Published May 27th, 2021 by Avon Books
Psychological Thriller, Noir Fiction, Serial Killer Books
Welcome to my review for this chilling debut. Thank you to Avon Books for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. I read this as part of my Beat the Backlist 24 Challenge.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
*Read it before you watch it – now a major TV series for Paramount+*
‘The final double twist is well worth waiting for’My Weekly
‘Hooks you in to the drama straight away’ The Sun
Every marriage has its secrets…
Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.
When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.
But the worst is beyond imagining.
As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.
They’re saying he’s a monster. And they’re saying she knew.
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MY REVIEW:
Tom and Beth have the picture-perfect house, the perfect child, perfect marriage. Or that’s what everyone thinks. Every marriage has its secrets, and theirs are about to be revealed…
One of the things I can’t help but think about whenever a killer is reported upon is what about their family. Do they have a partner? Children? Did those close to them notice anything untoward? Were they scared of them? Or were they blissfully unaware that anything was amiss and left with their whole world turned upside down when they were arrested? Those are the kinds of questions that Alice Hunter explores in her sensational debut, The Serial Killer’s Wife. This book had been on my shelf since before publication so I decided to listen to the audiobook as part of my attempt to beat my backlist this year. And I am so glad I did. What. A. Book! Nail-bitingly tense, unsettling and twisty, I was not prepared for what was on these pages and could only hold on tight as Alice Hunter took me on an insane ride.
The story opens when the police arrive at Beth and Tom’s house to question him about a murder. It then moves between narrators and timelines, following the couple as it moves between the aftermath of his shocking arrest and events leading up to that day. Tom is protesting his innocence while Beth is in total disbelief that the man she shared her life with could have killed someone. Tom gave me bad vibes in many ways but I couldn’t decide if he was innocent or guilty. Meanwhile, my heart went out to Beth as she tried to make sense of it all. I was on the edge of my seat as Hunter deftly unpicked the intricate tangled web of secrets and lies, taking my breath away with each new revelation. This book is a masterclass in misdirection and my notes were full of annotations such as ‘OMG’, ‘WTF is happening’, and ‘I can’t believe the twists that keep coming’. This has now been adapted for TV and I’m excited to watch soon as it is perfect for adaptation.
Atmospheric, chilling, twist and surprising, this one is a must for all thriller fans.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 2 months of listening free with my affiliate link*
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
After completing a psychology degree, Alice Hunter became an interventions facilitator in a prison. There, she was part of a team offering rehabilitation programmes to men serving sentences for a wide range of offences, often working with prisoners who’d committed serious violent crimes. Previously, Alice had been a nurse, working in the NHS. She now puts her experiences to good use in fiction. THE SERIAL KILLER’S WIFE draws heavily on her knowledge of psychology and the criminal mind.
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BUY THE BOOK:
Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
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Emma's Biblio Treasures 