If you tell me a book is inspired by “Rebecca,” I expect moody tension, buried secrets, and a sense of doom so thick it fogs the windows. What I don’t expect is a tepid romance, slow-burn suspense that barely flickers, and red flags treated more like cute accessories than warning signs. “His First Wife” wants to be gothic and haunting, but mostly it just left me a little unengaged.

Sophie arrives in Sicily to teach art for the summer, raw from recent grief and emotionally undercooked for what’s about to unfold. Enter Emilio, brooding volcanology professor, espresso addict, owner of many intense silences. He simmers, he smolders, and he keeps his secrets buried like lava under polished stone. Also, he might still be married. Sophie, predictably, throws logic in the sea and follows her heart directly into a plot full of warning signs and whispered half-truths.

His wife Gina is supposedly off doing science on another continent, but the silence around her whereabouts is less “don’t worry about it” and more “oh no, she’s haunting this book.” Meanwhile, Sophie’s roommate Abbi is basically a sentient alarm bell with strong opinions and no sense of volume control. She might be unhinged, but she’s not wrong. And when Gina’s sister shows to up to the story with a permanent scowl and cryptic comments, it becomes very clear that this trip is not going to end in only postcards.

The pacing is more molasses than menace. The first half leans hard on wishful thinking and romantic delusion while we wait for the thriller to actually show up. When it does, it’s fine. The twists are fine. The ending is fine. But that’s kind of the issue, for a story with dead wives, emotional sabotage, and Mediterranean heat, it never fully ignites. Sophie’s arc never quite lands either. She flinches, doubts, forgives, repeats. The growth is there, but it’s so muted it feels like a shrug.

Three stars. If you’re looking for something broody and propulsive, this probably won’t scratch the itch. But if you enjoy yelling “ma’am, no” at your book while watching a woman ignore every red flag like she’s playing emotional Minesweeper, it delivers on that front.

Whodunity Award: For Smoldering Suspense With All the Heat of a Broken Toaster

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC — and for reminding me that “mysterious professor” is a romance trope, but “mysterious professor with a missing wife” is usually on a therapist’s red flag bingo card.

First, thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK | Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

Not gonna lie, Sue Watson will soon by one of my auto-buy authors if things do continue like this. I mean, sure, the story idea itself is not new. But that does not mean it is bad. In my opinion, at least.

Sophie did not expect finding love again when meeting Emilio, and yet, there she is. So, everything could be prefect, right? Well... maybe. Maybe, if this was a different kind of book. But it is not. So, Sophie soon has to wonder who Emilio really is. And if he might me involved into disappearance of his first wife. Or why Sophie suddenly feels like someone is following her...

Could a book be more topical? With Etna erupting and the scenes shown on the news and social media it made imagining this book set in Taoranina, in the foothills of Etna and the characters, sights and sounds therein even more poignant and real

The book though is pure psychological thriller, a woman who falls for a man who obviously has a hidden agenda…..a mysterious first wife, an even more mysterious Sister In Law and a ( fav character for me ) stalkerish if not well meaning neighbour/best friend who is intent on making her feelings, on any situation, known, loudly 😀

You never quite know who you can trust or who is being honest, naïve, crafty, nasty or friendly and until the ending, which is 2 fold, I kept changing my mind

Sue Watson writes a great thriller and this is that bit different set where it is however the tension and suspense is what we have come to expect from the authors books

Great read

Sue Watson was recommended to me by a book friend who raves about her books. This was my first read by her. For me, it started off a bit slow. However, in my opinion made up for it the second half of the book.

This author sure knows how to pull the punches ib the twists and turns in her books. She delivers a thrilling and captivating read that you can not put down. Highly recommend.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. This was an engaging and well-paced read. I was gripped throughout and the twists were unpredictable. However, I felt Sophie's backstory was too rushed, although I was pleased to see that thread picked up towards the end, as for awhile, it looked like it had been forgotten. The different strands of plot, while interesting, did not all seem to be cohesively woven through the book, with other aspects, mentioned then ignored for many chapters, which meant that the resolving chapters were not as satisfying as they perhaps otherwise would have been.

Amazing psychological thriller suspense. I got hooked from the start, and I couldn't put down this one.

Sue Watson is writing, i'm reading it ASAP.

Another great page turner from this author, slightly different to her previous books in my opinion but with plenty of mystery and lies going on and sometimes a bit spooky.

It was extremely well written which is centered around Sicily, so descriptive in the storyline and I just loved it from the beginning until the great ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing (Thomas & Mercer) for this great ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Here is a tale that envelopes you from every rich description of the beauty of sicily to the intriguing depiction of the characters in this novel. Sophie the leading lady in this thriller is humorous and complicated, the position she finds herself in as addictive as the characters. There's a depth to this but a great sense of fun throughout.

His First Wife is a shorter read, which honestly worked in its favor—I appreciated the quick pace. The characters stirred up a mix of emotions in me, which is always a sign that a story has something going for it.

Sophie, though... whew. I found her frustratingly naïve. More than once, I wanted to reach into the pages and give her a good shake. Her insecurity made it hard for me to really connect with her, even though I was intrigued by the secret she was keeping. That twist added some much-needed intrigue.

But then there’s Emilio. One minute Sophia’s falling head over heels, the next she’s throwing accusations of him keeping secrets, even though she is doing the same. The back-and-forth felt a bit condescending and repetitive, which took me out of the story at times.

Abby, the stalker-ish friend, kept me guessing right from the start. She added a mysterious edge that kept me turning the pages, just to see how her part of the story would unfold.

All in all, this wasn’t a groundbreaking read, but it wasn’t a waste of time either. A solid in-between book when you’re in the mood for some drama and secrets without a huge time commitment.

Thanks to NetGalley and all the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Title: His First Wife
Author: Sue Watson
Publisher: Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas Mercer
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: June 13, 2025
My Rating: 4.5 Stars!
Pages: 300

Sophie wasn’t expecting to find love in Sicily when she accepted a position to work summer term
While having coffee at a sidewalk café with Abbi an English girl she recently met when she sees a man coming out of Dior with a package. Just seeing him causes an amazing feeling in her. Turns out the man is Emilio Ferrante, a Professor of Volcanology at the University of Catania the same university where Sophie will be teaching Art for the summer. When she accepted the position she had hoped the university might extend her contract to the fall. However, after meeting Emilio she is more than hoping that her contract will be extended!!

She discovers that Emilio is married. After getting to know him and he shows an interests in Sophie - he tells her he is married however he and his wife Gina Caprini are separated.
Gina also works with volcanos and has accepted a position in Hawaii for NASA at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. She has been positing pictures on her Instagram page.

We later find out Gina never arrived in Hawaii and the beach photo could have been any beach!

The story slows down a bit but when it picks up I am dizzy with all that is happening. I never expected the ending!!! (I need to find a twisty emoji!)

This is my seventh Sue Watson read ~~books: : The New Wife, The Resort, The Nursery, You, Me. Her, and The Wedding Day] all earned 5 or 4+ stars and I give very few 5 star ratings.
I also liked "Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams" but the genre wasn't as exciting as the others!!

I always enjoy reading the authors Notes and Acknowledgments. Ms. Watson tells us this book was inspired by her visit to Sicily and the book “Rebecca”. She tells us her mother loved author Daphne du Maurier. An author they enjoyed together.
I read " Rebecca]"years ago and I am tempted to read again!!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas Mercer for granting me the pleasure of reading this GREAT early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 13, 2025.

I’m a big fan of Sue Watson and usually love her books, but His First Wife wasn’t my favorite. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and found some of their actions hard to believe in the beginning of the book. But then once I got into it about 1/2 of the way in, it picked up speed. That said, the writing was still engaging and the story kept me curious enough to see how it would end. I’m really looking forward to many more books by this talented author. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published June 13, 2025.

This is the kind of domestic thriller you can tear through in a day. The setup is familiar: a young woman starts to suspect the charming older boyfriend who swept her off her feet isn’t telling the whole truth about his former wife. It gave me Jane Eyre vibes, even though (spoiler alert) there’s no wife in the attic. Maybe it’s just the gothic vibes; the author said she was actually inspired by Rebecca.

As befitting a gothic story, there's a big mansion, a creeping sense of dread, and a million points where you want to yell at the main character to be more careful. As the truth slowly unfolds, the source of the drama and danger surprised me, yet made sense.

This is my least favourite of Sue Watson's books that I have read.
I didn't like the characters, except for Marion - strange, but I liked her upbeat personality and friendliness.

Sophie was a little like a love struck teenager, falling for looks before she had even got to know Emilio. And ignoring the red flags. And him not telling her that he was married.
He never got more than a thumbs up message from the woman who he had been married to for years - how thick must he be? No one is THAT busy to only reply with an emoji!
Unbelievable.

The book dragged a little, for me. And the title is misleading as well. He only had one wife, and we didn't find out till later that she was his first wife.
Didn't love the book, but also didn't hate it. Marion was the saving grace for an extra star.

"𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒐," 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒆.
"𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚? 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

I am a big fan of this author, but her last few books have felt off. My two biggest issues with this book were with the MC and the dialogue. The MC was so terribly naive, desperate, and well, just stupid. I couldn't muster much pity for her and the predicament that she created entirely of her own volition. The dialogue was incredibly cringey and added nothing to the narrative.

The setting, however, was something truly stunning. The story centered mostly around Sicily with a little bit of regional folklore thrown in. I would have loved to see that developed more.

While this one was a miss for me, I'm sure readers who want a quick popcorn thriller will enjoy this one. Fingers crossed the next one is a win! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for the early copy. Look for this one on June 13, 2025.

Wow!!!!! I wasn’t expecting that ending at all. I’m shocked. I knew from the very beginning something wasn’t right but I never would have guessed what it was. So this author is one of my favorites and this book proved why. All the twists and turns alone made this book wonderful. I think my favorite was the location. It sounded beautiful and magnificent unlike the characters. They were the complete opposite of that. I hated all them. They each had something to hide and were either mean or delusional. I definitely believe the author intended for us to not them. Also, every one of them had a shady past and handled it all wrong. You need to face it head on and not run from it. If you run it makes it so much worse as you find out in the end. Next up is the plot. It kept me interested and on the edge of my seat the entire time. Last but not least, that ending. I was like OMG. I’m still thinking about it hours later. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next. I know she has something cooking in the oven and hopefully it will be out in the world soon.

Argh, I just wanted to scream at the main character; how many red flags does she need to see, and acknowledge, without just shrugging her shoulders and going ‘oh well, I’m sure it’s fine’. The actually story is quite good but the twists were fairly obvious and I just found the whole,e thing a bit too far fetched. A decent read.

After a bereavement Sophie heads to Sicily to take up an art teaching job. There she meets the enigmatic professor Emilio and its love at first sight.. But her overpowering friend and neighbour discovers that Emilio is married. Emilio tells her he and Gina are separated but can she believe him, especially when it evolves that Gina is missing.
In true Sue Watson style this book takes you on a journey of mistrust and secrets. Every character has their secrets and these are drip fed in such a way that you don't know who to trust or believe. If you like a book with strong characters and twists and turns, you're sure to love this novel.

Sue Watson is a rarity. Her hit rate of success in utterly enrapturing me in her stories is 100%. This offering was another tension-filled, misdirection masterclass. The vivid imagery of the setting was a highlight. The development of characterisation, first class. The plot- spellbinding; undeniably engaging and demanding of your attention. A true definition of ‘one last chapter’… I had to know the conclusion! Kept me guessing until the very end. 5 stars!

WOW just WOW! I love all of Sue Watson books but thanks to Netgallery for letting me read this early this book has easily become one of my favourite reads so far this year. The characters are so relatable and I got gripped from the Prologue. Absolutely brilliant book totally 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 from me. Highly recommend people to get this when it comes out x