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I have not run a solo campaign, but I have been adding playtest characters, such as a playtest kineticist, to my campaign and letting a player play both their usual character and the temporary playtest character. One player can manage two PCs. That would be easier to figure out than dual classing.
I also learned how to run a GMPC properly in both my Jade Regent campaign that has to escort an NPC and my my Iron Gods campaign which needed a fourth party member. The key is to give the GMPC a reason to always agree with the other party members. The players need to make the decisions. Amaya in Jade Regent was a den mother healer, concerned with the health of the party rather than wanting to accomplish anything directly. Val Baine in Iron Gods had hero worship toward the other party members. For a GMPC in a solo campaign, being a little brother or sister accustomed to following the guidance of the older sibling would be a good setup.
Giving her a big level lead is also an option. An APL+3 monster can effectively challenge a group of four PCs. The reverse is likely true as well. Although the ranger specifically suffers a bit against multiple foes, they are otherwise a decently versatile class. They can do a lot of fun things solo, like use Trackless Step and Wild Stride to quickly and safely move through the wilderness or attack at incredibly long ranges and lure enemies into snares. And CoS is a great campaign for this.
Bonus feats are a pretty good lever to give her more tools to play with as well. Maybe better than giving GMPC allies from a purely combat perspective because allies can't necessarily play the same way she can. For action economy, you could also treat Hunt Prey and/or Command an Animal as a free action. You could also let her have the Outwit edge as a freebie to boost her skills.
Honestly, the bigger determing factor for including GMPCs should be roleplay and social skills. Does your wife want allies along the way to befriend? Do you want to roll Diplomacy checks and roll play against yourself if you need to make a Request at an NPC? I think there are more interesting ways to approach solo campaign combat than trying to kludge together a fully party out of NPCs.
One last thought: a Thaumaturge is both thematically excellent fot CoS and really solid for a solo player. It also is thematically close to the ranger. With a few bonus feats you can cover face and knowledge skills, get a familiar to help you scout, utilize any scrolls you find and get some magical problem solving to boot, and still be a solid combatant who can mow down hoards of zombies with Mortal Weakness. I also think you could do cool things with the Tarot reading and different quest items by turning them into Implements. I didn't GM or finish the campaign so I don't know details, but I'd love to take a Thaumaturge through it.
I played a number of games with my gf as solo gm
We have a Lot of fun with dual class, but originally started with it when the Game had not that many Options yet
That said, we used it ever since and have a blast with it
I feel like dual classing Takes a little of the tactical Edge off of the game without reducing the difficult too much
One notices that the Party is stronger, but with the underlying math still working the same it doesn't trivialize (most) encounters
We often die have a Party of 3-4 characters in top of dual classing, mind you
A good gmpc can be fun and offer a Lot of to opportunity
But we Go deep into the roleplaying Part of the Game anyways
I second the idea of having her run to PCs rather than dual class. Or maybe even in addition to dual class. Depending on how much you want to alter combats. Action economy is the biggest issue here. Unless you're significantly altering the written adventures it's going to be a problem regardless of whether or not that character has two classes worth of things to choose from, they still only have 3 actions each turn to do it.
I would say give her two PCs, allow them to have free archetype, probably make them like 2 levels above what the adventure expects them to be, and possibly give dual class if the characters still don't seem to be strong enough to get through the adventure with minimal changes to the written encounters (but dual classing make everything significantly more complicated for your wife to build and run and understand and doesn't combine cleanly with free archetypes).
I've run quite a few 2 player games, but never a solo game. In my experience, going without NPC backup makes the game experience less fun because the party is missing a whole game dynamic where you work as a team, RP off the other party members, and can exert narrative control at multiple locations at once.
The key was to make sure the NPCs didn't take up much gameplay screen time, weren't more powerful than the PCs, didn't make big decisions, and held some meaning to the rest of the story. It also helps to rotate out the cast of supporting NPCs so one doesn't feel too much like a permanent PC.
I've had NPCs who were powerless ghosts who couldn't actually fight but didn't know it, so they jumped in and basically only contributed as a distraction.
I've had NPCs who were a level higher than the party, but took part in combat by leaving the scene to handle simultaneous threats, meaning the party didn't have to worry so much about not being able to protect multiples areas of a town under attack.
I've had lower level NPCs join fights directly, offering little damage but flanking, and giving support.
TL;DR: Dual classing only gets you so far, it doesn't solve a bunch of problems that solo play brings up, and I would recommend first adding NPC support then considering whether Dual Class is still necessary.
I will add that the dual class optional rule doesn't address the biggest issue with solo play: being one lucky/unlucky roll/streak from being a TPK. A dual class PC will possibly have more options if the two classes chosen cover different disciplines (such as dual classing with a caster and a martial class) instead of "stacking" two martial classes (this is specifically mentioned in the dual class text).
Having the player run two PCs with close ties and/or providing a support NPC/GMPC is probably a better solution. For a two or three character party, dual classing may be a worthwhile option so they have sufficient breadth to deal with situations. A bard/[oracle or sorcerer*] healer might make a good choice for a support NPC/GMPC. For a ranger (martial), dual classing with Animal order druid (caster) would probably be appropriate and the druid feats can be used for the beastmaster archetype; the ranger feats can be used to be a better combatant, warden spells, and/or possibly something like the dual-weapon warrior (flurry) or eldritch archer (precision) archetype.
*-Angelic or Psychopomp bloodline, probably
we already have allowed her the free archetype: beastmaster because she loves animal companions.
Well, then the solution is built right in.
The problem with single character parties is the action economy. One character and their 3 actions doesn't have enough time to do anything about multiple enemies.
The problem with controlling two characters is trying to role-play multiple characters with different personalities. Especially when they try to talk to each other.
The problem with a GMPC is that there is now a character in the party that knows everything that the GM does and can therefore make perfect decisions.
But an NPC non-minion animal companion or two wouldn't have any of those problems.
Yeah, you can level a creature stat block up fairly easily. Many animal families already cover a wide level variety you could move between, like wolves, bears, and cats.
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we already have allowed her the free archetype: beastmaster because she loves animal companions.Well, then the solution is built right in.
The problem with single character parties is the action economy. One character and their 3 actions doesn't have enough time to do anything about multiple enemies.
The problem with controlling two characters is trying to role-play multiple characters with different personalities. Especially when they try to talk to each other.
The problem with a GMPC is that there is now a character in the party that knows everything that the GM does and can therefore make perfect decisions.
But an NPC non-minion animal companion or two wouldn't have any of those problems.
Your minion cannot revive you if you go down though.