Her Husband's Lover by Julia Crouch (panel member at March's First Monday Crime)

Her Husband's Lover
By Julia Crouch
Published by Headline (26 January 2017)
ISBN: 978-1472206671

Publisher's description

She stole her husband. Now she wants to take her life.

After the horrors of the past, Louisa Williams is desperate to make a clean start.

Her husband Sam is dead. Her children, too, are gone, victims of the car accident in which he died.

Sam said that she would never get away from him. That he would hound her to death if she tried to leave. Louisa never thought that he would want to harm their children though.

But then she never thought that he would betray her with a woman like Sophie.

And now Sophie is determined to take all that Louisa has left. She wants to destroy her reputation and to take what she thinks is owed her - the life she would have had if Sam had lived.

Her husband's lover wants to take her life. The only question is will Louisa let her?

My verdict
Her Husband's Lover is a twisty psychological thriller.

The plot, with two determined and unstable women at its heart, is compelling and unsettling. Filled with betrayal, jealousy and dark secrets, it totally played with my mind. The writing is sharp, with strong characterisation and several interwoven threads. I wasn't sure who to trust or whether anyone could be trusted.

Her Husband's Lover is cleverly written, changing direction more than once. It's a slow burner - a character-led book rather than a plot-driven one, with two unreliable narrators to confuse the reader. I don't often start reading a book with one view of certain characters and reach the disturbing ending with a totally different one. But that's exactly how Her Husband's Lover affected me. It's very well done, with so many red herrings and distorted truths.

I received an Advance Reader Copy.

First Monday Crime - March 2017

Julia Crouch will be on the First Monday Crime panel on 6 March 2017. Come along and listen to him and three other fantastic authors - Erin Kelly, Daniel Cole and MJ Arlidge - talk about their books and crime writing. The event is held at Browns, St Martins Lane, London at 6.30pm.

Buy your tickets here.