Book received for free through NetGalley

I liked the idea of this book but after starting and stopping only got 13% through. The published date has already past so I wanted to submit a review for what I listened to so far. Written and read well; just not my cup of tea.

My friends, when I tell you this story had a grip on me I am not lying. Constance (also my MILs name!) meets a man on a ship and marries him 2 weeks later. He, as it turns out, is a b*stard (not literally) and is just using this young, navie woman 20ish years his junior for her money. Constance has an affair and decides she is going to leave the husband, but- wouldn't you know it- that guy also sucks hard. To say nothing of her brother in law who is also trying to have an affair with her!

Connie goes on trial for murder because her husband is poisoned by arsenic. However, we find out that not only is he a known arsenic eater, nobody can actually say why he died except that it isn't arsenic! This trial had me so mad.

After a lifetime away from her kids, Constance finally gets answers and is somehow still a decent person. Not perfect, because no one is, but tries to do the right thing even in bad situations. While I am a little sad that Connie doesn't go on the crime spree I think she should, I also understand.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Tonya Mitchell, and Dreamscape Media for my ARC of this audiobook.

This was a wild ride and Constance got a seriously bad deal! Lesson to the masses - do not eat arsenic! It will kill you! This was my 1st book by Alyssa Palombo but will not be my last, I am adding all of her books to my TBR.

#TheArsenicEatersWife
#NetGalley

This was a fun, historical mystery. It seemed fairly lighthearted (considering the act of arsenic poisoning). It reminded me of several other popular books that have been making headway as of late.

The title caught my eye at first. Then I listened to it. I thought it was very good and well written. If you enjoy books that involve medical substances then this one’s for you.

Great narrator. Really brought into the story.
The story was great and love that it was based on a true story. Really opened your eyes to what happened back then.

✴️THE ARSENIC EATER'S WIFE by Tonya Mitchell✴️

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @dreamscapemedia for the audio-ARC.

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In this historical mystery based on real-life events, Constance Sullivan is accused of killing her husband by arsenic poisoning in late 19th century Liverpool, England. Filled with whispers of witchery and a commentary on the late 19th century justice system and the prejudices and corruptions therein, the barrister assigned to Mrs. Sullivan's case fights her case with evidence, common sense, and by dissolving inaccuracies presented by the prosecution.

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I was particularly interested in both the historical and judicial descriptions and while I am sure it is pretty easy to figure out the cause of death of the husband by the title of this book, it was still interesting to watch how the barrister handled the case, the backgrounds and motives of all the chatact

I read a Q and A on Dreamscape's website where Mitchell talks about Florence Maybrick, the inspiration for this book. She also spoke about her immediate intrigue with the fact that arsenic eaters existed. Arsenic eaters were a small group of mostly men that took arsenic daily for medicinal purposes (aka they believed it made them more sexually verile - aka Victorian Viagra) in the late 1880s England even though it was well known to be used as rat poison at the same time.😳 Uh, yikes.

I fully believe the obstacles that this woman faced especially since it appears that her being found guilty would potentially absolve others. The vilification of her as a fallen woman was lapped up by the all male jury and judge.

I listened to the audio for this one and really enjoyed the cadence and tenor of @penelope.rawlins's narration and her performance propelled especially the trial scenes. She seamlessly changed accents and voices for all the different characters. Brilliant audio!

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Have you ever been accused (large or small) of something that you did not do?

💚SMASHBOT💚

#bookreview #booksta #booklover #thearseniceaterswife #historicalfiction #historicalmystery #bookworm #booksofig #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookdragon #netgalleyreviewer #netgalley

Set in 1189, Liverpool England. Constance's husband found dead, could she be the killer? Witnesses poor in giving an inside peak of Constance and Williams marriage.

I was immediately intrigued with this story and the setting of which this book takes place. 34% I decided to DNF this story as I was not engaging in this story or the characters. I found myself getting distracted as I was reading. The writing felt a bit disjointed and all of a sudden we fast forwarded at times in the story. I felt that this story was very info dumpy instead of walking through the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook copy for my honest review. I do wish that TW of adultery would have been listed.

The audiobook narrator was fantastic but the story was a bit slow for me and the rather long trial did not hold my attention. The story was very depressing and I could not connect with any of the characters. Unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea.

The most fun I’ve had reading a piece of gothic fiction in a while! Part court procedural, part historical fiction, this was entertaining from beginning to – well, maybe not till the end when it lost it’s momentum due to a weak plot twist, but I still had fun. Ugly events put into pretty words, at its finest. I still need to look into the alleged true case this story was based on, but can you imagine…

This was a compelling and interesting read, and I really enjoyed reading it as an audiobook. The narration of this one was great, and I found it easy to listen to at 2.5x speed.

Moving on to the narrative itself, I had no idea that this was based on a true story until I’d finished reading it which is interesting as I feel that many novels based on actual events lack that engaging element I look for in a book. The thriller/mystery aspect of the book was a little underwhelming, however, this didn’t bother me as I enjoyed the historical and character-focused elements enough to balance it out.

I would have liked to have seen a little more historical context, as while I appreciated the setting, I often felt a little behind and unsure about contextual norms and nuances. Additionally, the split timeline (while not an issue for me), may be a bit of a point of friction for other readers, as I could see it being a little difficult to follow.

Overall, I found this a solid read with many enjoyable aspects. While there wasn’t anything particularly stand-out about it, it was the perfect book to have playing for a bit of entertainment on the train. Make sure to check TWs before reading, as this book does include some disturbing content. 3/5

This was just okay for me. I didn't like how the story ended. The plot fell a little flat for me and missing something. Like more drama or not devious enough.

I grabbed this audiobook because of the title and cover. My friend and I were reading a lot of books about poisonings and found them super interesting so I was sold on the one before even knowing what it was about haha.
After reading some other reviews, I learned that this was a true crime story or based on a true crime, I didn’t get the from the audio. The story jumps from past to the present times as we follow Constance through her journey of trying to prove her innocence, despite being convicted of murdering her husband. The audiobook was okay, I didn’t mind the narrator’s voice but I found it slow. I actually listened to this one on 3x speed (usually I’m like a 2x speed).
I did enjoy the actual story because it’s interesting how woman were treated as property not people even if they were the richer in the relationships. I don’t approve of Constance taking a lover but I mean good on her in trying to be happy or as happy as she could in her loveless marriage. Her husband was no saint either and I wouldn’t have been able to be happy in that relationship either. All the other characters were not likeable really. I also didn’t realize that people would be paid to spy on their employers and then throw them under the bus. But I guess it makes sense.
The ending for me wasn’t what I wanted. I was expecting a big reveal and there wasn’t so that made it seem a bit lacklustre. And like I read all of this book just for that ending haha.
I think I would still recommend the book because it had lots of factual information, held my interest (except the ending) and it was fast paced for what it was.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

Late 19th century Liverpool melodrama that finds Constance Sullivan standing trial for the murder of her husband, William, from arsenic poisoning. William had been all over the place, coming home late drunk and smelling of perfume, short tempered with the staff and violent with Constance. She has witnessed him using his little white powder more often, making him even more volatile than usual. After learning of his dirty little secret she is driven into the arms of another man having a torrid affair under her husbands nose. But when William discovers her infidelity all hell begins to break loose...until he becomes extremely ill and dies. Now Constance is standing trial with one problem, she didn't kill him but she is determined to find out who did.

This is a fun gothic whodunit with plenty of suspects. It is told from Constance POV but she is not always the most reliant storyteller. It was a little slow moving with a lot of back story but does cover a lot of years within the narrative. I saw the "twist" very early on so the ending was not satisfying or surprising. After I had finished that I found out it was based on a true story which does make it more interesting. It is a decent but not overly complex.

I had the audio version read by Penelope Rawlins who I have enjoyed listening to in the past. She had good characterizations but at points would almost become too quiet, I don't know if that was a production choice or hers. Overall I am a fan of her work and will find more titles read by her.

Constance Sullivan is on trial for murdering her husband. She is more on trial her breaking from Victorian morality than the evidence presented. Told in dual timelines throughout part 1, the book opens with Connie's arrest and continues with views of Connie's marriage to William and the events of the trial. The trial sections are tense as Connie must listen to the witnesses tell her story - she has no autonomy or a way to speak for herself. Connie knows she didn't kill her husband but someone has worked hard to set her up - but who, and why? Connie was only 17 when she met her 40 year old husband while on a trip from the United States to England. After marrying William, she is isolated from her family and her only support are William's family and friends. Connie is very naive and places her trust in the wrong people. This leads to her downfall - it was difficult to witness as the reader. I appreciate that the novel was historically accurate to what happens to Constance - although it was quite infuriating. I suspected who the "villain" was, but I understood how Connie would not realize who it was until it was almost too late. The narrator, Penelope Rawlins, did an excellent job with accents as well as emotions Connie feels throughout. I will definitely be looking to read more Mitchell novels. I would recommend this to readers who like historical fiction or true crime.

I found it hard to connect to these characters therefore, I found it quite boring at times because they wee snobby Uber wealthy English with servants for everything. And I didn’t care. There wasn’t one I could grab onto. Constance’s husband is well known for obtaining a prescription for his arsenic and self medicating. Servants were all screened and hired through her husband’s sister/in/law. Little did Constance know that her husband had recommended the nanny. He gets very I’ll confined to bed and eventually dies. The wife is suspected All of her friends and servants turn on her and she is tried and found guilty. Spent 25 years in jail. All the while reconstructing events to catch the true criminal. Once she gets out , the first person she looks for is her sister in law. Waist of time. I st least kept listening to find out who it was. I did t come close. The narrator was good enough. I just wish it would h r tart off better, zzzzThanks to #NetGalley and#DreamScapeMedia for allowing me to listen to an early unedited early copy.

Actual Rating: 3.5⭐

I got the audio version of this story, I do like how the narrator is able to voice out the emotion that the characters are feeling which makes this reading experience more unique.
However, there are times when the narrator’s voice is too small to be heard and with the accent it can be quite difficult for me to grasp what the narrator is saying.

As for the plot itself, I enjoyed the first part of the story more compare to the second part, where the timeline goes back and forth between the trial and the past events leading to the day where Constance was captured as a suspect for murdering her own husband.
I’m curious about the truth to the murder mystery, which is part of the reason why I kept on listening until the very end.

However, I find most parts from the second part of the story a bit dragging. The last few chapters are quite odd following Constance’s actions for finding the answers. I felt slightly disappointed with the answer to the mystery.

Overall, it’s still quite an enjoyable book. I enjoy listening to the narrator and a couple of red herrings thrown in this story manage to hold my interest until the very end.

I also found out from other reviews that this story was inspired by a true event, sadly it wasn’t mentioned on the audio version. I would’ve liked to know more about that.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: self-harm, suicide attempt, animal death, drug abuse, suicidal thoughts, brief mention of child abuse

This was fun. An American doomed from the start in jolly old England.

Constance seemed quite the naïve little fool in this story. Everyone around her seems to be scheming. People pretend to be her friends but are not. Those who are her supporters go entirely unnoticed. For mystery fans who enjoy racing the author to the final solution, it is a bit of a let down as the clues are not well hidden. However, the characters keep the story moving and the making it to the end to validate your suspicions was worthwhile.

The beginning of the book gave me pause and I started rethinking my decision to read this one. But it quickly did pick up and the story worked well overall with good speed.

The story is based on a true crime case. I found that aspect intriguing. Many of the legal machinations could not have stood up to modern legal benchmarks. Mitchell quite closely followed the details of the real story. She painted a great portrait of the mess of early English upper society life.

The book takes place in Liverpool, England in 1889. Constance Sullivan is accused of murdering her husband. As she fights to prove her innocence, a web of deception unravels.

I liked this book as it goes through the revelations of Constance's journey, however, I found the book to have a bit of a slow start for me. Eventually I found it more engaging which helped keep my attention but I did find that it was a bit slow in parts. I did find there was some repetition in the plot that could have been removed to make the story a little shorter.

The narration by Penelope Rawlins was good, her voice was soothing but I'm not sure it helped the thriller part of the story. She did a good job distinguishing the characters though.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Arsenic Eater's Wife tells the story of Constance Sullivan as she is put on trial for murdering her husband William by poisoning him with arsenic. The only issue is that for as long as Constance has known him, she has known William to take arsenic recreationally. The story is told in alternating timelines with one being the trial and the other being Constance's memories of the events leading up to the death of her husband. The scenes in the past were especially gripping, as Constance was surrounded by shady characters who all seemed to have something they stood to gain from William's death. The plot did start to lose a bit of steam as it got towards the end, but I still found it enjoyable. The narrator was decent, although at times the accents were a bit over the top. This book will definitely appeal to fans of historical fiction and historical mysteries. There are a lot of interesting theories online about what happened in the case the inspired this story, which is pretty fun to dig into as well.