A review by julia_stark
My Wife, the Serial Killer by H.J. Garbett

dark funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Entertaining from the first sentence, My Wife the Serial Killer is a comedy-horror-thriller that explores that dreaded feeling that perhaps you can't trust the person you love, and maybe you never truly knew them. My Wife the Serial Killer doesn't just focus on the strained marriage of Fran and Gareth, but looks at both their lives from different points; Gareth is stuck in the present, wanting to be more ambitious and firm but too cautious to rock the boat, not entirely convinced he knows what his future should be. Fran is trapped in the past and her childhood trauma, letting it consume all aspects of her life in order to enact vengeance. But will vengeance actually give her the peace she craves?

Hooked from the start, MWTSK does start to peter out about 2/3 of the way through - a lot of the things that happen could have been resolved with (yep, you guessed it) ✨communication✨ - however, Garbett hooks you back in with a back story and a final ultimatum that really tests how strong a relationship can be. There's not a huge amount of character development, and any found goes in a very dark direction, but sometimes it's a nice change to see someone become their worst self - we can all aspire to be murdering psychopaths 🥰

My Wife the Serial Killer is available now!

Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for ARC access!