The Wife Upstairs By Rachel Hawkins

‘The Wife Upstairs’ is the latest book by Rachel Hawkins.

When Jane, a broke dog-walker newly arrived in town, meets Eddie Rochester, she can’t believe her luck. Eddie is handsome, rich and lives alone in a beautiful mansion since the tragic death of his beloved wife a year ago. Eddie can give Jane everything she’s always wanted: stability, acceptance, and a picture-perfect life. But what Jane doesn’t know is that Eddie is keeping a secret – a big secret. And when the truth comes out, the consequences are far more deadly than anyone could ever have imagined.

I started reading this book last night and I read it in one sitting, it was just that addictive. The story is dark, compelling with protagonists that kept the story moving at a fast pace.

The story is written in the past and present tense and is seen through the narrative of Jane and Bea. Jane is new to the Mountain Brook area and is settling with her dog walking business. Walking the dogs, she sees the glamorous lives of the women with their rich husbands and designer brands on tap and Jane occasionally helps herself to this lifestyle, so she’s not always looking in. But one day, she meets handsome Eddie Rochester and he takes her breath away offering her a new lifestyle and no shortage of money. But Eddie is the talk of the town, his wife Bea and her best friend disappeared on a boating trip and Eddie has always been a suspect. But Jane is convinced that charismatic Eddie is innocent but there’s something about him that makes her unsettled. The other perspective of the story is from Bea and the moments leading up to accident.

I loved this book, the characters are great, unreliable and this makes for gripping reading. I loved Jane, she’s deceptive with a tough exterior but underneath she’s soft and wanting to fit in and Eddie is the key to her success. Jane has her secrets and an old life that she’s running from.

The story is fast paced injected with unexpected humour and wit that really keeps the reader on their toes. Like Jane, Eddie is also a fascinating character, he’s handsome and charming and it’s obvious he’s a sought after bachelor with all the women in the town lusting after him, but there’s something underneath that charisma that’s unsettling.

A thrilling and dramatic story about murder and ambition, ‘The Wife Upstairs’ is a modern twist on the crime noir filled with unreliable narratives and an unexpected twist that leaves the reader bursting for more.

You can pre-order ‘The Wife Upstairs’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 29th April 2021.