Trophy Wife

Trophy Wife

A story of wealth, revenge, and murder profiles a beautiful young wife accused of killing her business tycoon husband--a cold and arrogant man with many enemies in his personal and his business life. A first novel. 25,000 first printing. Subtitle this first novel from the evening news coanchor for NBC's Los Angeles station "Murder on Mulholland Drive." Before his red Ferrari Testarosa crashed over the side of the scenic L.A. highway, Paul Bradshaw--the arrogant, hard-driving founder and CEO of hip clothing manufacturer L.A. Garb--had a gash over his left eye and a bullet in his chest. Crowds of people who hated or feared Bradshaw were nearby at the right time: his ex-wife; the former mistress and personal assistant he had just fired; relatives whose L.A. Garb jobs were threatened by a secret consulting report; two African Americans, a gangbanger and an employee trying to organize a union at the subsidiary Bradshaw won national praise and awards for opening in South Central after the riots; and Devin Yorke Bradshaw, his "trophy wife," who had decided to leave her megarich husband after a disastrous dinner party (the tropical fish in the centerpieces died!). Lively and gossipy, Lange's narrative mixes fashion glitz with corporate grime, the woes of a very dysfunctional family with the survival skills of strong women. An alternate selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club, so expect requests. Mary Carroll