Anything with serial killer in the title is for me! Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy.

Overall I enjoyed this one and it did have some surprised at the end. I really disliked Beth the main character here and “the wife” in the book. She’s just a selfish bad person which I assume was done on purpose here.

If you enjoy the Stillwater Lake series this could be for you. Although this is a much tamer version it is fun and enjoyable. I would read a second book if there is one for sure.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5 stars from me!

Well I wasn't expecting that!! What a great read. Twisted, unexpected and interesting plot. Who would have guessed - no I am not going to give anything away.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who wanted to read something a bit different for a change.
Alice is a new authority for me and I not wait expectantly for her next book.

I think it’s inevitable that any book featuring the wife of a serial killer will get compared to the Stillhouse Lake series by (the sadly departed) Rachel Caine. The premise of this one seems very much the same: Beth’s husband Tom is arrested and accused of murdering Katie, his girlfriend before he met and married Beth. Katie has supposedly been away travelling for years, but new evidence has come to light and the police are looking at her disappearance as a murder. Tom proclaims his innocence, but Beth has her doubts… and slowly, throughout the book, small hints are revealed that maybe Beth has known more than she was saying all along, but has kept quiet out of fear, for herself and her daughter Poppy’s sake.

Honestly, Tom barely qualifies as a serial killer. Three victims over the space of fourteen years, one of them accidental? We get enough insight into his psyche from the sections in his point of view to tell us he’s a sociopath with no care for the feelings of anyone but himself, and a particular disregard for women. Good-looking and charming, he’s an expert at drawing women into his web, whereupon he sets about controlling them by cutting them off from their support network and making them entirely dependent on him.

The first half of the book is very, very slow. It does speed up in the second half, and there are a couple of intriguing twists towards the end - they’re telegraphed well enough I guessed it was coming, but the how and why of it was interesting.

What was missing here, and done so brilliantly in the Stillhouse Lake series, was the realities faced by families of serial killers in the modern age. Almost everything Beth experienced is something that could have happened fifty years ago. There were no harassing phone calls, emails, no evisceration by social media. The reality is that other parents would have been pulling their kids out of the kindergarten, demanding ‘the killer’s kid’ was excluded before they would return. People would have been boycotting Beth’s cafe, or graffitiing the walls in the night with crude insults. I also really didn’t buy Adam’s reaction after Beth admitted she wasn’t totally ignorant of Tom’s past. No way would he have just accepted that; nobody would.

Overall it’s well written, if slow in the first half, but there’s just too much I didn’t quite buy into. I’ll give it three stars.

This compelling narrative had me engrossed from the beginning. It’s certainly a fast-paced thriller, aided by the very short chapters. Making it ideal for your bag and commuting, this book concluded with me experiencing goose bumps of anticipation.

Largely told from Beth’s perspective, we follow her life crumbling down when her husband is arrested on suspicion of a murder that took place several years ago. Police are suspicious of Beth’s naivety and this is something she experiences in her village as people question why she was not aware of Tom’s murderous behaviour. After all, she is his wife, surely she suspected something? As the novel progresses, we learn about Tom’s past in very brief snapshots. So brief, in fact, that I was desperate for Hunter to develop this part of the plot further – I found it so very interesting. However, the focus primarily stays on Beth as she grows to cope with the media frenzy during the police investigations, turning to acquaintances in the village for support for both her and her daughter, Poppy.

Self-preservation is a theme that runs throughout this novel and I found it interesting to consider the different elements. Primarily, of course, it can be applied to Tom and his efforts to ensure his behaviours remain secret. However, as the novel develops, Hunter explores the psychology behind Tom’s actions; his movements are an attempt to preserve the Tom that Beth and Poppy knows as a loving husband and devoted father. In other words, Tom behaves as he does in order to protect the ones he loves. (Although how much he loves them and in what way, is another debate entirely.) Similarly, Beth also tries to keep the family unit together as much as possible. Initially, she does not believe the accusations and intends to protect her daughter from police developments. Yet, Beth also wants to break free from Tom and it is gradually revealed that she is more complicit than we realised. Beth’s behaviours over the course of the story show that she intends to keep her and Poppy as secure as possible, without being a sacrifice to the police investigation.

As a debut novel, this is a fantastic piece of writing. I read that the author was inspired by not only her employment background, but also her interest in True Crime documentaries. A fan myself, I can see how this has been worked into the novel and I loved the exploration into Tom and Beth’s personalities, beyond the murderous accusations. At times, the writing reminded me of Helen Fields – not based on the violent actions, but the study of character motivations. Therefore, if you are a Fields fan (like me – I’ve reviewed most of her books!), then this will certainly appeal.

I enjoyed this book the more that I read it and found I could not put it down. The closing was completely unexpected and I liked the open-ending – will there be a follow-up to this story? Whipping through the novel, I loved the twists and turns in Hunter’s narrative. There were many surprises along the way and with the unforeseen conclusion, I think it will definitely be in my top reads for this year.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book really wowed me. i’m grateful that my prediction of the end of the book was wrong bc that would have really upset me. The ending did shock me and thought that it was really well executed.
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Liked: Beth’s character, Detective Imogen Cooper, the friendships that were both made and stayed intact. I also enjoyed the cliff hangers are some of the chapter ends that made you want to stay up reading!
Dislikes: there was a slightly lesphobic comment made at the beginning of the book. I was really worried that this would continue to be brought up throughout the book. Luckily it was not, so i think it was just part of Tom’s character who was misogynistic & manipulative. There were random chapters that were told from perspectives but basically repeated the exact things already said, i felt like they were just there to fill it. I also thought the nickname they used for their daughter Polly was SO ANNOYING. Every single time they addressed her they used the nickname and it drove me crazy.
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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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I did really like this based on the thriller perspective. There was also a bit of romance thrown in which i also really loved!! I really recommend this one!!
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⚠️TW⚠️: slight BDSM, strangulation, toxic men, abuse.

Beth and Tom Hardcastle are happily married and the parents of young Poppy. Tom works as a finance portfolio manager at a bank and Beth owns and runs a ceramics cafe. Poppy is in nursery school during the day.

One evening, Beth hears a knock at the door. Thinking it’s Tom home late, she is surprised to find two detectives asking about Tom. It turns out that an old girlfriend of Tom’s has gone missing and they want to question him about her. After taking Tom in for questioning twice, they end up keeping him for several days. Beth is beside herself with worry and is convinced that her beloved husband could never be guilty of harming anyone. Soon, Tom is questioned again and arrested for the murder of his old girlfriend.

Beth faces anger at her for not knowing what Tom has done. She is caught up with the press badgering her, as well as getting the cold shoulder from some of the parents at Poppy’s school.

This story slowly leaks out bits of Tom’s life and what Beth knew. It’s not only frightening but twisted as well. Oh, but there’s more,so be sure and read it all the way to the last page. You don’t want to miss out!! A good read that, quite frankly, had me cringing at times. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4.5★s
“How quickly things can change. In an instant, your path can take a sharp turn and lead you somewhere you never anticipated.”

The Serial Killer’s Wife is the first novel by British author, Alice Hunter. When the police came to question her husband in relation to a murder, Beth Hardcastle’s reaction is one of shock and confusion: how could they possibly believe that her Tom, the perfect husband and father, would have anything to do with it?

But as Tom is detained and then arrested, she fears that the life they have built in the little village of Lower Tew, their dream, is about to crumble. They have been there two years. Tom commutes to London for his work as a finance portfolio manager; Beth had been happy to give up her position as a London recruitment consultant when they had Poppy, and now runs a ceramics café.

Beth hasn’t made any real friends yet: the playgroup yummy mummies don’t talk to her; there has been no invitation to join the book club that regularly met in her café; and even though she tells the police “We’re very happy; we’ve carved out the perfect life for ourselves here”, she later confides to the only person she feels comfortable with: “It’s surprising what you can hide behind the image of a perfect life.”

When the police question Beth, Tom’s solicitor advises her: “Answer their questions with as little detail as possible. Answer with brevity and clarity. It’s easier to remember what you’ve said, too.” Beth declares that she doesn’t know anything, anyway. She has her hands full keeping three-year-old Poppy safe and dodging the media circus camped in front of their cottage. How could Tom have brought this down on them?

The main narrative is from Beth’s perspective, with occasional contributions by Tom and by Katie, the apparent murder victim, as well as short pieces by an unknown woman who describes encounters with a man (Tom?) who gets off on strangling her. Beth’s behaviour and reactions are slightly off, giving the reader cause to wonder about her protested ignorance.

While the initial scene-setting could have been more subtle, this is an impressive debut: cleverly plotted, with twists that will take most readers by surprise. Hunter’s depiction of the village is excellent, and she keeps the reader guessing with each new wrinkle in the story: it’s no spoiler to say that Tom is definitely a murderer, but there’s a lot more to this tale. Undeniably a page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Avon Books UK

Beth’s husband, Tom, has been arrested for murder. It’s been eight years since his ex-girlfriend, Katie, went missing. Now, with the media branding Beth as The Serial Killer’s Wife, her life, small business and reputation have all been ruined. What will become of Beth and her young daughter, Poppy, if Tom is convicted?

I enjoyed this twisty domestic suspense/serial killer thriller mash-up. However, there would have been more surprises if the title didn’t mention serial. Still, I believe most mystery readers will love The Serial Killer’s Wife. 4 stars!

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 3

This is definitely a slow burn. Given the name, I was surprised that at 30% there still weren't any bodies. The story seemed to lull, have some action, then a huge lull, then some action, then another lull in the story where you are just waiting for something to happen. It continued this way throughout the book. There are some highlights that made me glad I read it, but just not enough. There were also some inconsistencies in the storyline that I couldn't get past. I don't want to give anything away. I highly recommend you reading this to make your own decision.

Thank you to Alice Hunter and Avon Books for my advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a brilliant book , lots of twists and turns and you don’t know who is doing what . I felt sorry for the wife then the husband then back to sympathy for the wife . I absolutely loved it and read the last half of it in one afternoon. I’d definitely recommend this book . 5 stars

WOW. What a cracking read.
I was trying not to request as much on NetGalley recently, but I saw this one and the blurb sucked me in. So I broke my requesting ban and I am SO glad I did.
I listened to the entire audiobook in a day- that's how good it was. I listened at x2 speed (which my fiance hates because he says it sounds weird and I can't possibly follow it!) But let me tell you, I hung on to every word!
The characters were fantastic and well thought out, and the plot was insane. Just when you thought it was tying up the ends, there was more curveballs!
Absolutely fantastic!

When I requested this book on NetGalley I really wasn’t sure what to expect. The title first caught my eye and then reading the description made me request it. I’m so beyond glad I did because what a brilliant book this was!

The level of detail within the book particularly regarding the crimes was pretty brutal. I loved the pace of this book, the shorter chapter sizes and just the overall detail provided. The best thing about this book has to be the multiple different twists it took and the ending omg. I would set aside a good few hours for this book as once you hit a certain point you won’t be able to put it down. Would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers and I’m hoping this is the first off many for this new author!

Thank you to Avon Books UK & NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

I devoured this thriller in a day! Great, fast, well written mystery!
What seems like the perfect marriage and family, turns out to be quite the opposite!
I loved the short chapters, keeping things rolling. The ending though - Wow!!!
Great summer read and I will definitely be reading more from Alice Hunter!
Thankful for the ARC

TW: Narcissistic/controlling behaviours, domestic abuse, bdsm natured sex scenes with very questionable consent, graphic murder content, sexually motivated murders and mentions of necrophilia.
This book focuses on Beth, Tom and their little girl, Poppy. They live a comfortable lifestyle in a cosy cottage in a quaint little village after previously having lived in the hustle and bustle of London. They are the envy of their neighbourhood, the perfect marriage, the perfect house and the perfect family and even though everything in their life appears to be perfect it soon comes crashing down the day police arrive at their door to question Tom regarding the dissappearance and suspected murder of his ex fiancée, Katie Williams, 8 years ago. This book is such a heart racing read that is filled with twists and turns and it will make you question everything you know about the characters and more! I loved how it was written and how it swaps pov's between Tom and Beth so that you view the developing story from both angles. Also, I really love how it focuses on the absolute carnage left behind for the family of a serial killer or any high profile criminal as this isn't an aspect that is usually considered in both non-fiction and fiction. And just when you think things are wrapping up Alice Hunter drops the biggest bombshell of a twist at the end that will leave you picking your jaw off the floor. Overall, I highly recommend giving this a read and it is out now so definitely check it out if it sounds like something you'd love, but please take into account the TW's because it is quite intense in parts.

Beth and Tom Hardcastle seem to have a perfect life with a happy marriage and a delightful 3y old daughter, Poppy. They recently moved from London to Banbury, a small town where Beth runs a café and ceramic painting business, while Tom commutes to work in finance. Beth has been accepted into the community but is still struggling to break into the local friendship groups. Tom works long hours and is hardly ever home but is generally accepted by all as a nice family guy. That is until the day when a knock on their door turns out to be police wanting to question Tom in regard to the disappearance and probable murder of
his ex-girlfriend Katie 8 years ago.

Local gossips can’t believe Beth doesn’t know anything about Katie’s disappearance. Could she really have been married to a monstrous killer all these years without knowing? At first Beth is supportive of Tom, claiming there is no way he could be a killer without her knowledge. Besides, the police haven’t found a body so how could they have new evidence after all this time? However, as time goes by it’s clear that Beth is holding something back from the police that might be damaging to Tom’s claims of innocence. In fact, both Beth and Tom have secrets they are keeping from each other as well as from the police.

Alice Hunter’s debut novel is a deliciously different psychological thriller. Told mostly from the perspective of Beth as the accused killer’s wife, Tom himself is a shadowy character for much of the novel. However, we hear Katie’s voice from eight years previously telling us about her relationship with Tom. We also hear details of a relationship from an unidentified man with a sexual penchant for erotic asphyxiation. Who is the woman and is the voice that of Tom, the good family man or someone else?

The thriller starts with a good pace, raising tensions and questions about Tom and Beth’s relationship and what Beth really knows about Tom. The writing is patchy in places, slowing the pace and losing momentum around the middle of the novel, as Beth indulges in a lot of hand wringing about what to tell the police and whether her daughter Poppy will be okay. With her husband sitting in goal about to be tried for murder, most women would be frantic, but not Beth. She is a difficult character to feel sympathy for as she blurts out secrets to people she barely knows and neglects the café and her business assistant. Her growing friendship with recent widower Adam Wright seems unwise and some of her decisions don’t make sense. The pace and suspense pick up again in the second half of the novel as more about Tom is revealed. And the clever twisty ending will shed some light on Beth’s sometime puzzling behaviour.

Overall, this is a good first novel with an intriguing title and an original hook that will soon have you reading addictively to find out about the serial killer’s wife.

The Serial Killer's Wife will keep you guessing until the very end! Hunter carefully weaves her tale, perfectly pacing the plot to carry the maximum impact with each reveal. Honestly, she may quickly become one of my new favorite authors. If you love thrillers that are riddled with layers of dysfunction, you are certainly in for a treat. Be sure to add The Serial Killer's Wife to your summer reading list!

Oooo hoohoo.

Thank you NetGalley for this rollercoaster of a novel. This is my first Alice Hunter book and I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be wanting to look for more.

We have Tom and Beth who are married and Tom has been brought in for a murder of a woman whom he used to date years back.
Beth is at home dealing with so much stress from the media and her community from being married to a man in custody. She is also trying to raise their daughter and not have her learn what is going on with her family and to keep her innocent for as long as possible.
Beth is making friends who help her along the way and support her. She cannot find herself to support her husband however. Beth is finding out more truth to her husbands dirty little secrets.
This is getting my 4.5/5 stars, way to go!

The serial killers wife was thrilling psychological thriller. Pretty impressive for a debut author. Flitting between past and present Beths perfected family is shattered with the arrest of her husband Tom. Did Beth know, did she help him so many questions and so many lies

Marriage is a contract, but it's also a promise. You promise to look after each other, to be there for each other, to trust and not lie. So what happens when one Monday night your husband is carted off by the police for some questions? Was everything you thought you knew a lie? And how much did you, the wife, know? All these questions and more plague Beth in Alice Hunter's gripping The Serial Killer's Wife. Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The thought of marriage for life is honestly quite terrifying. (Perhaps that statement betrays my occasional trust/attachment issues.) A whole life, with one person, and you're just going to have to trust them about who they are and what they say they want. (Perhaps that statement betrays the fact I read a lot of domestic thrillers!) Domestic thrillers have become all the rage and I imagine that being stuck indoors with their families for the last year and a half will give thriller writers a whole ne plethora of things to write about. At the core is the fear that things are never as good as they seem, that the happy marriage is a sham and everyone is hiding something from someone. That although the love may be real, it is not enough. In The Serial Killer's Wife this idea of what we do for love, are willing to do, are capable of doing to others in the name of love, permeates almost all the characters' actions. And what stronger motivator could there be?

Beth has the perfect life. After two years of settling into their new village, she has an adorable daughter, a great husband, and a booming pottery cafe. But cracks start to show when Tom is taken in for questioning and then arrested for the potential murder of an ex-girlfriend, Katie. Now Beth has to figure out what to do. Stick with her husband and become a pariah in the village? Lean on recently widowed Adam and try to take care of her daughter as best she can? Confide in the police, or in sudden new best friend Julia? Or keep her cards close to her chest and wait it all out? Although we spend the majority of the book with Beth, we also get glimpses into the thoughts of Katie, Tom and an unknown woman. It serves to ramp up the tension and make us question what we thought had already been established.

This is Alice Hunter's debut novel and it's a confident starter. Although at times Beth's friends and neighbours in the village are a little flat, they do what they're supposed to. Beth is a complex main character, one who at times seems very selfish yet is utterly devoted to her daughter. Her own sad past is hinted at and this explains some of the hard choices she makes. At the end of The Serial Killer's Wife it will be up to the reader to decide whether she made the right ones or not. The pace of the book definitely slows down a little in the middle section of the book, as if we're taking a step back and slowly taking in all the scattered puzzle pieces one by one. This can be a bit of a damper for some readers who had enjoyed the fast pace at the beginning, but towards the end the twists do keep coming and the final chapters will be a hoot, even if they might not be entirely a surprise. I will definitely be keeping an eye on future books by Alice Hunter!

The Serial Killer's Wife was an engaging read and a great debut by Alice Hunter. You will question every character, wonder at everyone's motives, and in the end, you might realize that no one can be entirely trusted.

Although the synopsis is a bit misleading, this was a fast-paced suspense thriller that I ended up liking well enough even though, at times, I was also ready to throw my kindle across the room!

The knock on the door. Her husband late in arriving home from work. It's the police and they have questions about a missing person -- someone who was involved with her husband years before they married. After Tom Hardcastle is arrested and charged with murder, Beth has to figure out how to survive and protect her young daughter, Poppy. NO SPOILERS.

The narrative definitely didn't go in the direction I'd assumed, but I was suspicious early on that, as the revelations about Tom came in spurts, that their marriage and life together wasn't the one they'd both pretended it to be. I almost immediately didn't like Beth -- everything she said and did just irritated me and I found her actions totally unbelievable. It's hard to say more without giving any hints, but I'll just say this was not the perfect marriage nor a happy family. The ending had a bit of a twist that some might not see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this e-book ARC to read and review.