Book Synopsis:
Louise Bridges has the perfect life.
A loving husband, Patrick. Two adorable children. A comfortable home.
So when PC Becca Holt arrives to break the news that Patrick has been killed in an accident, she thinks Louise’s perfect world is about to collapse around her.
But Louise doesn’t react in the way Becca would expect her to on hearing of her husband’s death. And there are only three plates set out for dinner, as if Louise already knew Patrick wouldn’t be home that night…
The more Becca digs, the more secrets she uncovers in the Bridges’ marriage – and the more she wonders just how far Louise would go to get what she wants…
Is Louise a loving wife – or a cold-hearted killer?
The Perfect Widow is available in ebook now and paperback on the 23rd January 2020. You can purchase or pre-order your copy using the link below.
My Review:
The Perfect Widow is a clever and compelling psychological thriller which is the author’s debut novel in this genre.
The novel is split between ‘then’ and ‘now’ chapters which helps the reader to see the story from various points of view which I thought was very interesting and helped me to see the whole story more clearly. I don’t think I was a particular fan of either of the main characters as they both had flaws which I found quite irritating and which meant I was unable to warm to them. Becky’s constant mistakes and inability to make much headway in the investigation grated on me after a while as I felt she should have been able to do a much better job. Louise was a much more sympathetic character as I could understand why she behaves like she did but her need to control things was a bit worrying and meant that I couldn’t warm to her. These flaws did make both characters seem more realistic however, which was probably the author’s intention as it did increase the level of unease in the book.
This book was a bit of a slow burner as the reader learns more about the characters and their past but soon picks up as things become very interesting. The author cleverly led me in one direction and then another, with the many twists keeping me guessing until the end. There is a level of unease in the book which slowly builds as the reader becomes more aware of what is going on. I actually found it quite thought provoking to think about how much we can ever truly know someone.
Huge thanks to Jessica Lee from HQ stories for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
About The Author:
Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a feature writer on national newspapers including the Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Alice lives in south east London and is married with two children, two stepchildren and two cats. She writes psychological thrillers for HQDigital under the name A.M. Castle and the London Murder Mystery cozy crime series for Darkstroke as Alice Castle. Twitter @AliceMCastle, website http://www.alicecastleauthor.com. Click the ‘Follow’ button if you’d like an email when her next book is released 🙂
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