as creating characters out of whole cloth.

  The novel follows Jenny, Aubrey and Kate, freshman roommates at Carlisle College in Belle River. Despite remarkably dissimilar personalities they become inseparable. When a tragedy occurs, they are bound together in a conspiracy of silence. Over the course of time they take separate forks in the road, until they are confronted 20 years later by an unexpected event that resurrects their past.

  The Carlisle setting — elite college near the Connecticut River — might sound like Dartmouth, but Martinez Campbell said, quite firmly, that that is not the case. The story of the intense rivalries, jealousies and insecurities that can exist among students in the upper tier of American colleges and universities came more from her own experience at Harvard, which had both its high and not-quite-as-high points.

  “Where (the novel) is more locally focused is the physical setting: the river flowing through, the sense of weather, the way the natural world interacts with the characters,” she said.

  But living in Hanover, she acknowledged, did “drive home the sense of the relationship between an institution and a town in a college setting. ... It’s a really good setting for a crime novel.”

  What she wanted to write was a narrative in which the crime “arose out of a personal relationship,” so that the seeds of the crime(s) are rooted in events of long ago, and in the characters’ own foibles and their relationships with one another. The “town and gown” phenomenon is part of the story.

  Martinez Campbell did say that while the majority of the response so far has been positive, she has heard or read that some people find some of the characters unlikable. That’s an assessment, she said, that seems to apply largely to female characters.

  There’s pressure on writers to make the heroine or heroines of their crime novel or thriller “likable,” she said. They have to be Everywoman protagonists, she said, instead of fully-rounded individuals with the usual assortment of flaws, virtues, weaknesses and strengths.

  Look at television, film and novels, Martinez Campbell said: “There’s all these dark male characters and everyone loves them.” But she’s determined to press on with writing complex women.

  She is at work on her next novel, which takes place again in Belle River but centers on two sisters and a murder. More than that she will not reveal.

  For information about It’s Always the Husband go to michelecampbellbooks.com. Michele Martinez Campbell will read on June 14 at the White Birch Bookstore in North Conway, N.H.

  Nicola Smith can be reached at nsmith@vnews.com.

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