The Wife List by J A Schneider

28^th January 2023.

Crime writer Beth Kemp is an unhappy wife in New York, where the streets are rife with crime and violence after the pandemic. When her agent and best friend is murdered in her car on her way home, Beth’s distraught. When her husband suggests they escape to the country, she’s not convinced it’s a good idea – until she gets there.

But all is not well when they move into their new home. Her neighbours seem to have a violent marriage. One night she sees something that leads her to believe the wife was murdered. Then the estate agent who sold them the house has a bruise under her eye.

Are the husbands conspiring to murder each other’s wives?

The urgency of the writing draws you into the story from the opening pages, creating a tense atmosphere that hints at paranoia, but also conspiracy. As Beth slowly begins to doubt her sanity, the tension and suspense build until it’s like a runaway train as the climax approaches.

The characters are strong, believable and confidently drawn, adding to the latent menace that threatens Beth. The build-up of suspense and danger is palpable, leading to tense climax and a beautifully executed twist I didn’t see coming.

I’ve read and enjoyed some of the author’s previous books before, but this one’s the best yet. It’s part psychological thriller, part murder mystery, but wholly enjoyable.

I received an advance review copy for free in return for an honest review.

Description

Has a group of men conspired to murder each other’s wives – figuring their perfect alibis will save them? That is what Beth Kemp starts to suspect, but is she losing her mind? Her husband says he fears so…

I’ll give this marriage one more try, Beth Kemp thinks. She is a successful crime writer in New York City, who regrets that tension has crept into her relationship with her husband, Brad. He too is a writer who, after early success, finds his career fading.

Brad urges that a move to the country would make them happy again – and safe, especially Beth, to avoid the city’s stress that triggers her severe asthma attacks. Beth wavers, until her close friend is murdered and the friend’s husband has a perfect alibi. She finally accepts that the city with its surging crime has become too hard for her.

The Kemps move to beautiful Sheffield, Connecticut, so perfect it seems too good to be true. It is. When one new friend cries in fear about her husband, and another has a bruise under her eye, Brad tells Beth that she’s overimagining. But when she hears of another wife’s unsolved murder and yet another friend dies mysteriously, Beth suspects the husbands of covering for each other. Brad tells her she’s getting crazy, paranoid.

Then Beth stumbles onto the most devastating shock of all, one she never imagined…