Two broken and dangerous people find each other but what happens when only one wants to change? This was a great twist on the “hidden lives of serial killers” and gave Mr & Mrs Smith vibes - they walk among us after all! Pacing and story were good even if the ending was a tad unrealistic. Avoiding spoilers, I’d really love to know if our protagonist was being set up all along or if it was just a happy coincidence of unburdening to the right person…

I never felt that this book fully got going, I was looking for a bit more on the next page, and it never came. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it, it’s a fun, flowing read - I just feel the characters could have been further developed so as to give the story more depth.
The premise is a great set-up for miscommunication and mishaps and both were used and written well. It had a real air of British black comedy about it, mixed with suspense which made for engaging situations.
I neither loved nor hated it.

A Serial Killer’s Guide To Marriage is a comedic masterpiece, following a killer couple who have to stop when they discover they are pregnant. They each have their ways of coping, but when things start to spiral in their relationship, can they find a way of getting back to how they were in the beginning?
Haze the wife, makes friends with a girl who she thinks needs a supportive friend, while she’s at baby group, but what she discovers about this girl makes her realise she has made no real
effort to find out anything about her.
Fox the husband, on the other hand, embraces fatherhood, and does all the right things to bring up a healthy happy child. It all looks good on the outside, but keeping things from his wife is not the right thing to do!!
This is a funny, interesting take on a guide to marriage, and I loved it!!
Many thanks to Headline Books for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley.
My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #HeadlineBooks, #Asia.Mackay.

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage, by Asia Mackay
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

RELEASE DATE TODAY!!

Hazels constant attitude to everyone around her, especially when trying to make friends, is hilarious and relatable. I think I like the name Fox too much?? I also DEFINITELY liked Fox too much 🤣
I enjoyed the changing POVs and the suspicions around both Haze and Fox’s storylines was intriguing and engaging. The couple were very real at times and that made it pretty funny to read (especially if you have a dark sense of humour).
Some parts of the story were a bit shallow and it would’ve benefitted from extra detail - Hazel and Fox’s backstory, for example. There are references to their relationship being so strong and wild before having a child, but the reader doesn’t see much of that. It could’ve been more show than tell.
Think this could have been more gripping as a thriller, but Ido think I’m pretty good at predicting how these plots will go! It was a solid 4 ⭐️ read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 🫶🏼

Dark humour at its best, this is a wild ride of a book - but one that can’t fail to make you smile!

Fox and Haze and their daughter Bibi are leading the archetypal well to do life in suburban Berkshire. Fox is a banker, Haze is a stay at home mother - but prior to parenthood their lives were very different. Together they travelled extensively and killed “bad men” for fun, but gave it all up when Haze got pregnant. Fox seems to have embraced their new life, but life as a yummy mummy has left Haze feeling a little underwhelmed, missing the excitement of their previous life. But both are hiding secrets from the other as it seems old habits are hard to break …. what does that mean for their marriage?

This is such a fun read! There is plenty of humour, both dark and otherwise, but cleverly woven amongst the crazy capers are some very relatable issues around marriage and parenthood. And who would have thought two serial killers, who we get to know through alternating chapters, could be quite so likeable!

I raced through this one - if you are looking for something clever, darkly funny and just a really good read, then add it to your TBR!

Hazel and Fox, two Serial Killers get married, but when they have a baby they vow to stop the killing for their daughters sake. Can they live with each other now that they can't kill with each other?

We get a 'Dexter-esque' story of two unique individuals pretending to be normal. Each chapter is written from Hazel or Fox's point of view, with Hazel being the primary narrator.

She was a damaged child, moving between foster homes whereas Fox is the exact opposite,  coming from a very wealthy American family, yet just as damaged.

Through flashbacks, we learn about each of their pasts, their childhood and their murdering spree across Europe. They were very much the discerning killers, ensuring each of their victims were the nastiest of society who didn't deserve to live. So, even though they're serial killers, they're not 'bad guys'.

Their world begins to unravel when Hazel is attacked by a mugger and she does what comes naturally to her, then covers it up, keeping the event a secret from her husband.

This really is an interesting read as we see how Hazel wants to rebel against family life and yet is besotted with her family. Fox is struggling to hold everything together, his relationship with Hazel and his estranged parents.

The short and snappy prose, the back and forth between points of view and the growth of characters make this book well worth a read. A comfortable four out of five stars from me.

I would like to convey my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel. All opinions are my own.

This novel is due to be published on 14th January 2025 in the UK by Headline/Wildfire.

Hello book lovers 📚

Thank you @netgalley for this arc review. All opinions are my own.

A Serial Killers Guide to Marriage by @asia.mackay

Hazel and fox live a life of partying in city to city and the life any rich couple might, with the exception that they have a killer hobby literally. They murder the bad guys. That is until Haze falls pregnant and Fox decides that it’s time to live like ‘normal’ people in the suburbs.

They agree to stop killing and they both kept their promise, until Haze murders a man one night.

The book starts getting interesting around here as the lies and the paranoia begin. Fox and Haze both start to hide things from one another leading to chaos, trust issues, and more murder.

Haze befriends a single mum called Jenny, who over lunch drops a bombshell and this new info leads Haze to put her detective hat on to save her family. I liked Jenny‘s character as she added another layer and depth to the story.

The book touches on some themes that people may find heavy so I would suggest checking the triggers beforehand. Whilst I enjoyed this book, I felt that some of the storyline was far-fetched and in the middle quite repetitive. It was nice to understand their life before Bibi and how having a baby changed the dynamics.

Haze was portrayed as so selfish whilst Fox just wanted them to be safe. Every other chapter was Haze expressing her boredom in the marriage. I’m glad the book didn’t end on this note to be honest.

All in all it was an easy read that at times had me chuckling. I enjoyed the ending although it wasn’t the ending I thought it would’ve been. A nice twist.

Okay so, this was a little bit of a roller coaster for me. I LOVED the premise, the start was pretty good, and then we took a dive in the middle, only to absolutely smash it out the park at the end!

A forced retirement for a serial killing couple, who only kill bad men who deserve it, so they can be good parents to their daughter? Absolutely sign me up. Haze's rage was palpable, I could feel how frustrated and out of control she was feeling at these men existing happily while conducting such abuse to women. How powerful she felt after putting a stop to them, how she felt like she was making a difference in making the world a better place. I really enjoyed her character and how complex she was, getting to dive into what she was feeling and how she changed over the course of the book.

I also liked getting to see flashes of their past together, of their life before Bibi and what they were like, but it did sometimes take us out of the flow of the story.

My biggest issue was repetitiveness. It got to around the halfway point and I was tired of circling the same points. Of how powerless and frustrated and unhappy Haze was currently, how she thought the marriage was falling apart. Should they still be together, did they really like each other. About how Fox was the responsible planner and its his actions that keep them all safe, that he was doing it all for them, he was their hero. I felt like even though time was moving and events were happing we were literally just going around in a circle.

But, once we got out of that and back into the build up to the end, all sins were forgiven.

I'm so, so glad that we didn't end on Haze becoming a 'better person' and abandoning the serial killing justice that she holds to dear. Adding Jenny to the mix was honestly perfect. I assumed we would either end the book with Haze killing Fox, or with them just never killing again, the typical boring cookie cutter stuff. But thank god that was not the case. AND we got to see a six month flash forward, which is what I always beg for!!

Haze, you are an icon, a solid 4 stars even with the slump in the middle!

"I may have questioned many things in my life, but I have never questioned whether the men I killed deserved to die"

This is definitely a different dynamic than I have read before which made it a very interesting read overall. I read it very quickly, it was easy to read.

Fun and gripping debut about a couple who share their deepest secret and deepest desire - murder! I loved this novel, it felt original and was fast-paced and tense. Shall we anticipate a sequel? 4 stars

first of all, thank you to headline and netgalley for this arc in return for my review!!

lets just say I am obsessed with this book, and even after finishing I am still thinking about it...like wow. I think what has most stuck with me from this book is the way both Haze and Fox just get each other, in all ways possible. nothing is kept a secret no matter how hard they try to hide from each other their worsts.

I read within two sittings, I just couldn't put it down. this book for me was such mr and mrs smith vibes, and I now really just need to watch that film again!! I think in my head, they were the characters.

to summarize, Haze, who was an extremely passionate artist with a troubled past, was such an impulsive character. as a new mum, she struggled with the suburban lifestyle and ignoring the itch to kill someone, potentially questioning their life and meaning now.

Fox works in finance, trying to be a good father and husband. coming from a wealthy but controlling family, who knew of his extra 'hobbies' but agreed to cover it up, probably more to protect themselves than Fox...however, it led him to meeting his other half, partner in crime Haze.

within a whirlwind of killing sprees, their steamy romance and a marriage within months, their idyllic vacation came to a halt when Haze fell pregnant. feeling trapped, losing inspiration to create art, and socialising with suburban couples...and eventually befriending Jenny, who on the cover seems eager to make friends, but is there more than meets the eye?

but someone hasn’t kept their promise— meaning there’s already blood on their hands.....but breaking the most important promise in their life could cause everything they've built to come crumbling down...and potentially befriending the wrong person has put everything at stake....

Will they fix the mess they have both made??

if you haven't read this book already....please do!! release date of the 14th, add your calanders now :)

Absolutely gripping. I was hooked from the first page wanting to know more as it flipped between then and now.
The premise felt new and it was a great read. I managed to guess at some of the twists but I had never plot out so much of what actually happened. Definitely a page turner!
You really get to know the characters as you read it and I feel it went really in depth to understand what drove them. I really enjoyed this as it meant I could guess at their motivations and actions that made sense to the character to keep to engaged with the book.
It's a reasonably long book at 400 pages but honestly with the good pace it didn't feel like it was dragging at all.
Overall, a great read.
Favourite Quote - Hunt, kill, hold hands. That was our love language,
Favourite Character - Jenny

If you want a different kind of crime fiction read, try this. We’ve all heard stories of couples who have shared interests, then have a child & everything changes; welcome to the world of Haze & Fox.

Haze & Fox met in Paris, swiftly fell in love, got married & continued to ply their murderous trade across the rich playground of Europe. Then, they had their daughter & Fox decreed they should move to suburbia & ‘fit in’; Haze agreed but hated it & cracks begin to show in their perfect world. She breaks their agreement & kills, sort of accidentally, & Fox is being pressurised by his parents to return to America; at this point Haze discovers that her new best friend is a detective on maternity leave.

Told from two POVs, the characters are great & Haze says it as it is. The majority of stay at home mums have a wobble occasionally, it’s just her wants are a tad fatal. Totally unbelievable from start to finish (& what a finish!) but a great read. I think another literary Haze & Fox encounter should ensue.

“The couple that kills together stays together…”

“If this relationship was worth saving, why didn’t we do more to try and make it work? I couldn’t help but wonder: if we’d had more date nights, maybe we wouldn’t be standing here right now, in a Berkshire nature reserve at 1am, circling each other with a pair of hunting knives.”

Hazel and Fox are a normal married couple, except they’re ex-serial killers. Once they had it all - jet-setting, a luxury life in London and plenty of bad men to kill - but then they fell pregnant and chose to retire to the suburbs.

Hazel, however, struggles to leave their past behind them and resorts back to their old ways. With the police at the door, she must do whatever necessary to protect her family. “This could save their marriage - unless it kills them first.”

I was so excited to read this book - the concept was just so intriguing. This excitement was well placed as I absolutely loved this book. Despite being a book about serial killers it was absolutely hilarious, the sarcasm and wit the characters presented and the sheer absurdity of the situations they found themselves in made for the perfect novel.

It had award winning sitcom vibes, think modern family but with more violence and murdering, and I think it’ll easily be one of my favourite books of the year.

The themes of marriage - the struggles they faced in their relationship, and how much they worked to keep their family together - was done so well and with peak comedic effect. I loved how normal marriage troubles, is he cheating and her feeling stuck, we’re intertwined with worries such as ‘are the police going to catch us’.

I also loved the side characters, especially Jenny, and how these added more layers to the story. They were also so well developed, and had their own backstories that we followed throughout - but this only added to the overall plot, rather than deviating away from it.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend!

ARC copy provided by Headline & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This crime drama has got Netflix written all over it. I’m sure it’s going get picked up and made into a series pretty soon.

Theblack comedy uber glamorous serial killer novel has to be taken with a pitch of salt but has some very enjoyable moments in there and a lot to say about the mundanity of parenthood and married life . Married couple Fox and Hazel got had a mission to rid the world of bad men . Now that they have a baby they’ve put a stop to their killing spree and live quiet middle class lives -but they can’t scratch the itch for killing.

Haze meets new friend Jennie at a baby group; she is downtrodden and when she tells the couple about her ex partner and what a bad man he is they want to wreak revenge.
3.5 stars rounded up.

The title would make anyone read this! This is a twisted, and dark well written story about a married couple who are trying to adjust to domesticated life as ex serial killers.
Fox and Haze are great witty characters whose lives will be relatable to a lot of couples apart from there tendency for murder. 
Great read. I would recommend it.

I was hooked on the story of Haze and Fox from the first sentence. Who knew I would be rooting for serial killers?! It starts near the end of the story, with husband and wife facing off against each other, both with knife in hand and ends with them back in the saddle murdering the bad men, with the help of a police officer! I loved every second of this book.

I have to be honest and say that I was drawn to this book by its title. What's not to like about combining serial killers and marriage!?
We start with Hazel and Fox, two ex-serial killers who have forgone that particular occupation when Hazel got pregnant. Now parents with a young baby they are trying so hard to keep on the straight and narrow. Problem is, it's so very very boring. Instead of the thrill of the chase and the kill, Hazel has to contend herself with changing nappies and arranging her time and life around the needs of the little person. She is losing herself. Fox meanwhile appears to thrive on his new role as father. But things are about to change when Hazel comes across a person who fits the criteria of needing to be dispatched. But, as well as trying to keep away from the cops, she also has to hide her actions from Fox... Fox meanwhile is being leaned on by his family back in the states to, um, fulfil certain duties. He also has his own secrets...
As well as following the action in the present, we also go back and witness when Hazel met Fox and watch their relationship - personal and professional - develop...
This book was so much fun. It's thrilling, exciting and, also on occasion, very funny! It really had quite a lot of everything and with that, there is always a danger of a book becoming overly busy. But this is definitely not the case herein. All the juggling balls are kept in the air most ably by the author as she juggles the plot point all the way through to their final conclusions. It definitely hit the ground running and held my attention nicely all the way through. It also didn't take itself too seriously which, considering some of the subject matter, is not that easy to pull off.
Characters were excellently drawn and easy to connect to/emote with. I really took to Fox and Hazel right from the off and, if I was social, I would love to socialise with them! They're brilliant and I was quite sad as I reached the end of the book and realised that I was soon having to say goodbye to them. I do wonder if the author may revisit them in future books?
All in all, a cracking read that gripped me all the way through, spitting me out at the end wholly satisfied. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The moral of this story is: the law is shit at protecting people, and every character in this book agrees.

For the second half of the book, I was completely hooked. I couldn't put the book down, and I just had to finish it. So by 1 o'clock, I finally reached the end and... was disappointed by the solution to the Jenny Problem. Let's rewind.

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage is a romantic thriller about two serial killers who have made a pact to stop killing ever since the birth of their daughter, Bibi. Haze is the main protagonist, a mother who detests normality and pines for the kill again. She's tried to fit in with the other mums, but she's never been good at friends and she's clearly struggling. Her husband, Fox, seems to have adjusted just fine, throwing all of his murder prep skills into parenting skills... but things are tense.

Haze, at Fox's urging, makes a friend: Jenny. She's not happy about it, but throughout the book becomes attached to her. More than she wanted or expected to. Wonderful! Jenny is struggling with life too, but unlike Haze, her struggles come from having an abusive ex, being suspended from work, and living with her parents. She has no self-esteem and it's up to Haze to rebuild her again.

But that gets complicated quickly. And all of a sudden, Haze has put her family in jeopardy multiple times, and tries to fix them without admitting the problems to Fox.

Which brings me to my first problem with the book: Fox occasionally has perspective chapters in the book which show us him dealing with Haze's urges and wanting to help her (but not giving in to her demands), dealing with his family when they reappear in his life, and how he copes with not killing. This part felt underdeveloped and probably could have been pulled out entirely to save from the big problem: when Fox's perspective chapters suddenly vanish from the book because the author needs to keep his motivations and perspective secret for the big climax.

I wanted to love Fox, and love his devotion to his wife and child... but his perspective chapters did very little to help with that, especially in the last half of the book, and by the end I was expecting him to completely flip. He didn't... completely... and I'm happy with that ending. Kind of.

It's the Six Months Later epilogue, with multiple chapters, that brought this down to 4 stars for me. Without spoiling it, I didn't like how the author dealt with the potential for them to get caught. I get why certain characters weren't killed, but it's how the epilogue dealt with the problem that disappointed me. There was an easier, more believable solution to keeping Haze and Fox out of prison and still alive, and it wasn't even Fox's plan mentioned in his perspective. It was mutually assured destruction, or grudging acceptance that they were there. They could keep their pact going.

Instead, we have a potential set up for a sequel that I definitely won't be reading.

Surprisingly easy, amusing book given the title! The story was a strange combination of far fetched and mundane. It just wasn't quite fast paced enough for me and was a little disjointed/confusing at times.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.