Rachel Reviews: The Serial Killer's Wife by Alice Hunter
An original book with a surprising ending which failed to set this reader alight
I do love a recommendation and when my aunty told me that this was a good book, I was bound to give it a go, her taste aligning with mine a lot of the time. It was also because there is a series of the same name on British TV which my aunty had said was very different to the book and what did I think? No sphere of reference meant no comment so I decided to delve.
Don't look at this title and think that it's going to be a gore-fest because it isn't. There are some descriptions that convey a tense situation between killer and victim but it's not graphic. In fact, what this book centres on is the wife, Beth Hardcastle, and her coming to terms with the fact that she is indeed the wife of a serial killer.
The book starts off well enough with the depiction of the happy family - Tom, Beth and little Poppy - before their world is fractured by the arrival of the police. It seems that Tom's ex-girlfriend, believed to have gone travelling may actually be dead, killed by Tom. One death does not a serial killer make, I hear you cry and you would be right. And so, the story evolves, showing us how Beth deals with the revelations as more and more becomes known about Tom.
This is a slow unravel. I think that it was designed to be a tension piece where you're kept guessing and as you are inside Beth's head a lot of the time, you're focused on her anxiety and her conjecture on the truth of it all. The narrative does switch between flashbacks to past encounters as well as Tom's own perspective and to be honest, I wish there had been more of Tom at times because being with Beth, I found, a little frustrating at times. In fact, I might even stretch to describing myself as being bored.
This is not an unenjoyable book. It's well-written and it flows and it builds to a very surprising ending but for me it lacked something to make me excited. My expectations were high, I don't deny but even taking that into account, the book made me feel impatient and not in an anticipatory I must keep reading way: Beth's mulling over everything, I found, less intense and more repetitive.
It's the twist(s) at the end, I think, that sells this. Was it worth reading the rest of it to get there? Mmm, I don't know. It wasn't a bad book but I did have to mentally trudge at times.
Rachel Rating: 3 stars
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Comments (3)
From what you have written, my initial, little-informed guess would be that she's the actual serial killer, setting him up for some perceived fault (whether that be jealousy over exes, infidelity, or any of an infinite number of possibilities). I would likely be disappointed to find that this is not the case. But I guess I'm unlikely ever to take the time to find out.
Oof - mentally trudging through a book. Well done. I feel like life’s too short for poor coffee and dodgy books!
It wasn’t a bad book? reminds me of the comment it wasn’t bad but Lord knows it wasn’t good either. Another excellent review, Rachel. Thanks for warning off the book with faint praise! 🙄