Three and a half stars rounded up to four stars! The best way to bury your husband is a dark humorous novel following the lives of four women and a daughter who accidentally killed their husbands following a life of horrific domestic violence. We follow them through the Covid lockdown as they find ways to get rid of the bodies.

This title caught my attention straight away which was the first reason for my NetGalley request! I enjoyed this book, however found it quite slow at parts. It took my a while to get through the first 50% but I found the second half I went through it much quicker. This book had an important message about domestic violence and how many women are killed each week by their partners.

An incredibly dark and witty story that focuses on the theme of domestic violence without making light of it. Key themes of female friendship and empowerment, revenge, and dark humour. 5 stars.

The book started out promising but failed to hold my interest. It seemed to jump around and the characters were well developed but seemed to just share the abuse which the author tries to make light of.

Thought-provoking novel set in Covid lockdown times. It tackles domestic violence and female friendship using plenty of dark humor. Do read the afterword!

The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the cover design, I love it. Its vibrant with a twist. You are pulled in by the colour then you read the title and that it self explanatory.

Although I expected this to be a semi humorous read I struggled to loose myself in it, I shall add that I am used to dark crime, the humor was there but it just didn't hit the spot

The characters are diverse with the same problem connecting them. You get an overview of the characters which means you can get to know a few rather than know each one inside out and back to front.

I enjoyed the plot and overall it is an easy read.

An enjoyable ride from start to finish. The book is told from the POV of several abused women living in the same area during lockdown. Each has been isolated with her abuser for months, enduring all kinds of misery and pain until that crucial moment when they just snap.
Now they are desperately trying to find a way to get away with murder and dispose of their men whilst maintaining social distancing.
As serious as the topic of domestic abuse and forced marriage is, this book manages to strike a more lighthearted tone. It doesn't shy away from the aftereffects nor does it sugarcoat what years of emotional and physical abuse does to women, but it does manage to focus more on the going forward, on how these women start to build their lives again.
It has feel-good elements as well as found family and I could see this being a great favourite with book groups.
Wonderful rounded, realistic middle-aged characters as well as teens and elderly neighbours, all of which weave a rich tapestry of a neighbourhood social group. Would highly recommend it.

Such a serious topic and still I found. myself laughing often throughout this book. Highly recommend it!
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.

Somewhere in suburbia domestic abuse is taking place. The victims could be wives, partners or daughters – occasionally a man, but more commonly it is women who are victims in this often hidden abuse. So the setting for this novel is suburbia during the Covid lockdown when four unfortunate women meet by chance, each a victim of domestic abuse.

Sally the main narrator. She’s had just about enough, in fact more than enough, and one night hits her slob-of-a-husband over the head with a frying pan. Once she’s got over the shock of his demise she’s then faced with the What-To-Do-Next issue. Whilst I sympathised with her situation I didn’t like her very much. She’d been a doormat for years, and suddenly she’s in control, but she wants to control the other women too.

Given the topic this is actually an “easy” read in the sense that it’s not doom and gloom as the author injects a certain amount of black humour. Sadly it just didn’t work for me, possibly because the characters weren’t fully fleshed out, maybe the hand wringing and guilt was all a bit much. I’m not suggesting that this wouldn’t happen – I’m sure I’d feel a tad guilty if I’d bashed my husband’s head in – I’m not sure I’d want to be part of a group support thing.

Good topic, but ultimately a disappointing read with humour that sometimes just felt a bit contrived and flat.

This one had an interesting title and I enjoyed seeing peoples faces when I put my kindle down and they could see what I was reading!

This was a story which is set in the pandemic about abuse and friendships. I liked the storyline and the characters were interesting. However, I did feel that the story was too long and drawn out, I did find myself skim reading parts often.

Although, I enjoyed the book I didn’t love it and thought it was just ok.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchanged for my honest review.

This was so fun!!
It was the perfect mix of cosy, dark, thrilling and sweet.

The deeper meaning and purpose of highlighting violence against women was hugely appreciated! A really accessible way to allow readers to think about such an important topic.

The Best Way To Bury Your Husband is aptly set amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, using dark humour to explore the impact of isolation on domestic abuse.

Told from the perspective of four women, we witness the launch of the 'Lockdown Ladies Burial Club' and the lengths good friends will go to protect the people they love when oppressed. The humorous aspect helps to convey important messages, adding new depth to complex emotions without making the topic emotionally draining.

If you enjoyed How to Murder Your Family and Killers of a Certain Age you'll love this.

Thanks to NetGalley for the much-appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Humour lightens the dark theme of this book without hiding away from the fact that lockdown was a trying time for many families up and down the country. Its a novel about families, unlikely friendships and a sisterhood borne out of a terrifying time when Covid wasn't the only thing the women in this novel had to fear.

This book doesn't make light of the seriousness of domestic violence but there is a dark humour in the antics of the women in this novel as under the watchful eye of their neighbourhood snitch Edwina they come together and attempt to cover up what happened.

Despite the subject I really enjoyed reading this one, its an uplifting novel of strength, determination and most of all friendship with a laugh or two and a twitching curtain along the way.

Keep reading at the end, the authors note is a thought provoking addition.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy, I was under no obligation and all opinions expressed are my own.

This book is a very dark book. But it was a very enjoyable dark comedy (just the books I choose to relax and enjoy) the stuff I enjoyed most was the characters creating and the way they developed in the book. It has very funny moments and I end up laughing about it. It is a bit predictable but is a light good reading that some people may enjoy. The book is out in March 2024 but if you got the chance please preorder it. That helps the authors too.

During the Covid pandemic the protagonist, Sally, accidentally-on-purpose killed her husband, Jim, with her granny’s skillet. Jim was a mediocre man who inflicted two decades of violence, self-blame, and shame onto Sally leaving her at the breaking point where we pick up the story. It soon turns out that three other women in the area are in very similar situations as domestic abuse spikes during lockdown.

The narrative predominantly unfolds through Sally’s perspective but also delves into the lives of the other three women, as they attempt to dodge nosey neighbours, adjust to strict lockdown rules and figure out the best way to bury their husbands.

This is mainly told through a darkly humorous and entertaining lens but ultimately touches on some very deep themes and shines more light on the important issue of domestic abuse.

Like we often do, I’ll start with the bad. For me the plot execution wasn’t done as well as it could have been. Hear me out as this is difficult to explain but definitely won’t be a major problem for everyone. Sorry if this is a bit nit-picky.

The best way to summarise this is that the core of the story didn’t feel as believable as it probably should have done.

For example, there just happens to be four irredeemably abusive husbands who have all been killed by their partners within a very short time span and within four miles of each other. It’s a kind of absurd starting point, which is okay, but a lot of the book and its themes are so grounded in reality that it felt to me as though the absurdity of the situation was distracting. Then as things progressed, many situations and solutions the characters encountered felt unnatural and things kind of just fell into place.

So I think this is the best way I can describe it: Any story is bound by the rules of its own universe and this story is bound by reality. There are only so many convenient coincidences used to help the plot progress that a story can have before it takes the reader out of the world it’s built, and for me there were a few too many in this book to overlook. So this led to distractions that sometimes diverted me from all the good. Which I’ll get onto now!

The main thing I will praise about this book is how enjoyable it is to read. The writing itself was quick and flowed well. The characters were good fun, their growing friendships expanded fairly naturally and all of the main characters coming together to fix their problem was fun to experience. There’s something that works so well about a group of different people that have to come together to solve a common problem, and this book executed that very well. Some of the characters themselves were nicely fleshed out, I think Sally was well written and the people close to her such as her children were believable and fit her story well. The other women that made up the four main characters were not as well developed and I was hoping we’d get more on the relationship between Sally and Janey as it was mentioned a lot during the build up chapters at the start. But it was still enough for a satisfying read.

The pacing was also very good. There were moments where the story would take a serious turn and there would be excellent explanations of why some partners can’t ‘just leave them’, and just when you needed it, there would be a more lighthearted section to balance it out and move the story along to the next plot point.

I could also see this being turned into a film and I think it would make a great adaptation for the big screen! I started to think of the film, Keeping Mum, whilst reading as I feel like the tones are pretty similar.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable book that sheds light on a distressing reality. It does it with a lighthearted tone that captivates readers while effectively conveying its messages. It’s not without its flaws though, with sometimes unbelievable plot points and slightly weak characterisation that may take some readers out of the story, like it did for me. But I believe the people that will take the most from this book will very easily be able to overlook that and instead focus on how well it illustrates that with the support of friends and belief in yourself, survival becomes achievable.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
It was a brilliant example of black humour whilst being breathtakingly thought provoking.
It encouraged me to consider the issues of domestic abuse which is something I consider myself lucky enough to know very little about.
I also loved how this was set in lockdown - the first book with that timeline I have come across!

I loved how Alexia has written this book. It's so funny and easy to read. The way she has treated the domestic violence concept is highly commendable.
I'd definitely recommend giving this a read!

This is a dark, clever, funny and extremely thought provoking book. I very much enjoyed it, the characters were great, the writing was fantastic, and it really highlighted some topics that need to be discussed in today's society more than ever. This is a brilliant way to try and get people talking about domestic violence, and really highlights some of the issues that women in particular face on a daily basis, but even more so with COVID restrictions that have been in place in the last few years. Everyone needs to read this, it will both leave you laughing and smiling, but also sad and reflective. The authors note at the end is also excellent and really drives home the point of this fantastic novel.

To be honest I’ve been avoiding all sorts of fiction about the recent pandemic and lockdown, but The Best Way To Bury Your Husband is such an addictive read that once I started I found it hard to resist.

It is full to the brim with black humour and set in such a dark and difficult period of our joint social history that we can all identify with and so, although the plot is completely over the top, the events are all still strangely possible and quite believable at the same time. At the end of the day, who really knows what actually went on behind all those closed doors during Lockdown?

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but feel it would have been nice if a couple of the main characters had been fleshed out a bit more and then the whole experience would have gripped the reader more thoroughly - if (as it richly deserves) it is ever adapted into a movie or drama series perhaps that could be rectified.

Many thanks to all concerned for allowing me to read and review this terrific novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've had a few misses with my NetGalley ARCs, so haven't requested anything in a while, but come on, I defy you not to be intrigued by this book and it's title!
What an absolutely brilliant story. The author makes clear in a postscript that you do have to suspend a bit of belief going into this. And I did, because come on, 4 women are not killing their husbands during COVID lockdown. Four men killing wives? Yes. And that's what felt so exceptional about this book. We know that domestic abuse kills women weekly, and here is a story about what if women fought back. But it wasn't depressing and traumatic - it was light, and full of love and friendship. I feel like this is a really rare novel, perhaps the writing isn't the most exceptional, but that really doesn't matter. Would recommend to everyone!

9-9.5/10!?

This book is great at showing that domestic abuse is not only physical violence and the impact it has on the victims, however I really struggled reading it partly because of the topic, but more so because of the plot that at some point lost me. Possibly also because I had a certain expectation of how it should feel like, and it didn't. however, just because it was not quite it for me, doesnt mean it wont be for others.