This was a fast paced thriller that was excellent. I love husband and wife domestic thrillers. It was well written and didn't add in a ton of extra storylines or plots for the sake of suspense or mystery. Everything written added to the story. The twists were a bit predictable but it still kept me wanting to read.

📖 ARC Review | The Last Wife by Matt McGregor
📚 Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I was about three-quarters of the way through The Last Wife when it was archived—and I was completely hooked. This psychological thriller pulled me in with its sharp writing and layered tension. From an abusive relationship to a whirlwind romance that feels too good to be true… you know something’s coming.

Secrets, lies, suspense, and twists that had me racing through the pages—and I’m already planning to grab a copy so I can finish the ride. If the rest of the book is anything like the first part, I’m in for a jaw-dropper of an ending.

4.5*

I don’t know why I forgot about this book…

I really liked this!!

Every time I started this I didn’t wanna stop! I needed to know what was going to happen!

I was just waiting for yas to still be alive somehow like she really did get away! Also Anya can kick rocks… 😡

I wasn’t expecting some of the twists in there for sure!

Olivia Yates, an artist forced to make a living as a waitress, and stuck in an abusive relationship with boyfriend Damian, is rescued from her pitiable life by Lachlan Gibson, handsome, charming, kind and rich. They fall in love, marry and move to his palatial home.

Very soon, Olivia realizes that being married to Lachlan isn’t quite as wonderful as she had imagined. For one, Lachlan has all sorts of rules that he expects his wife to follow. He chooses her clothes, insists on her dyeing her hair blonde. What could he possibly mean by this controlling attitude?

And then there is the manner in which the neighbours seem to treat her, calling her a gold-digger who has seduced him into marrying her.

As Olivia digs deeper, she discovers the secret he is hiding and wonder what horrible fate is in store for her.



I found Olivia to be extremely naïve. While she is no gold-digger, she does in fact let herself be swayed into making decisions based on her comfort, even though she doesn’t really know Lachlan all that well.

Olivia fit the character trope very well. Friendless, she latches on to the first person who is nice to her.

There were a lot of questions left unanswered, even after the conclusion. Why does the neighbour, Sylvia Woodhouse, get so angry on hearing the name, Gibson? What experiences did the little boy next door have with Lachlan’s first wife?

What was the rationale behind Lachlan wanting what he did? Why did the other antagonist act as they did? The explanation given is wholly unconvincing.

The climax was packed with action but an understanding of why the characters acted as they did was missing.

On the whole, the story was predictable. If you’ve read thrillers in this genre, it’s easy to tell which way the story will go.

OK, this was a wild ride. As usual, I went into this blind. This was also an extremely fast read. The pacing is definitely not slow! No time to get bored.

I thought I knew everything that was going to happen, but I was surprised by some of the turn of events. Since this is a psychological thriller, you can expect some parts to be a little out-of-this-world.

All in all, a fun book. I did feel stressed out during some chapters. I felt some of what the FMC felt & was glad to be in the safety of my home!

3.5 stars rounded up

New Review - The Last Wife by Matt McGregor

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Such a great read. This had me on the edge of my nerves most of the way through. Olivia is a waitress who is struggling to make ends meet. She ends up serving Lachlan which leads to a whirlwind romance and a fairytale wedding. Soon though incidents start to occur which indicates things might be too good to be true. Olivia learns that Lachlans last wife died and starts to question his real intentions with her.

This psychological thriller had me gripped from the start. I loved the development of the characters and the twists and turns of the writing. At times, it chilled me to my core. A great read for summer. Thanks to @inkubatorbooks and @netgalley for letting me read.

#newreview #netgalley #netgalleyreview #arc #psycologicalthriller #thrillerbooks #suspense #thelastwife #review #reviewers #bookreviewers #booksta #bookstagram

Addicting and impossible to put down. The Last Wife hooks you from the start as Olivia steps into a luxurious new life that quickly turns sinister. Twists, secrets, and a missing ex-wife keep the tension high. Perfect for fans of dark, fast-paced domestic thrillers.

A huge thankyou to both Netgalley as well as to Inkubator Books for the opportunity to read this amazing ARC book!.
The story was fast paced, suspenseful and had me gripped from start to finish. I really felt for the main character Olivia and the amount of
trauma as well as psychological abuse she had to endure at the hands of the "seemingly perfect" Lachlan Gibson- the amazing man whom she thought she had married for the prospect of a better life- who, in turn, turned out to be a violent and depraved sociopath and complete control freak.
In the story, the characters were all well fleshed out, the plot well written and the setting was dark, bleak and extremely realistic perfectly matching the genre of the book in its entirety. I flew through this story and read it in two sittings as it was impossible to put it down. This was such an immersive and enjoyable read and I will gladly read more books by this author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkubator Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book so much that I read it in one sitting! I could not put this book down, I had to know what was going to happen. I loved the storyline and all the characters. I was surprised at some of the twists, I never can figure out a book! I would definitely recommend this book and will be looking for more by this author.

Loved the way it turned out. Had a hard time putting the book down after the beginning. It was unexpected but I also wasn’t not expecting it because I was literally open for expecting everything

I guess the moral of the story is, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

A big thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I devoured this one in a matter of hours, a quick and easy thriller to read. It was quite a predictable book and I don’t feel it was anything new but it kept me invested.

I wish there was a little more at the end as a few things were left unanswered.

Matt McGregor’s The Last Wife is a chilling psychological thriller that explores how a seemingly perfect life can quickly unravel into a nightmare. When Olivia, a hopeful waitress, marries the wealthy and charming Lachlan Gibson, she believes she has found her dream life—filled with love, luxury, and creative freedom. But beneath the gleaming surface of their beautiful home and fairy-tale romance lies a darkness that soon threatens to consume her.

McGregor skillfully ratchets up the tension with unsettling “accidents,” eerie rules, and whispers about Lachlan’s mysterious past, including the fate of his previous wife. Olivia’s growing suspicions and desperate search for the truth keep readers hooked, as every revelation deepens the sense of dread and danger.

The Last Wife is a gripping, intense read for fans of domestic suspense, filled with twists and psychological thrills that remind us just how terrifying the perfect lie can be.

I liked this way more than I expected to! The storyline was easy to follow but also suspenseful ! A short read at work but something that I really could keep up with and kept wanting to find out more
First by this author but not my last for sure!

Thank you Inkubator Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own

From its very first pages, this domestic-noir thriller pulls you into a heady mix of romance and dread. We meet Olivia, a talented painter whose whirlwind marriage to the enviably polished Lachlan Gibson promises a life straight out of a glossy magazine—a lavish Rosford estate, limitless time to create art, and the thrill of leaving her shift-work days behind. Yet author —whose name deliberately remains as understated as some of the book’s most chilling clues—quickly turns that fairy-tale sheen on its head.

What works especially well

Slow-burn tension done right. Instead of bombarding us with outright horrors, the novel drip-feeds unease: Lachlan’s oddly rigid house rules, the town’s half-hushed gossip about his late first wife, and a series of “accidents” that feel anything but accidental. That incremental dread makes the inevitable reveals all the more satisfying.

Rosford as a character. The picturesque coastal setting contrasts beautifully with the rot beneath its manicured surface. Brief descriptive passages—salt-stung breezes, clifftop footpaths, the Gibson estate’s locked studio—evoke the feel of a Gothic manor story updated for modern readers.

An empathetic protagonist. Olivia’s background as a working-class artist provides both vulnerability and grit. Her inner commentary on class divides, creative frustration, and love-drunk denial feels authentic, which keeps the stakes personal even as the plot escalates.


Where it falls short

A familiar blueprint. Readers well-versed in “perfect husband, perfect house, perfect nightmare” thrillers will guess at least one twist ahead of time. A late-game flashback, meant as a bombshell, echoes tropes we’ve seen in Rebecca and Gone Girl clones.

Secondary characters underused. The kindly neighbor, the suspicious groundskeeper, and Olivia’s estranged sister appear poised to complicate matters but slip in and out of the narrative, leaving potential subplots half-explored.


The bottom line

This book isn’t reinventing the wheel, but it spins that wheel with tremendous flair. Its combination of crisp prose, creeping dread, and a protagonist you genuinely root for makes it a propulsive weekend read—perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell or B. A. Paris. A tighter twist or deeper supporting cast might have nudged it to five stars, yet it remains an engrossing, sinister tale that lingers long after you close the final page.

Being a waitress isn't Olivia's dream job..she wants to be an artist. When Lachan comes into the restaurant where she's working her dream may come true. Handsome, wealthy and very romantic he sweeps her off her feet. After marriage things start to change.

I was immediately drawn into this book. Every page leads to another twist. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator books for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. In the story, we meet a struggling artist in an abusive relationship, who is quickly swept away by a charming man who says and does all of the right things. However, she quickly learns that this isn’t all she hoped that it would be. Matt McGregor does a wonderful job bringing his characters and their world to life, and this was a book I simply could not put down. While this was my first book by Matt McGregor, I do look forward to reading more by him. Overall, I gave the book 4 stars, as there were some plots that seemed to fall through, and some publishing errors, but overall, the book was well written and a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator books for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of The Last Wife by Matt McGregor. This was a quick read with a storyline that keeps you hooked. It had a great pace and was well written. There were no senseless plots / murders happening throughout the book. Everything was calculated and done with purpose. I have not read any other books by this author but I will look for them now. I would recommend this book to others and I gave it a 4 star rating.

Wow!! I did not expect to breeze through The Last Wife the way I did. I’m a sucker for a good husband and wife thriller, and The Last Wife delivered. Steady pacing, creeping tension, and a protagonist I could root for.

Right from the beginning, I felt Olivia’s exhaustion. She’s stuck with a dead end job waitressing, in a toxic relationship that’s draining the life out of her, and just trying to hold onto her dream of being an artist. So when Lachlan enters the picture, saying and doing all the right things, it’s easy for her to fall for him.

I loved how the author played with that fantasy. The fairytale setup slowly unravels, and what’s revealed underneath is truly chilling. It’s not just that Lachlan becomes controlling, it’s how subtly it all happens. The house rules, the weird looks from people in town, the locked studio, each detail feels small until it doesn’t. The pacing is perfect: you feel like something’s off before Olivia even realizes it, and that tension builds steadily until it reaches a climax.

Another thing I loved was the setting. Rosford has that eerie, small-town charm where everyone smiles just a bit too politely, and secrets are buried just beneath the surface. It was giving The Stepford Wives vibe, and I loved it!!

Now, I’ll admit the premise of this book isn’t a new one. If you read thrillers as much as I do, you might guess where things are heading. But honestly, I didn’t mind at all. For me, it was more about the journey, watching Olivia go from uncertain and swept up in this whirlwind romance, to someone who starts trusting her gut and fighting back. She felt like someone I could root for, even when she was deep in denial, because her vulnerability and naivety was so real.

If you are in the mood for an atmospheric and twisty psychological thriller with domestic noir vibes, then you should absolutely read this one.

This book caught you from the very beginning. It was hard to put down. I finished it so quick and it left me wanting more.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. Wow! I'm new to this author, and I loved this!! THe mystery of what happened to the first wife is always an attention grabber. And we know narcissists always make you think you are going nuts. Great character creation!