“A Reliable Wife” by Robert Goolrick captured my attention fairly quickly. Set in Wisconsin near the turn of the century, a man awaits his mail-order bride. She’s being secretive, but it’s unclear why. He has reasons for sending away for a wife, but what are they?It will take you a bit of reading to answer those questions. I enjoy a good mystery and this unfolds slowly and with great complexity. It’s not unlike “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” in that respect. What it does have, that “Sawtelle” does not, is serious steam.

Before you pack this one up in your beach bag, you should know that it’s serious steam with serious consequences. This is not light-hearted and sexy banter like you might find in a Janet Evanovich novel. This is more like sitting in on a sex addicts meeting. Sure at first, it might be mildly titillating. But as they delve deeper and deeper into their own issues, you’d become aware of just how gross they are behaving.

The darkness leaks out of just the bedroom scenes and into the entire plot of the novel. Like reading about ebola, you become horrified and positively entranced by the words on the page. I found myself rushing ahead to just get it over with, whatever was going to happen.

If that sounds like your kind of read, then you’ll love this book. If you feel vaguely uneasy just from my description, it’s not for you.