I really enjoyed this book. It follows the story of a woman, Dolores, who had two husbands and the young girl who wants to write a book about her double life. Female bigamy is fairly rare and Cassie Bowman wants to write the story from the woman's perspective. One of the husbands is in prison for killing the other one but the story is not as straight forward as it seems and as she wins Dolores trust she also unravels the hidden story about what really happened. I did not suspect what was going to happen in the end and so the book left me guessing throughout.

Cassie Bowman has always had an obsession with true crime and so inevitably journalism calls as a career with her specialism, yes, you’ve guessed, being true crime. In 2017 she finds becomes fascinated and compelled to investigate the story of Dolores “Lore“ Rivera. In 1985 Lore marries Andres Russo in Mexico City (always referred to as DF, had to look that up!). There’s only one little snag, well a big snag actually, she’s already married to Fabian Rivera and what’s more has twin sons, Mateo and Gabriel. Needless to say this is not going to end well and in this case it leaves one husband dead and the other languishing in prison. Cassie wants to understand what led Lore to risk it all and in doing so she uncovers explosive information. It is told from Lore and Cassie’s perspective.

Well, if this premise sounds interesting that’s because it is! However, this should have been a blazing inferno of a fast paced revelatory thriller but instead it’s a slow burner domestic drama (snail pace at times) with an occasional smoulder.

The story is divided into three parts and the best is the last third where it does rev up a gear, although we’re probably only in third, as up until then it’s been a bit of a slog. It is way too drawn out, it’s at least 150 pages longer than it needs to be and don’t get me started on the amount of Spanish I have to keep looking up so much so I give up in the end .

It also doesn’t help when you don’t especially like Cassie though oddly I do like Lore who is clearly a very good liar but that does not necessarily a murderer make!

So, if you don’t mind a slow paced domestic drama then you’ll be fine with this.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book by the blurb. It started off really good. The parts that were good, were really good. There was a great cast of characters and for most of the book it was good but unfortunately it didn't hold my attention I felt lost with the foreign words. I either had to go to google or ignore it so I felt I was missing out.

I very much enjoyed this duel of a book, presented by two very different women, one a bigamist, and the other a true crime writer trying to discover the truth behind the lies. An utterly original novel!

I’m afraid I lost interest in this story as I found it quite slow, and also difficult to read. The foreign words really confused me and at first I thought they were some kind of typos. For example “… Cassie Bowman, aunque this had been my reasoning too.” I can’t understand why the author felt that adding the Spanish ‘aunque’ instead of the translation ‘although’ added anything at all to the narrative. Very confusing and seemingly pointless. The timelines were difficult to follow – I kept getting lost – and the story seemed neverending. Sorry, this wasn’t one for me, but thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy.

This is a long tome, almost 450 pages, so pour a drink, turn the phone to silent and settle in for a long but satisfying read!

The novel starts with Cassie Bowman, a contemporary true crime blogger, happening upon an article about bigamist Delores Rivera, known as ‘Lore’. Some three decades ago, Lore was leading a double life, trying to switch seamlessly between her twin boys and husband in Laredo, Texas and her alternative husband Andreas Russo in Mexico. It all ended in tragedy when one husband murdered the other. More than thirty years later, Cassie now attempts to get to the bottom of Lore’s motivations and visits Lore. But as they start talking and digging deeper into the past, will it just be Lore’s secrets that are unravelled, or Cassie’s own backstory, too?
A fabulous debut novel that ruthless editing could, perhaps, have shortened a bit without losing impetus. In any case, do not let the length put you off as this is a great read. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free ARC that enabled me to produce this honest, unbiased review.

An adulteress, one family in the USA with her two children. A different family in Mexico with her 'other husband's' children.
An investigative journalist looks into the stories and finds more than just bigamy.

I wanted to really like this book but it was so slow going. Overly long and quite confusing to read. I didn't click with it. A great idea that didn't quite come off and I found myself losing interest. A shame

This was a very original and intriguing novel with true crime at its helm, although it is a work of fiction. But fiction presented in real time podcasts, research, interviews and a woman who won’t give up the chance of a scoop. True crime is something a lot of us in this world are fascinated by. If this sounds like your kind of book then I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book but found it hard to get totally gripped by it .... not to say it was not a great book I was not like having to stop what I was doing to finish this book quickly...

Now I know I might not be the only one that will say this but.... it was a struggle to read at times, especially the parts where it went back to the past. I found these parts really broke the flow of the book and I found myself having to read parts again as my mind would wander off and then I forgot what I just read. And every time this happened I just wanted to get back to the main story again.

But the book and story were great and overall I really enjoyed it.

A really good read. When Cassie a journalist decides to write a story about a murder thet happened over 30 years ago she gets close to the family and lots of secrets are uncovered ,but what will she decide to do with what she has discovered. Plenty of twists that keep you wanting to know more about Lore and her secret life. I really enjoyed it

I really enjoyed this book, I loved how the storyline unfolded and found myself very invested in the lives of our two main characters. I couldn't read it quick enough as I just needed to find out how it ended. The only downside is there is quite a lot of Spanish in it, whilst I can read more Spanish than I can speak it did detract slightly as I did not know exactly what was being said. Despite this I still enjoyed it and thoroughly enjoyed reading it with all of its twists and turns.

This is an intriguing and successful approach to a murder mystery. Cassie is an aspiring journalist who writes about old cases. She stumbles across a complicated old case where a mother of twin boys in Texas turns out to have another husband in Mexico where she visits for work. When her deception is revealed, one husband ends up dead and the other goes to gaol. Cassis is not convinced that the correct conclusion was reached and investigates the case with writing a book as her plan. She meets with the wife and her legitimate family and also the relatives of the dead husband. As the story goes on, Cassie discovers information that takes her in an unexpected direction leading to a dramatic conclusion. The book takes a while to set the scene but it is worth sticking in. There is also a lot of description but that feeds the story. As a different way of solving an old crime, it is a clever approach. I recommend it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. Wow what a book. This was definitely the best book I’ve read so far this year. Absolutely brilliant writing great characters and the storyline was fantastic. Well worth 5 stars and more.

Cassie is a true crime addict, writing a murder blog for a living. When she discovers the story of a female bigamist, whose husband shot and killed his rival, she knew she was onto a good thing, and becomes obsessed with discovering all the missing details. Written across two timelines the story held great promise and the premise of this book was so good, I couldn’t wait to start reading.

Now I know I’m in the minority here, but goodness me it was a struggle to read. I love a foreign phrase thrown in as much as the next person, but this was far too much. The constant broken sentences spoilt the flow and the story stuttered along. The book was too stretched out without enough substance to back it up.

What could have been a real gem became a boring slog. Apologies to the author, but not one for me.

Thank you NetGalley.

Two damaged Ladies, one amazing story.

Cassie is fascinated by murder, and engaged to a mild mannered Duke (his name not Title) his upbringing a whole different world you could say. But Lore her story is a much wilder one she had two husbands at the same time.

Husband number two is shoot dead husband number one found guilty the evidence very damming Lore is alone her twins from husband number one week you can imagine and read. There are 2 children from husband number two's first marriage, he'd done the right thing and was divorced when he married Lore. A boy and a girl that had loved the 2nd Mum but strangely but after their Dad died.

So yep things are a bit of a mess and then two authors want to right a book about your mess o happy days, Lore chooses Cassie not a plot spoiler as it's the brunt of the story. Cassie writes blogs and newspaper articles a book is a fresh adventure for her and her research will be thorough. The twins are not very happy and Fabian husband number one is inside doing time paying for the crime so has no say.

Lore who had it all a great job family but wasn't satisfied and when the charm and enthusiasm of a new admirer that laid attention to her everything changes and that's what you get to read about and the fatal day. Also Cassie's life is in the spot light as well and it all adds up to a great read, wonderful characters with some amazing twists along the way that you don't see coming so that's why I have given this thriller 5 stars and really recommend it and hope you enjoy it as well.

A good story but I didn't really like the main characters so found it difficult to completely lose myself in this book. However, it is well-written and deserves to be popular.

I really enjoyed this twisty, accomplished, atmospheric debut.

Cassie is a true crime addict, she makes her living from writing up lurid cases for a newspaper blog, scouring the internet for noteable murders, where she comes across an article written about a woman whose bigamy caused the death of one of her husbands at the hands of the other. Interest piqued, Cassie investigates, sure that there is more to the case than the few sensational headlines she can find - and her luck seems to be in when she convinces Lore, now a recently retired grandmother, to agree to collaborate on a book. But Lore has a couple of conditions of her own - Cassie can't hide any secrets from Lore, nor can she ask about the murder itself.

Written in two timeframes, the present from Lore and Cassie's POV and the past, Lore in the 1980s, we along with Cassie, see how Lore fell in love not just with another man but another possibility, one where she wasn't consumed by motherhood, breadwinning, chores, obligations, another future. Meanwhile Cassie is forced to confront her own past and the decisions she has made.
Assured, fast paced and beautifully written, this is bound to get everyone talking this summer. Highly recommended.

Katie Gutierrez is an author to watch. The duel perspective employed here is perhaps the best I've ever read, and so brilliant to see Cassie's investigations play out against what actually happened to Lore. The twist really had me, but more than that, the exploration of Lore's marriage and why she made the decisions she did was spot on, heartbreaking and poignant and really something to mull over. One of the best books I've read in a very long time.

I enjoyed this book. Cassie Bowman, a writer, was fascinated by the story of Lore who was married to two people at the same time and the murder of one of her husbands. He she managed to pull off having 2 husbands without either of them knowing for so long was fascinating. A real who dunnit with many twists and turns. A great ending which really surprised me. A great first novel. Looking forward to reading more from Katie.