DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

A pat and pale mini–soap opera, set in an English village, from second-novelist Cheska (Moving to the Country, 2001).

At 35, Imogen finds herself a widow, though (not without a touch of guilt) hardly a grieving one. Older husband Edward was a safe and steady match, but lately their amicable marriage had gone stale. Nothing, though, prepares Imo for what she happens upon in Edward's locked office desk: a photo of a beautiful young woman. Could she have misread her husband all these years? The picture, and the secret bank account with large monthly withdrawals, confirm that something was going on. Imo's best friend Jude, owner of The Goddess Within beauty salon, recognizes the woman in the photo as her twice-monthly acrylic nails customer, icy and manipulative Marisa. Imo cajoles Jude for Marisa's address, and when she confronts the young beauty on Christmas Eve discovers Marisa is the daughter of Edward and his long-time lover, dowdy and likable Naomi. This resolved, the various subplots move to the fore: Jude's ongoing search for the perfect man, Jude's mother's unlikely affair with an Italian actor, Imo's mother's lifelong affair with the homosexual Ralph, and of course Imo’s speedy (about a month after Edward's death) fall into hopeless love with Alex, a struggling artist who is also involved with Marisa. Cheska structures her story so that chapters end with cliffhangers of a sort, but the plot twists are so predictable that there’s little suspense. By the close, Imo and Jude will find true love, and the naughty Marisa is off to London to seek her fortune through some disreputable scheme.

Entertaining enough for a quick read, but nothing more.