#Review The Guilty Wife by Elle Croft #Debut #NetGalley

Publication date 25th January 2018

Orion Publishing

320 pages

Book description:

WIFE. MISTRESS. MURDERER.

If you were being framed for murder, how far would you go to clear your name?
The debut psychological thriller that reads as Apple Tree Yard meets Behind Closed Doors, by way of Double Jeopardy.
I'm not guilty of murder.
Bethany Reston is happily married. But she's also having an affair with a famous client.
And no one can ever know.
But that doesn't make me innocent.
When Bethany's lover is brutally murdered, she has to hide her grief from everyone.
But someone knows her secret. And then one day the threats begin.
With an ever-growing pile of evidence pointing to her as the murderer, the only way she can protect her secrets is to prove her innocence. And that means tracking down a killer.

An incredibly taut, tense game of cat and mouse - with a twist you'll never see coming.

My thoughts:

Jason and Bethany Reston are happily married. So why does Bethany find herself having an affair with her client, high powered celebrity businessman Calum Bradley?

Bethany is a photographer hired to take candid photos of Calum during his everyday work, which will feature in a book which is complementing his reality TV show. Calum has a host of security staff covering his every move after an acid attack on his previous mistress left him feeling exceptionally vulnerable. The security staff turn a blind eye to the relationship which builds between Calum and Bethany which begins with business meetings regarding the book but gets far more personal over the weeks.

Then one night, Bethany decides that things are getting out of hand between them and meets him outside a tube station in London in order to end their affair.  They have a discussion and Bethany walks away from him without a backward glance.  And that is where life takes a dramatic turn for both of them.  Because this is the point Calum is stabbed to death, and someone was watching.

Shortly after the news reports hit the media Bethany starts receiving hate mail; anonymous threats and photographs arrive at her home - but how are the envelopes being delivered into her home?  Does Jason know what has been going on? Is it a stalker who has gained access to her home?  Do the security staff hold a grudge against Calum and are now shifting the blame to Bethany? In sheer desperation Bethany turns to her friend Alex who is a lawyer for advice.

The story follows Bethany's life as she gets deeper into trouble and finally comes to the police's attention.  The author cleverly builds tension throughout the story but nothing prepared me for the final reveal.  There are red herrings everywhere and I defy anyone to not fall into at least one of the many traps which the author sets for us. This is an absolutely brilliant and scarily credible plot which had me turning pages at an increasing pace as I went along.

I will definitely be looking out for this author's future work - she will have to go some to ever improve on this exceptionally strong debut novel. Somehow though, I think she will succeed. 

About the author:

Elle Croft was born in South Africa, grew up in Australia and moved to the UK in 2010 after travelling around the world with her husband. She works as a freelance social media specialist and also blogs about travel, food and life in London. The Guilty Wife is her debut novel.