Couldn’t put this one down. I was gripped from the beginning and loved every second. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This book is set in this eerie cabin in Wales, and let me tell you, Sue Watson nails the atmosphere. You can practically feel the, oppressive darkness of the place..it’s so vivid!

Okay, imagine this!
Wendy and Jill are best friends and neighbors.. they’re super close. But things start getting weird when Jill notices her husband acting a little too friendly with Wendy. At first, she convinces herself it’s nothing, he’s just being his usual charming self, right?

Then, fast forward a bit, and Jill’s son ends up taking Wendy’s daughter to prom. And Jill? She’s not thrilled. She’s never really trusted Wendy’s daughter because, honestly, she’s just too much like her mom. And then, everything falls apart. Something tragic happens, and only one of the kids comes back that night. It’s devastating, and you can’t help but wonder what really happened? Who’s hiding what? It’s intense.

The prologue hooked me right away, it was so gripping that I couldn’t help but dive in. Every chapter had some kind of revelation or cliffhanger that kept me turning pages like crazy. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did!

Wowsers!!! That was a head spinner. A deliciously tangled web of lies that had me screaming 'oh no!' in my head on a few occasions. I think this is my favourite book by this author so far, just because of the way the truth reveals itself, building up and up and up to a fabulous ending. If you like stories about neighbours getting too involved in each other's lives, then this one is for you. Absolutely loved it!

Once again another fabulous book by Sue Watson, one of my favourite authors. When I see one of Sue's books I do not worry about reading the blurb, I just immediately request them.

This is a story about families, love, friendship, lies and betrayals. Jill and her husband Tim struggled for many years to have a baby and finally they welcomed a baby boy into the world, Leo. Jill was besotted but also a very nervous mother and for his whole Life she kept Leo close.

Next door lives Wendy and her husband Robert, they have a daughter Olivia and two other sons. Wendy is a much more relaxed mother than Jill but they become good friends.

On the night of their prom Leo and Olivia attend together but a terrible event happens that changes everyone's lives. Soon friendships will be tested and love that they thought they new may not take on a different light.

Once again I was turning the pages at a fast pace, lots of surprises , tension and suspence that will keep you entertained. I highly recommend this book and can't wait until Sue writes another.

Two old friends go on a weekend away together, both have completely different agendas and ideas on how the weekend will end. After their children attended prom together a year and a half earlier and only one came home, their relationship has been strained, with the dead child’s mother believing the other child is to blame and convinced their mum is covering for them.

The story is told through alternating chapters from the two friends POV- Jill and Wendy and as we read we find out their intentions for the weekend as well as the truth of what happened the night of the prom.

This is a twisty thriller that kept me guessing to the end, as usual a great read from Sue Watson.

I received this book from NetGalley as an Arc reader in exchange for an honest review. I found this story to be very intriguing and captivating from the minute I started reading. The author did very well to keep the story interesting without adding unnecessary storylines or plot points. I enjoyed both POV’s from Jill and Wendy. The only reason this fell down to a 4 star to me is because once the major plot twist is revealed, I just felt there was random twists added one on top of the other which made it predictable to me. Overall I quite enjoyed this and would recommend it to people in need of a good thriller!

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅.

I thought this book was going to be about two neighbors who became two best friends, enjoying the camaraderie of raising their kids together, becoming extended family to one another, and always being a sympathetic ear to the other, but that description doesn't even scratch the surface.

The two women have very different personalities and parenting styles--Jill is tightly wound, perhaps because it was so difficult for her to conceive and bring a pregnancy to term, so she's very Type A and protective over her son Leo. She makes her disdain known over her friend Wendy's more relaxed parenting style with her daughter Olivia. Things get interesting when the kids go to prom together, and through alternating points of view, we discover that neither parent is especially thrilled over the interest their children are showing one another.

As if losing her precious only son weren't enough, Jill's marriage is falling apart after she discovers her husband's latest affair, just another in a string of many. Because Wendy had confided in Jill in the past that she was cheating on her husband, she can't help but feel uneasy. Is there something going on between her husband and her best friend? And even worse, after Leo's death. Olivia suddenly moved out of the country to live with her father. Jill is convinced that her friend knows more than she's letting on about what happened the night of prom when Leo ended up in the river.

With every chapter ending on a cliffhanger, the tension was high, and when Jill invites Wendy to a getaway in a remote cabin in the mountains under the guise of repairing their strained friendship, what really happened on prom night will implode the lives of these women forever. With layer after layer of deception, this is an absolute must read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this early read. At the time this review was written, this title was expected to publish January 10, 2025.

A nicely twisty one that will keep you guessing. Jill and Wendy tell their story a story centered around Jill's much loved son Leo who died after going to the prom with Wendy's daughter Olivia. Both women have secrets, secrets which are more painful than will be immediately obvious. I gotta say Wendy really should not have accepted that invite but then we wouldn't have had this page turner. Thanks to Netgalley for the arC.

A good read from this author is guaranteed……..this book takes the idea of neighbourly best friends with all it’s good things and turns it 360 degrees and shows what can happen when all is not as it seems and years of grudging resentment build up………when the 2 neighbours re unite for a girly weekend in Wales both are there for very different reasons…….

For me the 2nd part of the book came into it’s own when without giving anything away the conversation between them and others became one sided but was very much being answered…..it was really well done and spiked the tension especially as it evolved

A lot of history for the pair that we get to unwrap and slowly work out why they are in the predicament they are……and of course there is one very big unresolved issue that will not go away

It’s hard not to say too much but it is a great look at friendships that go wrong and even though the pretence is kept up the truth will out

A fascinating involving book

This is a dark tale of grief and revenge following a mother’s loss of her son. After her son dies following his high school prom his mother is consumed with grief and determined to find someone to blame for what happened to him. Her search has alienated all of those closest to her but when she reaches out to her best friend for them to spend a weekend together in Wales it looks like she’s finally ready to move on with her life but the truth is darker than anyone imagined. She wants someone to pay and she knows those closest to her have the answers she needs. A great edge of your seats read.

Wow! This was a great read! I will be recommending to all fans of twisty thrillers. I could not put this down - I kept saying “one more chapter”. Jill and Wendy are former neighbors and besties….both have huge secrets and neither one are what they seem at first. Throw in a murder on prom night and a creepy older couple with an even creepier shed and you’ve got a winner here! Told from alternating points of view, I loved getting to know both characters and enjoyed their outrageous behavior. I am new to Sue Watson, but will be reading more of her work now. Thanks to Net Galley for an advance copy!

5 Stars from me

Easily the best psychological thriller that I've read in a long time.

I think literally everyone is an unreliable narrator and that just adds a whole 'nother level to the suspense as the story unravels. And I do mean unravels. What initially seems like the idyllic place to live, among best friends, and happy families, is soon a hot bed of nightmares.

This is a book you will find hard to put down as there is so much packed into the story, so many mysteries to uncover and lies to reveal.

Just when I thought I'd worked out the story and the direction of the deception, another twist appears out of nowhere.

An absolute must for fans of psychological thrillers.

Jill and Wendy were neighbors and best friends for years until Wendy's daughter, Olivia went to the prom with Jill's son, Leo and Leo ended up dead. Jill is determined to find out exactly what happened to her son so she invites Wendy to a girls' weekend getaway in a very remote area. The first half of this book is very slow moving and somewhat repetitive at times until about the halfway mark when things really start to happen. I ended up really enjoying this book with all of the twists and surprises, some of which I had figured out and I loved the ending. The characters were all pretty much unlikeable which made for a good read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book which turned out to be a page turner.

Normally I devour Sue Watson books via audiobook, but her writing style had me hooked even on e-book. I loved the back and forth perspective between two former friends Jill and Wendy, and the intrigue with their respective secrets and lies made for an absolute page turner. I did correctly guess the twist, though it may just be due to having read every thing else this author has published (and anxiously waiting for more!) but still felt very satisfied with how the ending wrapped up. Thank you Netgalley for helping to satisfy my addiction to this author's twisty, heart-pounding psychological domestic thrillers. Bravo Sue Watson for another brilliant story.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Twenty five years of marriage with a cheating husband. Neighbors who became good friends/enemies? Wanting a baby so bad and the heartbreak when her son is found in the water. Everyone is lying! What happened to him? Why? A fast paced psychological thriller!

Jill is living a perfect life as a doting mother to her child and wife of Tim. She is lucky to live next door to her best friend Wendy and her family. Only when police sirens are heard one night, their world comes crashing down. Is someone hiding something? Who can be trusted?

This is my second Sue Watson book and another entertaining, compelling thriller, which was certainly very twisty! The majority of this story is told in the voices of the two main characters, over the space of a few days, using memories to create a backstory for the reader. I found that this worked well for this domestic thriller and came across as fresh and engaging. I also felt the sinister, eerie vibes of the story, which helped create a suspenseful, tense atmosphere.

The characters were developed well, although I personally didn’t particularly find anyone that likeable. I honestly had no idea what was going on for the majority of the story and then it clicked as the twists started being revealed and everything made sense. The way the author uses subtle clues and cliffhangers helped to keep me turning the pages and trying to work out who I could really trust. Sue Watson is definitely a great story teller and I really look forward to discovering what she writes next. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Wife, Mother, Liar has a lot happening in and most of it is actually in the final act, which was great for me as I was dying to figure out what had happened early on.

Jill is the mother of Leo, who recently passed during prom, and she is desperate to figure out what really happened as the story doesn’t completely check out. Her best friend, Wendy, is mother to Olivia who seemingly saw Leo last. Jill sets up a trip with Wendy to see what she sees, and we find out more details around Leo and Olivia, the kids growing up, and Jill and Wendy’s relationship with one another and their husbands (who aren’t great). But the action really picks up when Jill is injured and not so deeply in a coma as doctors suspect. That’s when we find out what exactly happened (and feel Jill’s frustration at not being able to move a muscle once she knows). Suffice to say how this shakes out can’t be guessed, though I do wish we had some more of these discoveries earlier on to build up some tension. Still, this one is a clincher to read for those who like to be stumped (and then rejoice in sweet revenge with your book characters).

Sue Watson has done it again! I knew I had to have this book as soon as I saw it, and I loved every second of reading it. The twists and turns that comes out of Sue's brain are incredible haha. I thought I had this book sussed out early on, I was very wrong - thank you, truly amazing!

When Leo dies, Jills life is turned upside down, she looses who she is, all she's ever wanted was to be a mother. Everyone around her is lying, was Leos death an accident or was he murdered? Is the killer close to home, Jill is not letting it go until she finds out the truth.

Wife, Mother, Liar is told from the POV of Jill and Wendy, two neighbours who used to be best friends despite of being complete opposites, as they raised their kids together. Jill's acerbic, to put it mildly, and Wendy's a bit more easy going and knows how to enjoy life. To Jill's dismay, her son Leo started dating Wendy's daughter Olivia when they were teenagers. They went to prom together and unfortunately Leo ended up dead.

Now Jill's marriage is falling apart after Jill discovers her husband's latest affair. Jill can't help but feel a bit resentful against Wendy as Wendy had shared with her in the past that she was cheating on her husband, Robert. Wendy reminds Jill a bit too much about her cheating husband, and feels a sense of connection to Rob. Do Jill and Rob know more than they're letting in on?

Jill has invited Wendy to join her on a girl's trip to a remote cabin in Wales where she's determined to find the truth about what really happened to Leo...

To say that I enjoyed Wife, Mother, Liar is an understatement. I read a lot of domestic thrillers and thought I had it all figured out but this was an absolute rollercoaster of a book.

The novel starts with Jill discovering her husband's planning to leave her for his latest fling. Yes, he's one those those and you wonder why she's putting up with him... apparently she's happy to turn a blind eye with in the hopes that he'll settle down as he gets older. Is this why some women out there put up with their husband's indiscretions? ladies, don't waste your life away like this!! and also don't get any ideas from this book... maybe ;-)

We then meet Wendy. We aren't really supposed to like her (I think) and from the very beginning I'm dreading reading her chapters, but her POV gets better -or better put, more salacious- as the story goes on. I found it really hard to empathise with her, let alone like her or even feel sorry for her. I didn't love her ending but I can see with the author did it.

Wendy's marriage to Rob is the opposite to Jill's marriage to Tim. Wendy's husband is a doctor, kind, empathetic and long-suffering of Wendy's indiscretions because chain-cheating has nothing to do with gender and more with one's moral compass. You do feel sorry for Rob... or do you??

But the whole gist of the story is trying to find out whatever happened on that night when Leo died... this is revealed mid-point which, firslty it'll leave you thinking expletives and secondly, what if I told you that's not even the most shocking thing that happens in this book?

A must-read for me.

Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A story full of lies and while half way through the book, , it’s revealed what actually happened but as the book continues, so does the deceit and the need for revenge escalates, none of the characters had any redeeming qualities but that just added to the storyline. Admittedly it took me a few chapters to settle into the book but once that happened, I found it difficult to leave aside.