Every psychological thriller cliché is stuffed into this absurdly entertaining novella! It’s a satire of the genre, so if you are familiar with this kind of book and you have a sense of humour, I highly recommend it. Even from the beginning, with the cat walking across the keyboard in the dedication, I knew it would be a fun read! It also gets a bit ‘meta’ with the protagonist reading this very same book!
I can’t explain the premise better than the author, so here is the blurb:
My husband is dead.
I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car.
My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.
So why do I still see his face everywhere I go?
The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie is an utterly addictive, unputdownable, nail-biting, absolutely gripping psychological thriller novella with a shocking, breathtaking, heartstopping, spine-chilling twist that you won’t see coming, will leave you stunned, and will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor and bringing it to the nearest hospital for major facial reconstructive surgery.
I hope that convinces you to read it! I particularly enjoyed the book because I became tired of what I call ‘ordinary’ domestic / psychological thrillers (there has to be an unusual angle or a bit of sci-fi or paranormal to get me interested in them now) and this one shoehorns in the kind of twists and tropes that always turn up in the genre. I can understand that a reader who only reads this genre and likes their books to be serious might not enjoy this satire. However, as the author is a well-known, successful thriller writer, I am sure the novella demonstrates affection for the genre and is not intended to annoy her fans. I haven’t read her other work, but if she does any more satires then I certainly will.
Published in 2024 by Hollywood Upstairs Press – I think this may be one of her independently-published books as I can’t find details for this publisher.