I haven't read any of Leigh Russell's acclaimed crime novels but I'll definitely be adding them to my wishlist after reading The Adulterer's Wife. Although I had my suspicions early on about what had happened, and I'll not say if I was right or not, I still really enjoyed the book and found myself being thrown off the scent a little bit by the clever way that Leigh Russell had drawn her characters.

Paul makes the fatal mistake of leaving his mobile at home one day when it pings with a message and his wife, Julie, feels the bottom of her world fall out. As Julie scrolls through the other messages, the evidence is overwhelming: Paul is having an affair. Julie thought he was playing squash on a Tuesday when he was actually playing away with a woman named Bella. When Paul rushes back home to retrieve his phone, Julie hides it and says she hasn't seen it. Rather therapeutically I have to say, Julie takes the SIM card out and smashes the phone with a hammer. Then she stupidly destroys the SIM card - nooooooooooooo, I yelled, you need to keep the evidence! She hadn't even checked his photos.

So phone and marriage destroyed, Julie pretends that everything is ok for the sake of her son, Dan, who is taking his exams. Once Dan's exams are over, Julie plans to kick Paul out. On a night out with her friends, alcohol loosens Julie's tongue and she tells her friends about Paul's affair. Julie is in quite a state when she gets home and when she wakes up the next day she finds Paul dead in the bed beside her. Julie doesn't even shed a single tear; they have been married for 19 years, surely she should feel something! It made me wonder whether Julie was so emotionless because she had killed Paul in a drunken stupor - the police certainly think so. Julie protests her innocence but as the evidence mounts up against her, she turns to several people for help but it's clear that not all can be trusted.

It's odd that I enjoyed the book but I didn't like Julie at all. I really couldn't cope with her lack of emotions when her husband died and perhaps can see why he ended up having an affair. I loved the feeling of Julie running out of time like sand through an hourglass as she tried to escape the clutches of the police. Once they got their hands on her she'd be going to jail as there was enough evidence to link her to Paul's death. The book really made me think about trust and how we take it for granted that we can trust those closest to us but so many people are multi-faceted and you never know which face is the real one.

All in all, I think The Adulterer's Wife is a fast-paced, compulsive domestic noir style thriller.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

Not too long after discovering that her husband has been having an affair, Julie Barrett discovers his dead body in their bed. Although she immediately becomes the primary suspect, Julie decides to pursue her own investigation. After all, she is innocent. The question is, to what lengths will she go to prove it?

This makes this book sound promising enough. However, this was rather a slow read to me. For one thing, I felt a disconnect with Julie. I also felt that there a couple of inconsistencies, like how can her friend phone her while she is hiding out? After all, the police confiscated her cell phone, unless the investigators released her personal property and I just somehow missed it. This book just didn’t draw me in like most thrillers that I read and enjoy. It read very slow most of the time. However, I will give this author at least one more read because I truly enjoy psychological thrillers.

Many thanks to Bloodhound Books and NetGalley for this ARC to review. ( )

The Adulterer’s Wife by Leigh Russell

Hmmm…as I read I kept thinking…Really? The story seemed at times more of a comedy than a murder mystery and if done as a movie would need to be done as a spoof…perhaps… I did not connect with the characters at all and could never understand the thinking processes or actions of Julie. Since I don’t want to give the plot away and since the blurb says that Paul, Julie’s husband has been murdered I will only say that at no point in this book could I see myself behaving as Julie did. I am really trying to find something that I can say that I liked in the story...and I am coming up empty handed.

Did I like Julie? No
Was the plot believable? No
Would I read another book by this author? Maybe
Who do I recommend this book to? Not sure

I did see that this author has series of books that some people love and have read reviews by others who found this book worthy of five stars but…that reader is not me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

1-2 Stars ( )