⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | A Twisty, Southern-Gothic Slow Burn
The Pastor’s Wife by LynDee Walker is a quietly explosive psychological thriller that explores the hidden dangers behind small-town smiles, religious facades, and long-buried secrets. Told from two alternating perspectives—Mary, the seemingly perfect pastor’s wife, and Martha, a young woman struggling to survive—it unravels slowly at first, but the payoff is well worth the wait.

From the first chapter, Walker paints Whitney Falls as a picture-perfect Southern town, but something dark simmers beneath the surface. As Mary and Martha's worlds begin to collide, so do their secrets. The tension builds in layers, and just when you think you know where the story is headed, it takes a sharp, surprising turn. The final third is particularly strong—fast-paced, emotional, and full of gasp-worthy reveals.

While the pacing drags slightly in the middle, and some readers may find it hard to fully connect with the characters early on, Walker rewards patience with a tightly woven and satisfying conclusion. Themes of guilt, judgment, trauma, and redemption are handled with sensitivity and nuance.
If you enjoy domestic suspense with rich atmosphere and morally complex characters, The Pastor’s Wife is a compelling and memorable read.
Recommended for fans of:
    •    Gillian Flynn
    •    Stacy Willingham
    •    Psychological thrillers with Southern Gothic undertones

I was truly hoping for a gripping, mysterious read when I picked up The Pastor’s Wife by LynDee Walker, but unfortunately, it fell incredibly short of expectations. Despite the promising premise, this book didn’t live up to its potential in any meaningful way, and I found myself increasingly disappointed as I trudged through it.

First off, I expected a thriller or mystery, something that would keep me on the edge of my seat. Instead, I was met with a slow-moving, lackluster narrative that didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be. The "thrills" were few and far between, and the so-called "mystery" was neither compelling nor intriguing. In fact, I found myself bored more often than not. The characters, particularly the pastor's wife, lacked depth and didn’t evoke any kind of emotional engagement. I never felt a connection to any of them, and that made it difficult to care about the story's outcome.

The pacing was another issue—there were long stretches where nothing of significance happened, and I kept pushing through, hoping for some kind of payoff. Sadly, it never arrived. By the time I reached the end, I was just eager to be done with it. There wasn’t anything special about the plot or the writing; it felt formulaic, uninspired, and forgettable.

The Pastor’s Wife simply didn’t deliver. It’s a book that fell flat, not one I’d recommend to anyone looking for a gripping read.

Review of The Pastor’s Wife by LynDee Walker

LynDee Walker’s The Pastor’s Wife is a tense, slow-burn psychological thriller set in a picture-perfect southern town that hides sinister secrets. With dual perspectives and alternating timelines, the narrative builds steadily to a jaw-dropping finale.

The Pastor’s Wife delivers a thrilling mix of small-town fiction, domestic drama, and psychological suspense. If you’re into dual-POV narratives that build slowly and explode in the end, this one will keep you riveted—especially if you enjoy a southern gothic twist.

This was a great mystery with lots of twists and turns. It kept me guessing until close to the end. The flashbacks at the beginning were a little hard to follow at first but it all came together so well.

3.5* rounded up... This was definitely a wild ride! I always enjoy a good little domestic thriller, and if you do as well this will certainly check the box for you. I went in with certain expectations based on the premise and the title, but what I got was quite different. There were some unexpected twists and most assuredly an ending I didn't see coming. I wasn't left rooting for any particular character, but drop your preconceived notions at the door before getting into this one! The narration was done well also, depicting all characters and genders with ease.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture (I'm always listening or reading any of their books I can get my hands on!) for this ARL. All opinions are mine.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook.
Martha, a young girl who has recently arrived in Whitney Falls is trying to stay unnoticed and quietly working in the local market
Then there’s Mary the pastor’s wife Martha believes she has the perfect life. She’s beautiful. She’s married to the handsome pastor she’s smart and she’s intelligent.

Mary suspects her husband has been cheating and thinks that the young Martha may be his mistress she’s determined to get to know Martha better and so has a plan to be friend her.

Meanwhile, Martha is lonely and desperate for a friend and when Mary takes her under her wing, she feels like she finally has a chance after a horrific childhood.

This audiobook is told from both Martha and Mary‘s perspectives over the course of the period from when Martha and Tim first arrive in Whitney Falls until the following January. Over the course of that year Martha discovers things are not all they seem and Mary may not have the perfect life she first thought.

This audiobook was read by Stephanie Cannon and Pat Rodriguez who did perfect portrayal of both Mary and Martha

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this title

This book had a slow start. It was pretty good in the middle and the end. It had a few twists that I didn’t see coming. It still moved more slowly that I like.

This was an engaging read that kept me listening—I was eager to uncover what was really going on in this wild little town. The mystery pulled me in early on, and I was genuinely curious to see how everything would unfold.

That said, the storyline felt a bit drawn out at times and could have benefited from a quicker pace. Given Martha’s background—trained by her father and shaped by a troubled past—I expected her to connect the dots a bit sooner.

Small Spoiler: In addition I wish Charlotte could’ve been saved and Martha would have connected the dots with the Little Rock Detective.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

I really enjoyed this book! I can honestly say that at no point I knew what was about to happen, and I love that.

The Pastor's Wife was a twisty, gripping read that dove deep into betrayal, secrets, and the deep desire to blend in, At its core, it is a story about the tangled bonds of friendship and how far people will go to protect their truth - or hide them.

The plot kept me guessing , with plenty of layered secrets unraveling after every turn of the page. One major miss for me though? the pastor's voice in the narration. He's supposed to be this younger, attractive, magnetic figure in the town, but the voice he had sounded like a creepy 70-year-old man, and it just made the story fall a bit flat for me. I couldn't picture him the way that the story wanted me to so i feel like it hindered some major moments for me.

Still, despite the awkward audio of the pastor, the book pulled through with strong emotional tension, satisfying twists, and a haunting atmosphere of a small religious town. If you like your thrillers dark and secret laced, this one is worth picking up.

This book did have some dark themes that could be triggering so I would add trigger warnings to this as well. Thank you NetGalley, LynDee Walker, and Bookouture Audio for this Advanced Listeners Copy!

On paper this should be right up my street but I struggled with this and kept stopping and coming back to it. It was okay but not brilliant

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Pastor's Wife by LynDee Walker.

Even though the start was strong, it was hard to believe right off the bat. Cattiness to the extreme, and sainthood to the extreme. Unless we are located in Stepford, it's not happening. However, that doesn't mean that you don't want to keep reading to find out what's going on behind the scenes.

This is a pretty solid three stars. The plot got heavy starting in the middle, and downright overdone towards the end, so much so that it was hard to care as much. However, there is enough good to keep going.

Overall, a good murder mystery, but a bit slow, sometimes. I enjoyed the storytelling, narrator were really great, it's just that I wanted the pace to be a bit faster.
I would love to give it 3.5 stars. It took a little time for to got my ears on the voices of narrators. But, it is great holiday read.
Thank you

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the chance to listen to this audiobook.

This follows two women Marta and Mary. Marta a young woman trying to run away from secrets she would rather forget. Mary the pastor’s wife. Who appears to be wholesome, but it anything but.

So many twists and turns and many I wasn’t expecting.

The narrators were great and gave a lot of life to this book! I wanted it to have more unexpected twists and less of the dialogue happening between characters. However, even with that small caveat the book was a great read. I love small town set books that have gossip and secrets in them and this fits the bill. I recommend the audiobook!

Audiobook Review - Stephanie Cannon and Patricia Rodriguez a chilling tale in a quiet sleepy town where secrets are the name of the game! The narrators kept those pages turning and leading you on a twisted and disturbed narrative that make you question the horrors of humanity.

“She let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding….” Said the main character! I also had several of the same moments with this audiobook!

The Pastor’s Wife is a dark thriller - where the ugliness comes to light.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this audiobook.

The Pastor’s Wife is a gripping psychological thriller that slowly builds momentum before delivering a satisfying payoff. While the beginning felt a bit slow, I’m glad I stuck with it—once the story picks up, it doesn’t let go.

The plot twist, though somewhat predictable midway through, was still cleverly executed and added depth to the story. LynDee Walker does a great job keeping the tension high and the pages turning.

If you’re a fan of twisty thrillers with dark secrets and steady suspense, this one is worth the read. I definitely recommend it!

For my first Arc listen, this was a good start. I’ll say the story was a bit slow from the beginning, but it picked up quite nicely. Loved the twists and turns, great work! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy.

OMG WTF was that ending. I was not expecting those twists at all. AT ALL. Usually I see stuff coming but not this time. This time it was nothing like I expected. The narration was perfect too.
YIKES.

Thank you!