The book was goood! At first i wasn't sure about the ending but i liked that it was realistic. The husband as a detective was actually smart and connected dots quickly, which i appreciated, as mostly the killer is shown to be super smart and everyone else as dumb. It didnt keep me on the edge of my seat but it was a good read, and was funny too.

I really liked this book. The main character is funny, witty, a bit psychopath, but enjoyable nonetheless!
The story is from two point of views, Fran (the wife/serial killer) and Gareth (the husband/police detective). It’s already funny as this. But then there is a bit of mystery, which makes the story even more interesting.
At the same time however the book wasn’t always able to keep me glued to it, so I had to pick up the pace again.
But overall I recommend this book!

3.5 stars!

This was such a fun little thriller. It was exciting and a quick read and didn’t take a whole lot of brain power haha.

Fran Donoghue has just killed her neighbour. Don’t worry, you’ll agree, he deserved it.
Detective Gareth Donoghue has a terrible feeling about his missing neighbour.
By the time this is over, that will be the least of his worries…

This reminded me of the MindF series, which completely hooked me in the beginning. I felt like this book had a lot of potential and I genuinely wanted to enjoy it. But the writing ended up feeling confusing at times. During some conversations, I couldn’t even tell who was speaking, and it felt like I missed some kind of build up that never came.

What really threw me off was a moment where the author mentioned a neighbor being physically attracted to a Dalmatian and trying to assault it. The neighbor ends up in pain and it’s written like it’s supposed to be funny? That honestly shocked me and felt completely out of pocket. I kept reading because I wanted to see how everything played out, but overall, this could’ve been a much stronger book. The female main character is a police officer who lived her entire life by the law, and then suddenly that all changes with barely any explanation. It just didn’t click for me.

The book follows the story of husband a wife,Fran and Gareth. Gareth is a detective and Fran, she’s a serial killer. Their neighbour goes missing and Gareth is assigned to the case. But little does he know his wife killed him.
I really enjoyed this book, rating it 4 stars. It was unhinged, witty, dry, sarcastic and funny. But also with layers of emotion when covering the topic of infertility. The characters were likeable, with Fran being my favourite. Closely followed by Mep, their cat. I liked the dual pov element.
I found this book to be similar to How To Kill Your Family. I was initially draw to this book by the blurb but also to cover, I really loved this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Dark, Twisty, and Funny

My Wife, The Serial Killer by H.J. Garbett is a deliciously sharp, darkly funny thriller that grabs you by the collar from the first page and doesn’t let go. The premise alone...what if your sweet, loving wife murdered the neighbor across the street and you, a police detective, had to solve the case?...is enough to hook you, but the story goes deeper and darker in ways that are both unsettling and strangely satisfying.

Fran Donoghue is no ordinary wife. She’s a woman shaped by trauma, raised in a corrupt children’s home, and driven by a quiet, calculated sense of justice. Her husband, Gareth, is a well-meaning but increasingly frantic detective caught between doing his job and protecting the woman he loves. Their relationship is the heart of this story, and it pulses with tension, wit, and an almost absurd devotion...yes, even through murder charges.

The book peels back its layers at a perfect pace, revealing Fran’s motivations and tragic backstory while keeping you guessing until the very end. And just when you think you’ve figured it out, the story throws one last twist that makes you rethink everything.

The humor is pitch-black...think How to Kill Your Family or Killing Eve...but it works. Garbett has a knack for mining absurdity out of horror without ever mocking the gravity of Fran’s past. It’s a surprisingly fast read, and one that kept me turning pages late into the night.

My only quibble (and why it’s not a full 5 stars) is that I wished for a little more depth in the supporting cast and maybe a slower build at times...but those are minor notes in an otherwise clever, compelling debut.

If you enjoy your thrillers with a side of gallows humor and a morally murky heroine who’s as dangerous as she is endearing, My Wife, The Serial Killer will not disappoint.

this was such a fantastic concept for a dark comedy, it had that overall feel that I was looking for and enjoyed from this type of book. The characters were so well written and worked with the genre and world in a way that worked. H. J. Garbett has a strong writing style and was glad I was able to read this.

3.5 rounded to 4

Fran has been happily married to her husband Gareth for years, and is looking forward to starting a family. The only issue is that she's currently standing over the body of the neighbour she killed, and she needs to find a way to dispose of everything without it leading back to her. Especially considering her husband is a detective, pining for the respect and admiration of his peers by searching for a case that elevates him in their eyes. Would he sell her out if he knew?

*****

This was such an incredible concept for a book, and I loved the setup and start to it. It kept me engaged for a few chapters, but then just started to slip. We deal with a lot of subterfuge as well as leads into Fran and Gareth's characters that seemed to be pointless to the overall plot. Gareth noticing coworkers and "friends" attractiveness and physical prowess felt like an odd aside to include. Especially as the author made him out to be such an undesirable lead. He wasn't respected by his boss or his peers, he was losing his hair, out of shape, and unsatisfactory in bed. All of these tied together with him being an unending people pleaser, staying late at work, neglecting his wife, and putting his career above all else, just made me want Fran to off him instead of lament about how much she loved him.

Aside from that, I found it funny that Fran was a killer, but so incredibly unprepared and genuinely terrible at it. She wasn't made out to be some kind of brutal genius. She was an average person, trying to right perceived wrongs and maybe not as well-versed as she should be, despite enjoying doing so. Her monologues were hilarious and kept the story upbeat through longer slogs, but her husband's POV dragged it down until the latter portions of the book where he did a complete 180 and suddenly became a mildly interesting lead.

The ending in general did leave a lot to be desired. I know it's more open to interpretation, but after Gareth and Angus making huge strides and changes into who they fundamentally are, it just kind of wraps up. I expected more from the description, and I wish we'd either had earlier character arcs, more interesting characters, or characters that acted in ways that aligned with who they are, and not just changing on a whim and then having everything tied up neat and tidy.

All in all it was a decent novel, but not something I would rave about.

*****

Thank you to Storm Publishing for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The dark humor and energy for this book were on point for me! From the very start, I loved Fran's banter! The characters being so complex especially when it came to morality was a breathe of fresh air. I love thrillers and though it didn't have the normal style of resolution, it was all very realistic in a way. It isn't your typical who done it or your normal resolution, but it had me on the edge of my seat.

I was hooked at the beginning of this. Im down for feminine rage reads, and Fran's humor and paranoia created tension and levity all at once. Her husband, Garrett, is the straightest of straight arrows and honestly, dude is boring. As we move through the story, they kind of switch places. Fran fades into the background and becomes a shell of herself, while Garrett decends into a desperation that makes him more interesting. Angus fell flat for me and seemed like a convenient scapegoat. The trial portion of the book was so slow, I nearly DNF'D it, but I wanted to know the ending. The pacing was a bit off, but the banter and Fran's internal monologue were pretty interesting. It was OK, but not my favorite.

2.5 rounded up…. I really liked the concept and the author did a great job of drawing you in. But there needed to be some bigger twists and surprises given that we had most of the information up front. I know there were a few “big twists” the author was going for but none of them wowed me….. it was just so slow by the time we got to those reveals I didn’t really care all that much. All that being said though, I do think this book would make a fantastic film

2.5/5⭐️ Not bad, not great. Not a genre I typically gravitate towards. Was a bit slow and difficult to get into in the beginning but really picked up during the last ~30%. May sound silly but felt a bit disconnected from the characters/setting given the use of British English/slang that’s not in my everyday lexicon. Otherwise, enjoyed the wittiness and dark humor that H.J. Garbett included in the writing.

Spoiler alert:
I think the author missed the opportunity for Fran to find out she was pregnant while in prison. To me, it felt like the writing kept alluding to this happening so was a bit disappointed when it didn’t come to fruition, as it could have added another layer of complexity to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the digital ARC of this book!

My Wife, The Serial Killer is a dark comedy crime novel. It tells the story of Fran Donoghue, a woman who suddenly kills her annoying neighbor. Her husband, Gareth, is a detective and starts to suspect what she did. The story is funny with many sharp jokes.

The book shows the story from both Fran’s and Gareth’s points of view. Fran’s thoughts are full of dark humor and strange logic, while Gareth’s side shows his struggle as a police officer who loves his wife but must find the truth. This makes the story interesting and adds a lot of tension. Besides the crime and humor, the book also talks about serious things like problems with having children, trust, and identity, which makes the story deeper.

Some parts of the book are slower and less exciting, especially at the beginning. Also, some twists and the ending may feel easy to guess. The other characters in the story are not always very well described. Sometimes the slang and quick changes between scenes can be a bit confusing.

If you like crime stories that are funny and have complicated characters, you will enjoy this book. Fran is a strange but funny character, and Gareth’s feelings add emotion to the story. It is a smart and funny thriller, but if you want a very fast and surprising story, this might not be the best choice.

This is a crazy dark comedy, Gareth is a police detective his wife, Fran, is a would be serial killer, would be because you need three kills to qualify as a veritable serial killer and at the beginning of the book we have just one grisly murder of an elderly neighbor and Fran cleaning up the crime scene. Gareth is sent to look into the disappearance of the neighbor after his neighbor's carer is concerned, she hasn't seen him. Gareth's colleagues think it is a straight forward disappearance but Gareth suspects foul play, unwittingly investigating a murder where his wife is the perpetrator. Gareth had no inkling his wife was a killer. The story is far-fetched and the humor is not for everyone. The pacing is uneven and drags at first, whilst Fran's portrayal as an unhinged woman was intriguing Gareth's character didn't seem believable, he seemed oblivious to so much. They also have an elderly cat, Mep (short for Mephistopheles), who is a scene stealer at times. The POV alternates between Fran and Gareth, Fran's dry dark humor is fun. I would have liked the other characters to be fleshed out more, Beryl, the nosy neighbor, Angus, Fran's hoarder 'brother' and Gareth's police colleagues, who seemed too generic. The premise was quirky and promised more than was delivered. Thank you to NetGalley and Storm publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Brilliant! A tongue-in-cheek treat of a read! Loved, loved, loved this one. I very highly recommend it to everyone. Just wow and deserving of five fabulous stars!

My Wife, The Serial Killer by H.J. Garbett is a twisted, fast-paced domestic thriller that manages to be both suspenseful and darkly hilarious. The premise? A woman might be murdering people and her husband, who happens to be a detective, is starting to put the pieces together. (spoiler we know its her from the first chapter) I liked seeing into her thought process and clever scheming.

The tension between duty and loyalty is so well done. Watching a husband on the force quietly suspect his own wife while trying to keep his world from unraveling was such a unique angle. I liked how all the pieces started to come together and we started to see the why of everything. The narration is sharp, full of dry wit, and balances the absurd with the emotional surprisingly well.

There are a few moments where the pacing lags or certain plot points could’ve used more depth, but overall, this was a refreshing and bold take on the domestic thriller. This book definitely kept me entertained. If you’re into morally gray characters, clever writing, and stories that keep you guessing with a smirk on your face this one’s worth your time.

PS. Mep is the best

Thank you, NetGallery, the author and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

this book was a sort of suspense book but i don’t think the stakes were very high, and you knew from the beginning who the murderer was so really the only suspenseful aspect was whether or not she would go to jail for it. i enjoyed it but it did slow down for me at some points. there was this weird underlying subplot about gareth and the cat having these odd health conditions and then they both just got better out of nowhere. i thought something was going to happen with that but it never did.

Fran is not a serial killer. She has actually only murdered two people… and they deserved it.

This story kicks off right after she’s murdered her neighbor and as a reader you don’t really understand why, yet. However, I couldn’t help rooting for her from the get go. I’m a firm believer in supporting women’s rights… and wrongs.

Everything is smooth sailing until her police sergeant of a husband is tasked with solving the disappearance of his neighbor. Sadly for Fran he is hellbent on turning every stone in this case.

This book is hilarious and had me gasping and laughing out loud at times. It is incredibly fastpaced and you just want to keep reading to find out what else is gonna happen. I felt at times that you were kept in the dark a tad bit too much as a reader. It was to keep the suspense but the revelation didn’t always reveal everything leaving too much up to the imagination.

However, this was a solid four star read and was incredibly entertaining. I flew through it and enjoyed every second.

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm publishing for gifting me this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, HJ Garbett, and Storm Publishing for the eARC. I absolutely loved this book—it was quirky, dark, and unexpectedly funny all at once. The unique characters and their distinct narratives kept me hooked. A wonderfully offbeat must-read!

I was instantly intrigued by the concept of this book. It’s a fun read (despite the serial killer theme!) full of dark, twisty humour. The first half is such a quick read as the plot is fast paced and twisty. It slows down in the second half, and I would have liked a bit more about Frans history to keep me intrigued.

Overall, a quick, enjoyable read, perfect for a holiday