4⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author C.L. Taylor, her publisher Avon. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the June 2025 release of IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND in exchange for my honest review.

Solid thriller! Lots of tension. It’s faced-paced. Addictive read. Drama. Blackmail. Gossip. These women are crazy, clever and unpredictable.

This town is drama central. Brings participating in a PTA to a whole different level. Filled with liars, cheats and all sorts of scandal. Small town feel so while it’s dark at times it’s still a fun read.

This is my first book by this author but I thought it was twisty, entertaining and had that wild factor. It will keep you entertained. Enjoyed this one!!

This was a twisty, suspenseful thriller set in a small town and based around the parents at the local primary school. Everyone knows everything about each other and rumours and secrets are rife.

The story jumps between characters, which keeps things interesting (though a bit confusing at times) but the short chapters and constant suspense make it easy to get through.

A solid domestic thriller with all the classic Taylor goodness!

Another masterpiece from C L Taylor! A superbly dark and twisty thriller with brilliant characters and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish!
Huge thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my arc

I've read all books to date by this author and once again I wasn't let down.

C l Taylor has a gift for weaving a web of deceit so in the end up you don't know who to trust at all!

I read this in two days and barely had it out of my hands! I fear I was not a good holiday companion on these two days whilst I was engrossed!

Another winner and recommended by me as always!

Jude has moved to a new town with her daughter Millie. At the school gate she meets Will. A father to a girl in Millie’s class. They become friends but the school Mums are very quick to discuss the drama surrounding Jude. Will’s first wife is dead and his girlfriend Robyn is missing. All fingers are pointing at Will but Jude wants to find out the truth, not believing Will could be a bad person.

If you know me well you would know I absolutely love short chapters and this book definitely delivered. I found this fast paced and intrigued with the mystery resolving Robyn. Is she alive and is she the one blackmailing everyone? Full of secrets, shady characters, gossip and drama. Another great book by C.L Taylor.

Thank you Avon Books UK and Netgalley for a gifted copy of this book for my honest book review.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the premise and enjoyed the plot, but so many unlikeable characters I couldn't keep up the storylines of them all and their context within the book. I very nearly DNF it but kept going to the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I have read a number of C.L. Taylor's books and have enjoyed 99.9% of them and this is one to add to that number.

I quickly became invested in the lives of the school-run parents and the mystery of various events surrounding them including blackmail, infidelity and possible murder. It's a complex but riveting story told at a steady pace using short chapters told from multiple points of view and whilst this could be confusing, I didn't find it to be so and was able to follow things with ease.

With great characters and an intriguing plot, I enjoyed this one and many thanks to the author, Avon Books UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts.

This was a lovely fast paced read that made sitting in the garden reading such a pleasure. The characters were excellent, some lovable some certainly not nice. This describes so well the parents who meet each other every day at the school gates when they deliver their children. The whole book describes the small minded people who tend to live in little villages and need to know everything that is going on. Although there was lots of drama, twists, turns and false leads, I did ntr think that this was really a thriller but more an excellent mystery.This was a fully engaging read that kept me uessing right until the end.

I am a big fan of this author and I always look forward to her new releases as she is an author that has never let me down. And I'm pleased to say this was another hit!
Once again, her writing style is fantastic. It is so easy to read and I was hooked immediately.
This held my attention throughout, I liked the characters and the drama between them definitely felt real.
The plot was fast paced and the drama and tension never let up once throughout the whole book.
It was an easy read that I flew through.
I did get slightly muddled nearer the end as the plot became slightly convoluted but I managed to keep up.
I would however consider this book to be more of a domestic drama/mystery than a thriller.
If you are looking for a fast paced, quick, easy read that is full of drama, I highly recommend you check this out.

It’s Always the Husband
Small town gossip, a single dad with one dead wife and a missing girlfriend, and plenty of twists and turns makes this mystery a very entertaining read! 5 stars

A fantastic psychological thriller and one which I was glued to from start to finish. It had plenty of characters for me to get to know, some nice and others not so much.

Another tremendous psychological domestic noir from the pen of the excellent and thankfully prolific CL Taylor. As usual the writing is fast paced, the array of characters well depicted and the twists breathtaking. I loved it!

This was a twisty, addictive read that kept me guessing until the end. The dynamics between the characters were tense and layered, especially the shifting loyalties and buried secrets from their past. I really enjoyed how the story moved between timelines it added depth and helped build suspense in a way that felt natural. The setting was moody and matched the darker tone of the plot perfectly. While some parts were a bit far fetched and a few characters frustrated me at times, the twists and emotional punches made up for it. A solid psychological thriller with plenty of drama and surprises definitely one to binge.

This book was incredible!!! Full of twists and turns. Loved the characters. Perfect for a summer read by the pool or beach! Couldn't put it down!
Thank you to C.L Taylor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A book that will book you in with its short chapters from multiple points of view.

Will is subject to a lot of speculation.

Affairs and scandals throughout too .

Who said that the school run was boring?

Superb read! Thoroughly enjoyed the pace of the novel, short chapters told from different characters within the novel. Will is the Dad who does the school run, meanwhile a group of school Mum's continue to speculate what happened to his two wives. It kept me gripped and will be definitely looking to read another novel from this author. Thanks to Net galley for the advanced copy

Told from different characters perspective with short punchy chapters it’s another success for one of my favourite writers. I did enjoy the WhatsApp group that allowed the reader to know what and who was saying and doing what. Another fabulous novel

A new psychological thriller with twists from the beginning. A very dark read and I really wasn't disappointed by by this read. Tense and it left me gripped to the end

CL Taylor is the author who got me into thrillers so I'm always excited for a new release!

This one follows some similar themes that I've been reading in thrillers lately (Don't you find that always happens?!). There are posh characters, school gate gossip, multiple POVs from deceitful characters, and lots of satisfying twists along the way.

Let's just say, if you enjoyed You Kill Me First and It Should Have Been You, then you'll love this one!

What stood out for me was the point of view of Jude whose innocence/naivety drives the story. She wants to find out the truth and prove Will's innocence, but will she fall into a trap instead?

She's a great lead to follow, although the points of view around her also add more spanners to the works, with more to unravel than you first imagined. The final twist is a goodie too!

Most of all, it's a fun and engaging quick thriller read, and I really enjoyed it!

This is a fantastic fast paced bingeable thriller so many secrets and twists and turns on every chapter I love that this is multiple pov I love to slowly be fed information by all different people keeps me guessing keeps me entertained and keeps me hooked as usual c.l taylor does it again fantastic