Member Reviews

Wonderfully written story that keeps you guessing from start to finish. A tale of just how far a mother will go for her child

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I've had this book for years, I still haven't, unfortunately, got to it, so this is a placeholder review to reduce my shelf for my own sanity, but will replace this if I ever get to the book

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This Author is really great. I really loved this book. This tale was highly engrossing and highly recommendable!!

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This was a very entertaining book. Just as soon as I thought I had the plot line figured out, it totally changes and I'm left flabbergasted again! The book was a gripping read, and I highly recommend it.

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Excellent thriller. I read this book in one day...yes, it is just that great. Do yourself a favor and just read this book.

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With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
The Adulterer’s Wife was a very entertaining book and an enjoyable read. The husband was a serial adulterer unknown to his wife. He is then murdered by someone whist his wife is sleeping beside him and she doesn’t notice next day that he is dead until hours later she goes to wake him up. The highly entertaining and improbable plot carries on when the widow is charged with his murder and then a woman whom he was sleeping with also dies.
Who did it?
Recommended light hearted read.

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Julie accidentally finds out that her husband is having an affair and decides to tackle him about it and throw him out but only after their son's final exams, until then her knowledge will remain a secret from both of husband and son. Getting home from taking her son to sit that fateful final exam she finds her husband dead - in bed.

Naturally Julie becomes the obvious suspect and as she came home drunk and can remember nothing of the previous evening can she be sure she didn't do it?

As the police keep strengthening their case she sets about trying to find the truth.

This story is very different to the Geraldine Steel mysteries that Russell is normally associated with and this deviation, like the Christmas short story, shows once again how flexible this author is. There is no prize for guessing the outcome but, once again, it's the way the outcome is reached that keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat. And then there's a final twist where it all hangs in the balance...

Opening with the scene where Julie finds out about the affair is a great way to capture the reader from the very start. How would you react? How would I react? I have to admit that I have no idea and to see Russell's interpretation of Julie's reaction was eye opening in many ways. And as Julie undertakes some completely irrational actions you find you can't challenge them because you don't know what insanity would kick in.

Then... as you read on and the case against Julie builds Russell investigates the rights of the child in such a situation and how this affects Julie.

An extremely compelling book for various reasons at various points that will have you reading right to the end - despite knowing the murderer already.

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I received a digital ARC of #TheAdulterer'sWife from #NetGalley for an honest review.

I got really into this book very quickly. I couldn't put it down and was trying to work out who had killed Paul. I changed my mind about 3 times throughout the book, until finally I was right! I hadn't guessed the correct motive though! I did feel a bit disappointed with the ending. It felt like the book was hurtling along at a great pace, but then the ending was a bit of a let down. It was all summed up in a very short space of time. And the final chapter was just all a bit too convenient and neatly wrapped up for me. This had the potential for a great explosive ending but didn't deliver on that, hence only 4 stars.

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First time reading a book from this author But thoroughly enjoyed the experience
Julie has been accused of murdering her husband in bed and the story unfolds with lots of twists and turns, plenty of tension, and a gripping ending leaving me completely suprised by the outcome.
I’m not sure that I fully sympathised with Julie’s character she annoyed me with some of her decisions but maybe that was the authors intention. I read this on my hols and was the perfect book to read whilst by the pool!

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The Adulterer’s Wife is a departure from this author’s usual police procedural thriller genre into the realm of the psychological thriller and she has done a great job!

Julie has been married to Paul for many years and they have a son together, Dan, who has cerebral palsy and is currently going through his GCSEs. When Julie discovers her husband’s affair she is devastated and appalled but vows not to confront him until after Dan’s exams are over. She doesn’t get the chance to do this however as soon after she finds him dead in their bed and finds herself the prime suspect for his murder.
She needs to find who really killed her husband so she will not lose her beloved son and will fight until the end to do so.

I’ll admit I struggled in the early stages of this book. I can understand that Julie was angry with her husband but her reaction to his death is very odd. Basically she is not that likeable a character but as the pace of the book picked up I found myself rooting for her to get the justice she deserves. I will also admit that I guessed the killer pretty early on but this didn’t stop me from ploughing forward and enjoying the book.

There are moments that are somewhat unbelievable but again I still wanted to read on and it still held my interest throughout. They are some great characters within, likeable or not and I recommend this book for an easy but intriguing read.

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Hmm....I don't mind suspending disbelief but this takes it to an entire different level.

Julie has found out that her husband has been having a 2 yr affair with another woman when he accidentally leaves his phone at home when a text message comes in. The bit of the message that scrolls on the screen is enough to pique her curiosity. She goes to open the phone but he must of changed his password because it has always been her date of birth. Odd, she thinks. Within two tries she miraculously figures out his new password, easy peasy, right? *Eye roll* Because every man that is conducting an affair and that changes his password would actually use his own birth date instead? Apparently he's not a bright man.

Julie can't possibly confront him about this. Her son Dan, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is about to take his exams and she doesn't want to stress him out more than he already is. Instead, she goes out and get's completely shit faced with her friends. While under the influence she let's slip what her husband is up to. They try to convince her to leave him but those darn exams Dan has to take are far more important. So they wrap up the night, hop in a cab, and Julie makes her way to her bed in an alcohol blur.

The next morning she discovers her husband has died. In her bed. What is she to do? It appears suspicious, murder not natural causes after all, and the police consider her suspect #1.

Julie, what a terrible character you are. You find out your husband cheats on you one day, the next day you find him dead, and you haven't a care in the world. All she wants is money, money, money. Seriously! You went from happily married one day to not giving two shits because he cheated and died the next day. Whatever. She must have the emotions of a slug.

I guessed the killer because it's basically told to you in the first few chapters if you're paying attention.

Thanks to NetGalley & Bloodhound Books for providing me with a digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

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Julie is devastated to learn that her husband, Paul, is having an affair. It seems her life can’t get any worse - until she comes home to find his dead body in their bed.

When the police establish he was murdered, Julie is the obvious suspect.

To protect her son from the terrible situation, Julie sends the teenage boy to his grandparents in Edinburgh while she fights to prove her innocence.

With all the evidence pointing to her, the only way she can escape conviction is by discovering the true identity of her husband’s killer.

But who really did murder Paul?

The truth is never straightforward…

Lies and more lies. I loved this book! Absolutely nothing to say about it else there will be spoilers. Want to know more? … Read it! 5*

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I was quite disappointed with this book. I did not like Julie at all and did not understand why she was under suspicion. The police work seemed shoddy. I had no idea why she was paying Ackerman when she was going all the legwork. And you could guess the killer in the first two chapters.. this book started with a great plot but somewhere it just fizzled out.

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I’ve had the first three book in Leigh Russell’s Geraldine Steel series forever but I’ve yet to pick them up despite hearing fantastic things about them so when I saw that she had come out with a crime thriller book, I knew I’d have to pick it up! When Julies husband leaves his phone at home one morning, Julie catches a text and ends up finding that he’s possibly being cheating on her. She thinks that things can’t get worse until she comes home and finds her husband dead in bed and it’s a downwards spiral from there onwards for Julie.
I have to say I’m really really disappointed by this as I’d had such high hopes for it. I read Book Addict Shauns review when I was thinking about requesting this on NetGalley and he pointed out that there is a glaringly obvious scene that highlights who the killer is very early on in the book and he was right! There is a scene that highlighted something, and I just knew then who the killer was. I was hoping, through the whole book, that there was going to be some great twist that proved me wrong but unfortunately.
The other thing that really grated on me and annoyed me was Julie herself. I really didn’t like her, yet I had a such a great case for feeling sorry for her; her husband was cheating on her and she’d had absolutely no idea plus she was trying to manage her son as he went through his GCSE’s. But wow I really couldn’t like her! I mean she found her husband, dead, in bed next to her and she had zero empathy for his death. She was just full of hatred for him and actually seemed glad that he was dead. Like wow, he was still the father of their son and she spent a large portion of her life with him but apparently none of that even mattered! She made some incredibly stupid decisions throughout the book. I have no idea why anyone would make the decision that Julie did when there were other much saner options that she could have picked. The whole private investigator story was just ridiculous and un-necessary, and it really didn’t add anything to the story except to try and bulk out Julie’s story a bit because the mystery was just not adequate on its own.
I’m not really sure if I would recommend this, even for people who pick up the odd thriller here and there. I think there are so many better thrillers that could be picked up instead. This could have been a great crime/thriller but it had so many missed opportunities.

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Okay so this novel had a great premise and i was so looking forward to reading it. However, literally in the first or second chapter before even finding her husband's body, i could tell who the murderer was.. it was SO obvious. Massive error there.
If not for that, this book would have been awesome!

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The book starts off well but I had a hard time reading it. The plot was weak. I could figure it out early enough in the book to want to stop. The storyline was hard to believe and a bit tedious. I disliked Julie a lot and maybe that made it a less enjoyable read than I expected.

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This is a very exciting thriller ! I found myself unable to put this book down until it was concluded.
When Julie finds out that her husband of 20 years has been cheating on her for over 2 years, she is devastated. She decides to do nothing for the moment as she is dealing with a difficult disabled child and her own emotions. . She leaves him sleeping one morning and leaves the house as usual. When she returns she finds he is dead in their bed.

From that day forward life is a nightmare for Julie. The police are certain that she killed him as they discover he was a cheater. She hires a down on his luck private investigator who does not do his job, her son leaves her and her life is falling apart.
She winds up behind bars with a crummy lawyer who doesn't believe her. She sees her future is in dire peril and decides she must find her husband's killer herself. The action never stops as she cleverly finds suspects.
I loved the authors masterful writing with the twist and turns. This was a exciting book and I highly recommend it for all readers of mystery and thrillers.
Thank you for the ARC that did not influence my review. Very well done ! A excellent read.

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This is my first Leigh Russell novel and having read and thoroughly enjoyed it I was pleased to discover she has already written 15 or so books so there is obviously a few more for me to read now.
Julie is shell shocked when she learns that her husband Paul is having an affair. With her son currently taking important exams, she decides not to confront her husband until after her son has finished his exams. But her plan is shattered when she finds her husband Paul dead in bed. The police are called in to investigate this mysterious death and Julia is forced to prove her innocence.
This is a fast paced psychological thriller that will keep you guessing and wondering which characters to trust.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Bloodhound books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Immer wenn man denkt, man hat es, ist es schon wieder weg. Ein echter pageturner voll twists and turns (schade, dass es im deutschen keinen passenderen Ausdruck dafür gibt). Flüssiger Sprachstil, handwerklich meisterhaft aufgebaute story und Charaktere. Wahrhaftig breathtaking...

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I have read quite a few books by this author now and they have always been great reads and very enjoyable so I was really keen to get my hands on her latest release – The Adulterer’s Wife!

This book is unlike the others that I have read by Leigh (the previous books I have read have been more crime fiction and police procedural). I enjoyed it as a good psychological thriller but I did guess the ending and who was responsible very early on and felt that the plot was a little weak because of this. The writing style was good and as I have come to expect from this author and I enjoyed the plot but it was lacking slightly for me so 3 stars from me for this one

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