I loves good C.L. Taylor story!
This is the most well-written and engaging book I've read in awhile.
It’s Always the Husband kept me captive from the first page until the end.
I love how the suspense slowly builds and I would never have guessed the ending.
Lots of suspense, great characters that you can get invested in and a really psychologically twisted ending.
C.L. Taylor's writes with tension and revealing shocking facts which keep you desperately fixed to the page. This book is the perfect thriller.
So intriguing and super fast paced straight from the beginning. C.L. knows how to weave a great story and she's done it again in what is hands down her best work yet!
Highly recommend for fans of psychological thrillers.

This is a great thriller centred around a group of Mums who met on the school run.
When Jude’s daughter starts at the school she doesn’t even attempt to penetrate the popular group of Mums and is happy to stay on the periphery.
Her daughter becomes friends with one girl and when Jude meets her father, she’s pleased to see he’s not part of the other group.
When Will is attacked one morning near the school, Jude goes to help him and one of the other Mums, Victoria warns Jude to stay away from him.
When Jude is invited round to Victoria’s with the others it’s clear she wants information out of her, but Jude also wants information from them.
They all think Will killed his ex wife and girlfriend but Jude isn’t so sure.
She’s intrigued to find out what happened to them but soon other incidents happen around this group of people, and it’s clear there’s someone trying to cause trouble for them all.
This is a great thriller that will certainly keep you guessing what really happened.
Thanks to Avon Books for the opportunity to read this book.

C.L Taylor is one of my go to authors and I always look forward to reading her new release.

This book centres around the school run and its associated gossip and pressure.
New in town Jude becomes close to single dad Will when their daughters become friends. The other mums invite her to drinks in order to grill her about the burgeoning relationship and to warn her that Will may not be what he seems.
His first wife died in an accident and his girlfriend has vanished without a trace.
Jude doesn’t know what to believe torn between her love life and her social life.

The book follows Jude and two of the other mums as the story unfolds it seems that everyone is hiding secrets.

The characters are all believable and the school mum vibe has been captured well. I raced to the end to find out what was going on and who was telling the truth!

A fast paced thriller with lots of reveals.

There was a lot going on in this story, all of which was entertaining. I also appreciate books with short chapters and various POVs because I read them relatively quickly. Some of the characters I felt could have used a bit more development, but other than that it was a great read. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this. I loved the multi-narrative and each chapter left me wanting to read more. I got through this in a day while I was supposed to have another few on the go at the same time. I loved the toxicity, lies and drama of the school run. I really enjoyed the characters. I didn’t know which characters to trust and liked and disliked them at the same time. It was definitely a page turner full of twists. I am definitely going to start reading some more from this author. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

Wow this is an excellent thriller.
What a vipers nest the school gate clique of Mum’s are.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of here so you need your wits about you, not to mention the twists and turns.
It feels like a race to the truth towards the end and when you’re finally there a pièce de résistance of a twist leaves you reeling!
A true masterpiece of intrigue.

I love CL Taylor and this did not disappoint, whose husband is in the frame, it turns out it could be multiple, who is blackmailing the wife’s and husbands, again it could be multiple, this book keeps you thinking until the twist on the very last page.

This was a super thriller, full of nasty unlikeable characters and I absolutely devoured it! CL Taylor is a really accomplished author I and just captures the human psyche so well! I really loved this book.

It’s Always the Husband by C.L. Taylor is a gripping, suspenseful read that delivers plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked. The story skillfully navigates tangled friendships, secrets, and betrayals, making it hard to put down. Taylor is excellent at building tension, and the plot unfolds at just the right pace, revealing dark surprises that left me genuinely intrigued.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the drama and the character dynamics, this wasn’t my absolute favorite by Taylor — some of her earlier works felt a touch stronger in terms of character development and atmosphere. Still, this is a solid thriller that I’d definitely recommend to fans of domestic suspense and psychological thrillers. It’s an addictive, twisty ride that proves once again why Taylor is such a reliable voice in this genre!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Jude strikes up a friendship with fellow parent Will. There is lots of chemistry between the two. Jude and Will's daughters are best friends, and Jude is the first to step in when Will is attacked. One of the school run mums tells Will he deserved that after what he'd done. Jude has no idea what is going on, but soon hears how Will's first wife died, and his next girlfriend is missing without a trace. Jude is determined to find the answers herself, and in doing so there's more secrets and lies uncovered from the coven of witches, that are the other school mums.

I adore everything this author writes, and this was absolutely brilliant!! The author nails how the school run and other parents can be, we have all experienced that dreaded clique of school parents. The writing flowed beautifully and the story was seamless. There was so much happening, and I couldn't wait to turn each page to find the answers to more questions. The characters were so well written, that we can all imagine these people in our daily lives. The whole book was completely enthralling, pure tension, entertaining, and all leading up to the explosive ending. 5 star!!

Well... wasn't this the book that kept on giving... And it kept me on my toes throughout too. But I get ahead of myself.
Single parent, newly divorced Jude has upped sticks and mover herself and her daughter Betsy to the small town of Lowbridge. The moved cos she thought it would be a better place to bring up Betsy, but she really wasn't prepared for the small town mentality, nor was she expecting a full on coven of school gate mothers. But she has an ally in Will who is single father to Betsy's best friend Millie.
But this friendship is not without its challenges as she soon finds out when the gossip surrounding Will hits her own ears. His wife having died in an accident and then his girlfriend went missing after an argument. But, if you thought that was all the secrets that the townsfolk were hiding you'd be so very very wrong... With so many secrets and lies and an extremely healthy dollop of dysfunctional behaviour, just sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster ride... I know I did...
Wow... the punches just kept on coming. As well as the whole Will being a potential bad guy thing, we also have a bitter and twisted point scoring ex-husband, and the aforementioned coven, headed up by Queen Bee Victoria all of whom have their own secrets. In fact there is so much going on that I have to applaud the for her ability to keep all the juggling balls in the air all the way through. Putting them down gently as their thread concludes, dropping not a one along the way.
And the characters are all well described, pretty much larger than life without becoming caricatures of themselves. There are a lot of them, main and supporting, but they are all easy to get to grips with - yes I did start a list initially but it wasn't long before I stopped referring to it.
Yes OK the final part does get a bit messy as everything is revealed and the whole truth finally exposed but it does ll get there eventually. Especially when you thing you have it all sorted and then the author does that! Not telling, but you'll know when you get there! Brilliant sting...
All in all, a worthy addition to an already well impressive back catalogue, roll on next time.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

4⭐️
Solid thriller! Lots of tension. Addictive read. Drama. Gossip. Entertaining & Wild. Enjoyed this one!

C.L. Taylor is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors for twisty thrillers, and It’s Always the Husband just cemented that. I’ve read a couple of her books before and really enjoyed them, so I was super excited to dive into this one and it didn’t disappoint.

The story centers around Jude, who’s just moved to Lowbridge with her daughter Betsy. Betsy quickly befriends Millie, the daughter of a local dad, Will. And naturally, things start to stir among the school mums when Jude and Will start getting a little too close. Gossip starts flying, and Jude is warned that Will’s first wife died and his girlfriend Robyn is missing- possibly dead. Jude doesn’t buy into the rumors at first, but of course, she starts digging… and that’s when things really start unraveling.

This book had me hooked from the start. I love how C.L. Taylor builds tension without dragging things out. There’s always something happening, always a new twist around the corner. Despite the large cast of characters and a lot of moving parts, it was easy to follow and kept me turning the pages.

Thank you to Netgalley and the UK publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this! CL Taylor books are so easy to read. I was immediately invested in the characters and was eating up the domestic thriller vibes.

If you love housewives behaving badly and so many potential culprits and strands to a story, you will enjoy this. It never felt like it took itself too seriously, which I enjoyed. It was just fun.

I was getting a bit confused at the end and was worried there was going to be unanswered questions, but it pulled it back at the very end. The very last page was amazing!

I always look forward to the next psychological thriller by C L Taylor and "It's always the Husband" doesn't disappoint.

Great characters and storyline. Glad my school runs weren't like this with these characters though. Various points of view from different characters pull the story together.

Very entertaining and addictive.

A big thanks to Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read and review this book.

One of my favourite authors delivers again when a group of school parents question the rumours about a single dad's previous wife's death and then missing girlfriend. Jude knows she shouldn't get involved with him just to be safe but with both their daughters getting along, she can hardly stay away. I do like a solid domestic thriller and this one delivered on all fronts.

C L Taylor is one of my “ I can’t wait for her next book to come out” author.
I should have known better that this wasn’t going to be the usual “ the husband killed the wife “ type of read because this author isn’t as so obvious as this in her stories she makes the readers brain matter tick over constantly and in a good way.

So based around moms and dads at school gates, and gossipy people one woman fires up an affair with one of the dads but all the others are soon to inform her that his wife disappeared in suspicious circumstances police found no evidence it was him but that didn’t stop the rumours and accusations….so is SHE IN DANGER , or is this just unfounded gossip.


Knowing this author, it’s not going to be THAT simple to solve and it truly wasn’t. With friendships formed with women and who knows what and when throw in a potentially dead woman’s diary and you’re hooked until the last page, the last sentence the last page.

This is a book you read when all distraction fades into the background nothing will pull you away from reading this once you’ve stuck you’re nose into it I assure you, make sure this is on your wishlist to buy not long to wait Now

A really well written psychological thriller, with dual narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the many twists, turns and unreliable char ters.

It's Always the Husband by C.L. Taylor,

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I liked the premise and the tension between the characters kept me interested, but I found it hard to really connect with any of them. Some parts felt a little drawn out and I guessed a few of the twists before they happened. That said, the writing was solid and there were moments that genuinely pulled me in. Not my favorite, but not bad either-worth a read if you're into slow-burn psychological thrillers with messy relationships. I also really liked the chapters being short.
Thank you #NetGalley for this #ARC

There is nothing more dangerous than the gossip and rumours between a bunch of mums at the school gates and, new to the area, Jude wants to avoid that when she moves to the small town of Lowbridge but, when she is drawn to single dad Will, whose daughter Milly is best friend to her daughter Betsy, she soon discovers that is not going to happen because Will has a past that is the talk of the playground, one wife dead and his second one missing, the mums want to warn Jude to stay away from him, but they also want the truth and they are hoping she's going to find out what happened...

It's Always the Husband is the latest thriller by Taylor which is told from the perspectives of various characters and, as with all this authors books, it's a story that is compelling, suspenseful and intriguing. It has been a long time since I did the school run, but I still remember the cliques in the playground, those mums that ruled the roost and were always flanked by others desperate to be in with the 'in crowd' and the mums of Lowbridge are no different. Victoria is the one leading the pack here and the others hang off her every word, but they all have their troubles and many have secrets of their own, which eventually unravel and come to a head, with some distressing consequences for certain members of the group. This is a fast paced read with a seamless plot that kept me on the edge of my seat and second guessing throughout, culminating in an unexpected twist to the tale. Another great read from one of my go to authors whose stories never disappoint.

I'd like to thank Avon Books UK and Netgalley for inviting me to read this, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.