This book is everything for a perfect summer read! So much is going on in this book but not where you have trouble keeping up. It keeps you hooked, you’ll want to call into work and stay up reading! lol no but seriously I highly recommend this book!

And Breathe!!!!

The Pastor's Wife by LynDee Walker was an excellent book, it was a totally gripping psychological thriller packed with great twists and turns throughout that just took my breath away! It has great characters, and they all have dark secrets which will have a way of coming out into the open. . . . . Once I started to read The Pastor's Wife was just what I needed to read in the shade in my garden. Great read for a hot summers day,

Another 5 ⭐️ read I highly recommend, Great Holiday read.

Big Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

I enjoyed this book! The story blends suspense, twists, and emotional depth, especially as it explores grief, betrayal, and the masks people wear. Walker’s writing is immersive, and the pacing keeps you hooked all the way to a satisfying ending.

Reading the first few pages of The Pastor’s Wife, I was hooked. I loved the story told from two perspectives and was excited to see the mystery unfurl. I cared about the main characters and was invested in Mary and Martha and couldn’t want to uncover their past lives and consequences of their intersection in a small Southern town.

Somewhere around the middle, I found it dragging a bit but the twists and turns at the end came quickly and were surprising. For me, the revelations were a little outlandish but I was willing to go along for the ride.

Overall I enjoyed this title and recommend it for fans of psychological thrillers.

Thank you to Bookouture, Net Galley and LynDee Walker for the opportunity to read this ARC.

LynDee Walker delivers a riveting, fast-paced psychological thriller with The Pastor’s Wife. The story plunges readers into a seemingly perfect life that slowly unravels, revealing dark secrets and shocking betrayals. The tension builds with every chapter, and the twists keep coming — just when you think you have it all figured out, Walker throws in another curveball.

The characters are well-drawn and complex, particularly the protagonist, whose voice pulls you right into her world of suspicion and deceit. With crisp writing and a relentless pace, The Pastor’s Wife is impossible to put down. Fans of domestic thrillers packed with suspense will find this one a real treat.

This was a book full of twist and turns that takes the reader on so many journeys - i had so many suspects for who did the crimes. And when I say crimes this was a wide variety with multiple perpetrators. The author has the type of writing style which draws you in and compels you to turn the page and before you know it you have been reading for hours and the book is finished

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️
Pub Date: June 16, 2025
How I Read It: 🎧

Synopsis
Whitney Falls was supposed to be the perfect small town for Martha to disappear to. She wasn’t supposed to make any new friends, but when the pastor’s wife saves her from an accident, and covers for her, she befriends her, becomes a regular at church, and the pastor and his wife welcome her into their home with open arms. But something is off about Pastor Tim and his wife, Mary. There’s also a strange black car that’s been watching Martha every time she visits Mary. Martha eventually makes a discovery that has her wondering if her friendship with Mary was real or planned. Everyone thinks Tim and Mary are saints, but they may actually be sinners, and Mary knows their secret.

My Thoughts
Well, I didn’t see that coming! I knew the Pastor seemed weird, like he was hiding something, and I didn’t trust Mary one bit, but was not expecting where the storyline went! I picked this book up because it was set in the south and I loved a good southern read. I read both the digital and audio versions of this book. With the audio version, the narrators did a great job with the female voices, but I was a little confused with the male voice because it sounded more like an old man than the handsome young man Pastor Tim was supposed to be. This was a pretty decent thriller, that gets dark at times, but had my attention for most of the book because I couldn’t wait to see what Tim and Mary were hiding and what Mary was trying to run from in her past.

Themes
🫣 Suspense
🔪 Murder
Kidnapping
Multiple POVs

Ratings
Characters: 4 ⭐️
Pace: 3 ⭐️
Enjoyability: 4 ⭐️
Narrator: 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I really enjoyed this one! My first by this author but I need more. Love that the plot was different than others and I felt like I knew the characters.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Oh. My. Gosh.
I thought this book was going one way and then BAM! It went a totally different direction.
Martha is new to town and she befriends Mary, the pastor’s wife. They hit it off right away, but things aren't always what they seem.
This book explores the dark underbelly of small-town religious life. Lyndee Walker is a new author to me, but I look forward to more books by her. Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#ThePastorsWife #LyndeeWalker #NetGalley #Bookouture #BooksOnTour #BookLove #Bookstagram #NewBook #ILoveBooks #BooksSetInASmallTowm

This was a dark read. The subject matter is not light. There were twists - some that were more predictable than others.

The characters are not particularly likable and you had no idea who to cheer for. There are lots of religious overtones.

Though there were a few parts that dragged a bit and the book felt longer than it needed to be. Overall, this was a dark, interesting thriller.

This is my first book by this author but I would definitely read more of her work.

A new=to=me author with The Pastor's Wife by LynDee Walker. Certainly not the last I will read of hers. Intriguing, dark and a thriller that will keep you interested all the way through.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc in exchange for an ho9nest review.

The Pastor's Wife is a slow burn, small town read. While I wouldn't classify it as a thriller (as there was no real scare) it did have some suspense. It is told in dual POVs and timelines. We see Mary and Martha come together and build a friendship that seems help each other but both have a history they are hoping to keep hidden. Pastor Tom is beloved by the town but he has secrets of his own and both Mary and Martha are going to find out what it is.

While I wish the pace would of been faster, I enjoyed the book. There were some twists that I did not see coming. The ending was also a little rushed in my opinion but over all a good read.

Check the trigger warning!!!

This was an interesting novel for many reasons, one of the most prominent ones is that I’m still a little unsure what this book was going for.

When Martha delivers groceries to Mary, the pastor’s wife an unlikely friendship begins and despite the fact we know Martha has experienced absolute horror in her life, she seems willing to get involved in more?

This reads very sadly as a survivor that wishes to become a victim again which is not something that feels very empowering and made this novel a bit impossible to enjoy. Martha isn’t a fool but the decisions written for her are at contrast with this.

I love LynDee Walker and her books never fail to hook me and keep me entertained.
The Pastor's Wife by LynDee Walker was suspenseful and kept me wanting more.
From the minute I picked up this book I was completely hooked. It is gripping and full of twists.

This is an unputdownable and complex read set in a small town that will have you turning pages until the thrilling end! This brand new book released yesterday and is the first I’ve read by #LynDeeWalker. I’m hooked on her writing!

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and LynDee Walker for the audio Arc of The Pastors Wife


The Pastor's Wife is a duel POV of two women who seemingly come together randomly after Martha delivers some shopping to Mary, the Pastors Wife and strike up a friendship. Through the two POV's we get to see what these two friends really feel about each other. Martha notices all is not what it seems with Mary and feels her Husband maybe into something unsavoury. Mary, has other motivations for having Martha onside. As the plot unravels, there's some good foreshadowing and a great twist near the end. This makes for a very engaging listen and before I knew it, I was near the end as I didn't want to stop listening.

Stephanie Cannon and Patricia Rodriguez did a great job narrating both our FMC's and the side character's. They did however sound very alike to begin with but I did manage to tell them apart after a few chapters.

4 stars

This starts as a slow burn but there are several twists and turns along the way. Things get really intense and a lot of shocking secrets come spilling out.

Martha moves into Whitney Falls trying to leave her past behind. She joins a church, and is instantly greeted by the warm and friendly couple, Pastor Tim McClathy and his wife Mary. Martha instantly realizes that behind the warm and friendly facade is a complete two different strangers--Pastor's Tim womanizing habits and drinking habits and Mary trying in vain to have a child. And when a foster kid Charlotte joins the family, the story gets from stranger to stranger.

The story is told in the two POVs--Martha and Mary. We know that Mary is feeling suspicious of her husband's supposedly affairs and flirtations. We know Martha is running away from a past. This was interesting and intriguing to read. Church people may seem warm and friendly but behind the closed doors, it's a whole different story. However, the ending was really unexpected and twisted ending.

Overall, this was an unputdownable thriller that will keep you up all night. Worth five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. Many thanks to Bookouture for making me a part of this blog tour. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

The title of this book is what sucked me in, trying to figure out where we were going to finish in this story was what kept me reading.

The book was a bit of a slow start for me but once I hit the 30%-ish mark, I couldn't put it down because I was so invested in what the heck was going on in this small town and why this couple was hopping one sleepy town to the next while being the Pastor and his wife.

There were a few times the twists got me so hard I had to reread the sections and make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm still not a 100% I caught it all but I have to say, from the start of the book to the ending, it was not what I was expecting out of these two, AT ALL. I was shocked to say the least.

I think it was a very interesting read. I think some of the hurts and hang ups/concerns people have with faith leaders and how they can use that to their advantage were addressed in this book.

Rounding up to 3.5 stars - I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to certain friends/readers. Thanks NetGalley & Bookouture for the ARC!

Really enjoyed this book! Wrote well, I couldn’t put it down. I need to know what was happening next, I have already recommended this book to everyone I know before I finished it.