Published April 25th, 2024 by Bookouture
Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Psychological Thriller
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this sinister and unpredictable thriller. Thanks to Bookourture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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BOOK DESCRIPTION:
“Do not go in there, Anna. Never go in there.” The words ring in my head as I pick the lock to the only room in the house that the man I love tells me I’m not allowed to enter. Trembling as I step inside, I’m about to finally find out what happened to his last wife…
Everyone thinks my life is bliss. The love of my life, Cary, and I live in our dream home and we have a beautiful little girl, Harper. I may not have given birth to her, but I’m her mommy now. But there’s one thing we never talk about…
Cary’s wife before me, Presley, was perfect in every way. But she went missing a long time ago. Cary was distraught when he told me how she was abducted from her car, leaving behind a pool of blood. No one saw a thing.
The neighbors are always gossiping about Presley. I try to ignore them, but one day I hear something that makes my stomach flip. Presley was abducted from her home. The home I now live in. Cary lied to me about the car. But why?
As I search our beautiful home for answers, I stumble across Presley’s diary. My heart thunders in my chest as I discover the truth: Cary had something to do with his wife’s disappearance. And I’m terrified I might be next.
But Cary doesn’t know that I have a secret too. He doesn’t know how far I’ve gone to get this perfect life, and how much further I’ll go to keep it…
An unbelievably gripping psychological thriller, His Last Wife will have you flipping the pages until you reach the final, breathtaking twist. Fans of Don’t Let Her Stay, The Housemaid and The Perfect Marriage won’t be able to put this jaw-dropping read down!
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MY REVIEW:
Anna and Cary are living in their dream home in an affluent neighbourhood with a beautiful daughter, Harper. Anna may not have given birth to Harper, but she adores the angelic little girl and is her mother in every sense of the word. But there is one fly in the ointment of their happiness: Cary’s first wife, Presley. Presley was perfect, and Anna is struggling with living in her shadow. But when she discovers that Cary lied to her about Presley’s disappearance, Anna begins to wonder if he’s all that he appears to be. She searches their room for answers and stumbles across Presley’s diary, which contains worrying accusations against the man she loves. Could he have played a part in his wife’s disappearance? And can Anna uncover the truth without revealing her own secrets?
Forbidding, ominous and suspenseful, this edge-of-your-seat thriller was like a layer cake; filled with a multitude of twists, turns, red herrings, and revelations that kept coming right until the last page. Cleverly choreographed, intricate, and convoluted, Ruhi Choudhary held me in a vice grip as she shattered my predictions with each unforeseen twist. There’s secrets, lies, toxic relationships, and – possibly – murder; all taking place behind the doors of an affluent neighbourhood where appearances are everything. There’s constant drama, a very real sense of danger that permeates the pages, and so many twists that I felt dizzy. I needed answers!
Chaoudhary has created a cast of varied, compelling, and realistic characters who you can imagine living in a neighbourhood like Rosedale. I felt like I’d stepped into a darker version of the Real Housewives with all of the catty backstabbing, drama and displays of grandeur. Anna was the perfect fish out of water and it was easy to root for her as I think we can all relate to that feeling, but knowing she was hiding something did make me wonder if she was a reliable narrator. Presley might not appear on the pages until her diary, but Choudhary perfectly captures that sense of her shadow being cast over everything and she feels like a constant presence. Also perfectly captured is Cary. Choudhary has expertly written this charming man who love-bombs Anna before slowly revealing his true self. He was all-too recognisable and I was screaming at Anna to run away but understood the pull to remain that she felt because of Harper. But the character I found most chilling was ‘The Watcher’; an unknown person who is watching Anna and Cary and seems to have malevolent intentions. I had so many theories about who this person could be – most of them wrong.
Sinister, tense and unpredictable, this is a must for the TBR of every thriller-lover.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
TW: Domestic abuse, emotional abuse, sexual assault
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ruhi Choudhary discovered her passion for writing when she was seven years old and wrote her first Star Trek episode. Being a fan of the dark and twisted, she found her calling in crime thrillers.
She likes to write stories that make you a little uncomfortable and characters that you struggle to make up your mind about but stay with you.
She lives in Toronto and spends her days training to be a scientist and wishing it rained more often!
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BUY THE BOOK:
Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the blog tour.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 