My Wife, The Serial Killer had such a compelling premise—I was really intrigued by the idea of a wife hiding a deadly secret while her detective husband begins to unravel it. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite work for me.

The biggest issue was that I just couldn’t connect with Gareth. For a central character, he felt oddly distant and flat. I wanted to feel his growing suspicion, his conflict, his unraveling—but instead, I found myself detached from his perspective. His reactions often felt more like plot devices than genuine emotion, which made it hard to invest in his side of the story.

Fran, on the other hand, had a more engaging voice, but even then, the pacing dragged in places, and the tension that should have been simmering just never fully came to a boil. The story had opportunities for deeper psychological insight, but it stayed mostly on the surface.

There were some clever twists, and I appreciate the dark humor the author tried to weave in. But overall, I wanted more depth, more suspense, and a protagonist I could really root for—or at least understand.

A great concept, but unfortunately, not the execution I was hoping for.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and H.J. Garbett for the opportunity to read an ARC of My Wife, The Serial Killer in exchange for an honest review.

This book presents a brilliantly intriguing premise: Fran and Gareth are a married couple—Fran has killed their neighbour, and Gareth, a police detective, is assigned to investigate the murder. That setup alone had me eager to dive in, and I really appreciated the dark humour and quirky tone threaded throughout the story.

While the concept was strong and the pacing kept me turning pages—I finished it in one sitting!—I personally struggled to connect with the characters. Most of them felt a bit underdeveloped and unlikable, which made it harder to fully engage with the emotional stakes of the plot.

That said, the book certainly has its strengths. Its unique blend of crime and comedy could absolutely shine in a screen adaptation, and I can see it appealing to readers who enjoy dark domestic thrillers with a satirical edge.

Well this was a rather appetising read.. Just the perfect blend of dark humour, a handful of unhinged, with a touch of duel povs mixed together with some mayhem & secrets.

Get this.. Fran shes deeply unhinged a full on Serial Killer & part time social worker, married to the one & only Gareth.. he just happens to be a play by the book police detective 🕵️‍♂️

I loved Fran, Gareth & their grumpy old cat Mep, I adored the added layers of personal themes, surrounding fertility & trauma added some emotional depth.

Unique & witty writing style, definitely engaging, really enjoyed the dark yet sometimes sarcastic dry laugh out moments, a great debut & enjoyable read!!

Thankyou to Storm Publishing & Netgally for my ARC in return for my honest thoughts ♥︎

I would give this story three and a half stars. This story really started with a bang. The first chapter grabbed my attention right away!

I really enjoyed Fran's point of view and wish we had more of it throughout the story. I didn't enjoy Gareth's point of view as much. He had some good chapters, but I didn't find him as interesting.

The story was a little predictable at points, but also had a few things happen that I didn't expect. Overall, it was an enjoyable read with some good humor.

connecting with the writing is very important in these type of books and unfortunately I was never allowed to care because of the writing. it sucks because i was very excited for the premise but the premise itself didn't feel the one promised in blurb so idk

Fran and Gareth are a run of the mill married couple who have unwavering devotion to each other. That is until Fran is accused of murder, and Gareth, the police detective, finds out.

I will always love a book that features a solid marriage. I enjoyed the dual perspective, feeling it added much to the story. The whole time, I was wondering how Fran would get out of it. I deduced the ending but was satisfied at the devotion in which her loved one showed her. All in all, this was a quick, fun read!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

ARC REVIEW Thank you NG & H.J!

First off, I love the cover of this book. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I was HOOKED. This is a fast paced thriller with some comedy and domestic drama. All in the name of vengeance and drama. A serial killer wife and detective husband.

This is great for first time thriller readers too because it’s a page turner and it’s fast.

Goodreads —> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7613192104

So let's be honest, my 3-stars-good-enough review is mostly due to the "we're trying for a baby" plot. As a childfree person, I already hate everything relating a pregnancy trope in a book, but here we get constant talk about trying for a baby, fertility test and clinics, it's a big part of like half the book... But the worst thing is that I feel like it's pointless to the story on itself, it's only a "look there's some humanity in Fran see she wants a baby!" kind of thing, and there's better way to share part of her humanity (and honestly none of them should be parent lmao).

Otherwise, it was indeed good and entertaining, even if slow. I liked the dark humour, see how much Fran is a psycho yet we're still wondering if she'll be found not guilty of the murder, as we're weirdly still hoping she won't be charged for it! I enjoyed her POV more than Gareth's, who changes a lot of also way too much and quickly (we get over a 2 months period that is easy to skim while reading, which might add to the feeling of sudden change of character).

I really enjoyed the dénouement, the ending. I wasn't chocked, disappointed, it was honestly the best and most logical thing that could have happened from what we've gathered from each main characters! The epilogue wasn't expected and kind of a fun little bonus.

I felt that the plot idea alone would have made this a great read but the over use of 'humour' (which at times fell flat ) dragged the story down.

I also enjoyed the second half of the novel more than the first half, it improved as the seriousness of the situation increased.

Whoops!! I devoured this book. Literally!

A friend on bookstagram commented that she feels like this is the year of Debuts. And I couldn’t agree more. My Wife, the Serial Killer is an absolute knockout of a debut. Dark, witty, and completely addictive.

Fran Donoghue casually kills her neighbor, and not only was I weirdly okay with it, I was laughing. Out loud. By myself. That pretty much sums up the vibe of this book: dark, wildly twisted, laugh-out-loud funny.

Fran is the definition of an unhinged female lead done right. Her internal monologue reminded was giving Decter vibes. Yeap, that Dexter. With the same sharp, calculated logic, but with dry wit and the kind of mental spiraling that’s somehow both relatable and deeply disturbing. I just wanted to spend more time in her head. Social worker by day, vigilante-ish by night? It was giving everything it was supposed to give, and I loved it!

And then there’s Gareth. Oh, Gareth. Sweet, oblivious Gareth. At first, I found him a bland, uninteresting character, But as the story unfolds, he grows on you. Watching him wrestle with his suspicions, question his marriage, and ultimately try to understand the impossible truth about the woman he loves. By the end, I was fully rooting for him too.

And the pacing? Perfect. Just perfect. Short, snappy chapters that kept me saying “one more chapter’ until I realized just how early in the morning I’d stayed up till. I definitely see that twist at the end coming, and I bet Gareth didn’t either.

For a debut, Garbett absolutely crushed it. And I’m definitely gonna read whatever she writes next.

This book was so good. I really liked how the story came together and how it ended. I liked Gareth's transformation as a person, a husband and detective. Mep was the cutest fictional cat and loved reading about him. I had no idea what to expect going into this book as I had never heard of this author before but I am so happy I was selected to read this. I look forward to seeing what the author does next. Thank you #stormpublishing and #netgalley for this opportunity.

Wasn't so sure about this book at first took some time to get into it but once I did i enjoyed it read it in 2 days as needed to know what happened next

Fran and Gareth are married - Gareth is a police detective and Fran is a serial killer. He is looking into a crime that she committed. This was entertaining and a great debut novel!

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

This book fell very flat for me. I was hoping for something slightly goofy and enjoyable. Instead I couldn't stand the MC, which usually means I will not like the rest of the book.

this was a good book, intense and very interesting
the plottwists were crazy!! I loved the writing and character development

This was such a fun quick read for me and a fantastic pallet cleanser! 3.75 and here’s my reasoning because she was sooooooo close to being a 4!

I’m an avid thriller, murder, mystery girl. I love it all.
Mep ( the cat lol ) 10/10 probably my favorite character of the entire book loved seeing him pop up here and there!
The book was super entertaining and what you would expect out of this genre except where it fell flat for me was I predicted the ending about 60% of the way through.

The dark comedy literally killed it, pun intended there. Kept the book upbeat and moving.
Banter was 4/5 I enjoyed it!

Pacing was ok, i tend to be a quick reader and the book read quickly so for me it wasn’t a turn off but I can see how it may be for others.

Big thanks to Storm Publishing and netgalley for the advanced copy!

This was a fun idea for a novel, but unfortunately the execution (see what I did there?) wasn't there. There were some moments that made me chuckle but overall, the storytelling was pretty bland. I still don't understand how Fran was even caught. There was clearly no evidence that actually pointed to her, since Angus ended up taking the fall for her crime. It just didn't make sense. Fran wasn't likeable enough for me to look past the plot holes.
The idea was hilarious, but it didn't deliver for me.

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This was so much fun!!! Absolutely adored this book! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc

The concept of this book is so interesting and I was very excited to read it. I’m sad to report that it fell a bit flat for me.

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed the overall plot of the book. I thought that the premise was intriguing and the first ~10% had me hooked and I thought that the ending was pretty well done. The characters pretty much all suck (except Mep), but I think the unlikable characters made it more interesting.

Unfortunately, it fell off for me after that. The writing style did not resonate with me at all. This book is supposed to be funny. The jokes are very dry and sarcastic and did not work for me personally.

There is also a lot of context that I think would have made me as a reader more invested to learn about early in the novel that is missing until the last few chapters. It’s treated like a sort of reveal even though it is hinted at so much that it just feels frustrating that it’s being withheld for minimal payoff.

The biggest killer here? This book feels so slow. It felt like we were crawling to the next plot point, which made me really struggle to focus and care about the book.

Now with all that being said, I do think that most of my issues with this book come down to personal preference. I think if you don’t mind a slower paced book and you enjoy dry humor, this would be a great one to try. I can see why people would really enjoy this, it just wasn’t for me.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.