I absolutely loved this book. At the height of lockdown Sally snaps and kills her abusive husband. This leaves her with quite the dilemma - how can she get rid of his body, with the eyes of her neighbour firmly focussed on her? And how can she keep his murder a secret when he needs to be back in the office in a couple of weeks? Luckily for Sally, she’s not alone in needing to dispose of a dead husband as some of her neighbours have the same problem.
There are moments in this book which are wickedly funny, and I got really drawn in to this group of women and their body disposal journey. It does also have a serious side though, highlighting themes of domestic abuse and forced marriage. It feels a bit wrong to be rooting for a group of killers, but that’s exactly what happened.
Great stuff.
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An uncomfortable book about domestic violence. The author has kind of tried to make it lighter by having the women band together in a far fetched scheme to hide the fact they all killed their abusive husbands. However at the end of the day this is a long hard look at what really goes on behind some closed doors.

What Alexia has done with this comedic work of fiction is quite frankly remarkable. The issue of violence in the home against women is prolific but during covid the figures soared, horrifically so. The Best Way to Bury Your Husband looks at ‘what if’ a group of women in a similar predicament who unfortunately killed their husbands in self defence just happen to find each other during this unprecedented time. How resourceful, clever, intuitive and collaborative we can be, despite being relentlessly told otherwise, when survival and our loved ones are paramount. We rarely know what goes on behind closed doors or turn a blind eye for whatever reason has been deemed necessary. This book provides an interesting and comedic look at domestic abuse, serving as a conduit to highlight what is going on in an alarming number of homes.

This book was so powerful. It told the story of domestic abuses many faces in a way that was funny. The statements at the start and end were pertinent to the story and this author created such a beautiful piece of work. Would love to see a short film or indie film about this. I would also love to see a short story from Edwinas point of view! Can't wait to see more from this author. 4.5 🌟

I enjoyed reading this book. The humour helped as the topic is quite heart wrenching. Im sure there isn't a woman alive who hasn't thought about harming her significant other at some point of their lives and this book just brought it all together in good way. A good read with interesting characters.

This book is set in lockdown and follows the story of 4 women who have killed their husbands and are now trying to get rid of the bodies whilst coping with lockdown restrictions and nosey neighbours enforcing the rules. Despite the serious subject matter of this book, there is a lot of dark humour throughout, I laughed out loud several times. I will say I struggled with believing the concept that 4 women had all killed their husbands within a week of each other and all living within a few miles of each other. However, when I read the author’s notes at the end this was explained and it made more sense after reading her notes.
Once I got over that concept and got into the book I really enjoyed it. I was really invested in the women and their stories, my only disappointment is I would have liked to have had a few more chapters from the other women’s points of views. The majority of the story is told from Sally’s perspective with a few chapters from the other women.
The subject matter is handled really well, it does make you think about what some women would have been going through during lockdown, but does manage to keep that humorous side which makes it easier to read. It really picked up pace about a third of the way through and I couldn’t put it down from that point.

The women’s stories are important ones to tell and if you like a bit of dark comedy then you will enjoy this book. I’m certainly looking forward to more books from this author

Omg I loved this book!
This is the first book I’ve read with an covid backdrop but I didn’t mind, I’d imagine there will be many more that follow.
Obviously not a funny backdrop with the talk of domestic violence, but this author manages to make the interpersonal relationships between the women funny - there are some excellent one liners!
And I LOVED the ending!

What happens when four abused wives kill their husbands during lockdown? This amazing book. Sally never meant to bash his head in with a skillet but it broke the cycle of abuse and made a grand start to the rest of her life. When she meets other woman dealing with a similar issue they form a group of determined woman. Who refuse to let their husbands ruin any more of their lives, they band together and decide how to explain the disappearances, the body removal and their emotional and physical needs to live on. With Edwina the covid rule master watching they work together to build each other up and put their husbands down under. Absolutely brilliant, rooting for the ladies from the beginning and the ending was PERFECT

This was such a fantastic read! It is a magnificent example of comedy about a sensitive topic done well. You never would expect the topic of domestic abuse being treated so respectfully in a comedy about murdering their husbands. I loved the women's flourishing friendship and was on the edge until their plan came to fruition! Super recommended!

This book immediately grabbed my attention, I was almost late to a lecture because of it! I read it in my break, as soon as I got home and managed to finish it in one day. The short chapters and multiple perspectives helped with the quick read.
My heart broke and repaired itself and broke itself all over again with each woman's story. This is such an important topic and one far too many people have first hand experiences with. I will be recommending this to anyone and everyone who will listen to me when it gets published, thank you for letting me read!

Seeing the cover of what I was reading certainly had my husband on edge, which was entertaining, but I came away from the book with some mixed feelings. The idea for the story is a good one, and certainly highlights an important part of the Covid history - the enormous impact lockdown had on the UK's already very high domestic abuse figures. But it lacked something in the execution for me, at times. I felt it was quite slow to get going - there's a lot of pre-amble to get the women to a point where they've even met each other. I felt that after Sally talks to her children and tells them she's separating from their father the book's pace did improve. But by that point they were already into the final push towards creating the false footprints of the men, and disposing of the bodies. Prior to that I had almost given up on reading any further, as I was finding myself feeling anxious whilst reading (more stressful than humour/cosy mystery). But her talks with her children were moving, and made Sally feel real in a way I wasn't sure she had prior to that point.

I had seen the ending coming (I don't think it was meant to be a big twist - it's fairly obvious), and I did enjoy the unhinged yet exciting journey at the end.

So overall, I did enjoy it but it wasn't as good as I'd thought it might be. But it deals with really important topics that people don't often talk about, so if it's helpful in expanding the conversations around domestic abuse then that can only be a good thing.

Despite the title, this is a amusing and well plotted book. Set during lockdown, when apparently more domestic violence was perpetrated against women, we encounter Sally who has just for the first time stood up to Jim, her abusive husband. The story unfolds with a dry and dark humour and I found myself routing for Sally. I don’t want to give away the storyline but must point out that although some scenes are distressing and could be triggering for some people, the book is more about redemption with a feel good factor.

I finished this last night and my mind is still processing what I have just read! It was one of the more surreal books I have read that's for sure, but I think that the author has created a powerful story out of dark humour.
This book starts with a spotlight on the isolation the covid lockdowns bought, particularly to women experiencing domestic violence and the breaking points that are reached in these households. The story plays with a macabre humour however what stands out is that you can pinpoint when each of these women start to relinquish their own control back over their lives, and this probably explains why they seem to be able to deal with the deaths of their partners a lot easier than you may expect. I also appreciated the themes surrounding friendship and how four very different women bonding whilst supporting each other through their darkest hours. I would definitely recommend reading the authors notes first and foremost, as this explains the premise of the book and why it is written the way it is which helps you get your head around the storyline.
Overall, very powerful and important with a dash of dark humour.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, I did not want to put it down! Full of funny bits and sad bits as well, this book covers a number of emotions and I felt them all! The author had clearly done a lot of research and this came across through the story. The story covers 4 women through domestic violence and Covid, who all find themselves in the same situation. Although this book is dark humour, I also found it really though provoking and it had me thinking what I would do in the same situation.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for this ARC.

I started reading and didn’t stop until I reached the end. Brilliant, funny, thought provoking and also desperately sad, this book covers all emotions and sometimes all at the same time. As a teacher and librarian I have always strongly believed in the way good story telling can get a message across quickly and painlessly ( something essential in further education at times!).
Congratulations to Alexia Casale for not only knowing her subject inside out but in being able to write a very readable and entertaining novel. Thank you Netgalley et al for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Dark comedy at its finest. A very good tale of domestic violence and the women who fought back in self defence, banding together in support and with a shovel. I enjoyed the authors note explaining her research into different families and cultures. My only gripe is early on it's slightly jarring when flitting between characters and could have been demarcated a little better but it was quickly figured out and didn't really change my enjoyment of the book.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc.

This is a brilliant read, as it manages to cover the awfulness of domestic abuse in an accessible way and to add a touch of humour to the situation 4 very different women, with the same problem, find themselves in. I had to take this in small chunks, but thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Firstly I must commend the author on bringing attention to domestic violence and during covid.

This book attempts to bring awareness to the spike in domestic violence during Covid by using dark humour. The victims in this story accidentally kill their husbands in what most people would consider self defence but feel compelled to cover it up as they fear being separated from their children (of various ages) if sent to prison.

Whilst I commend the efforts of the author, this wasn’t a particularly an enjoyable read for me. I understood what they were doing and why but I just didn’t find it funny. I felt like some things just didn’t make sense, and other parts of the book dragged. I felt that there was too much detail on areas where it wasn’t needed e.g. the visit to the cliffs. The story started with each of the women’s perspectives and situations being shown in separate chapters then all of a sudden moved to purely the main character’s perspective only. I would have loved to hear more from Samira for example.

Also, I didn’t find the main character likeable- at all. I felt in areas that she was looking for fellow accomplices and pressuring the women to do what she wanted/felt was best.

However, it was almost laughable how concerned they were about social distancing when they were literally disposing of their husbands’ bodies.

Whilst the idea of the book excited me, sadly it missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly really enjoyed this book! From the cover and the title I was expecting it to be more lighthearted and funny - the story was actually pretty dark and dealt with some serious topics like domestic abuse.
I loved the characters and the relationships between these women. They all felt different, individual and representive of the real world.
The plot is interesting - I’m not sure it’s a mystery as we are following these characters and seeing if they can get away with it.
My main issue is it felt quite unrealistic but I still really enjoyed reading it!

When I started to read this book, I hadn’t really expected the title to be quite so literal! Having never experienced domestic violence, I thought it might be difficult to relate to the situations, but every character is so different and defined, with just one thing linking them, that it was difficult not to feel empathy.
I loved the black humour in this novel and Sally, as the central character, was someone you’d love to have as a friend.
This book was a treat and I hope it’s read by men, as well as women.
Thank you to the publishers and to #netgalley. This is a definite recommendation.