My Husband Next Door by K.L. Slater

🌟🌟🌟 Publication date:  28-October-2025 🌟🌟🌟

Description from Goodreads:

"The perfect way for us to live. The perfect way for him to hide…

My husband Matt and I are an ordinary married couple in every way but one. At the end of each day, we return to our own homes and our own spaces. Some people think this arrangement is odd, but for us it’s perfect.

But beyond the fairy lights I string at my window, darkness is pressing in. Two local women have gone missing, and I don’t want to be alone. With Matt away for work, I find comfort in chatting to my new neighbour Brenda, who drops in regularly with casseroles and groceries.

Sipping our coffees, looking out of my kitchen window, I soon notice how observant Brenda is. So when she tells me that perhaps my husband isn’t simply working late, something cold takes root. I think of Matt’s recent vague tone, the way he brushes off my questions. Brenda thinks I should pop by when Matt’s not at home. Just to check everything’s as it should be.

I should be able to trust the man I married. But when I do go through my husband’s things, I discover that our perfect living arrangement is hiding a shocking secret…"

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I have read quite a few of K.L. Slater's books and have not been disappointed yet and I wasn't with this one.

Sylvie and Matt appear to have the perfect marriage but that facade quickly unravels with the arrival of a new neighbour, Brenda, the disappearance of a local young woman and a subsequent murder which make it clear that secrets, lies and long held grudges abound where everything is not as it seems and you can't trust anyone.

Engaging, easy to follow and compelling, this book was written at a good pace with short, punchy chapters and plenty of tension.  The mystery was intriguing with some excellent but unexpected twists and turns and with a cast of interesting characters, not all of them being particularly likeable.

This is a great domestic psychological thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. I highly recommend it and many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, another cracker from K.L. Slater.

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Cold Bloodied Killer (DI James Walker #6) by Alex Pine

Description from Goodreads:

"Journalist Gordon Carver receives news that sends a chill down his spine. Rushing home from the pub, he frantically calls his police contact, DCI James Walker to share his discovery, only to be struck from behind, plunging him into darkness.

James misses the call, and by the time he arrives at the crime scene, Gordon is dead. With his name as the last entry in Gordon's phone, James is thrust into a chilling investigation. What vital information was Gordon about to reveal, and who silenced him?

With no witnesses and scant evidence, James races against time to uncover the truth. Can he uncover the mystery before the killer slips away?"

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This is another cracker from Alex Pine and a great addition to what is fast becoming my favourite 'festive' series.  Whilst this is the sixth in the series, it does read ok as a standalone as the main characters are introduced at the beginning but I would suggest you go back and read the others to ensure you get the most out of this series and you won't be disappointed.

In Cold Blooded Killer we have another Christmas murder for DI Walker and his team to solve and this is not going to be an easy one.  With fantastic characters, a great plot, tension and a murderer I certainly didn't see coming, this is a book that I was totally invested in from the start and with the perfect setting - well I would say that as it's my neck of the woods - Mr Pine captures the weather, scenery and location completely.

A great read that I would recommend and not just for Christmas!

My thanks must go to the author, Avon Books UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, another great addition to this excellent series.

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12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache

Blurb from Goodreads:

"All Olivia wanted was one last miserable Christmas with her husband’s awful family before moving to Australia. She didn’t expect a murder.

Now the snow has cut them off and she’s stuck in a stately country house, with her increasingly deranged relatives and the rising suspicion that someone is picking them off one by one.

As the bodies pile up and the festive façade starts to crack, Olivia must survive the season, or, at the very least, get through lunch without anyone else choking on a sprout."

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I really enjoyed this Christmas tale of murder.  It had the right amount of tension, intrigue and mystery wrapped up in a good plot and great, although thoroughly unlikeable, characters.

It's written at a good pace and I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions and I enjoyed trying to work out who the murderer was, who the next victim would be and how they would meet their end.

If you enjoy a good murder mystery and dark humour, this is the book for you and my thanks go to the author, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this enjoyable festive read.

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The Traitors Circle by Jonathan Friedland

Description from Goodreads:

"The Traitors Circle tells the true, but scarcely known, story of a group of secret rebels against Hitler. Drawn from Berlin high society, they include army officers, government officials, two countesses, an ambassador's widow and a former model - meeting in the shadows, whether hiding and rescuing Jews or plotting for a Germany freed from Nazi rule. One day in September 1943 they gather for a tea party - unaware that one among them is about to betray them all to the Gestapo. But who is the betrayer of a circle themselves branded 'traitors' by the cruellest regime in history?

In another page-turning work of nonfiction that reads like a thriller, Jonathan Freedland, acclaimed author of The Escape Artist, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war, telling a story of courage, resistance and ultimate betrayal that has deep moral resonance for our own time, and asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny."

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This is a heart-wrenching and compelling biography about a little-known Anti-Nazi group made up of ordinary citizens. The book details how their quiet discussions about a better Germany were enough to sign their death warrant and the fallout is devastating.

This is a non-fiction book but unlike many in this genre, it reads like a thriller and is one that I can recommend especially if, like me, you have little knowledge of German civilian resistance to the horrific regime during a very dark period in history and is a reminder not to tar everyone with the same brush.

Many thanks to the author, John Murray Press and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts on this important book.

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Deadly Mistake (simon Peake #2) by Rob Sinclair

Description from Goodreads:

"A knock on the door in the middle of the night catches ex-Special Forces Simon Peake off guard. He only recognizes the face of one of the three men standing on the other side, and the ‘help’ they need is to dispose of a dead body crumpled in the trunk of their car.  

The problem is - the woman in the trunk isn’t dead at all. In a matter of moments, Peake makes a call to help and protect this stranger, but it’s a decision that will drag him back into the dark and dangerous world of drug cartels, mob bosses, and rogue CIA operatives who will stop at nothing to use Peake as a pawn in their games.  

Having spent the last few months living in near seclusion in small town Georgia, Peake is once again faced with his past. He knows why these men have chosen to come to his door in their hour of need, but unfortunately for them, they didn’t realise what a deadly mistake that would be…"

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This, the second book in the Simon Peake series, is as explosive and action-packed as the first from the very beginning.

Simon Peake is trying to lay low after the shenanigans that happened in the previous book however, trouble seems to find him no matter how hard he tries to avoid it and he is not one to let anything lie.  Unfortunately, this only brings further strife to his door resulting in violent confrontations with plenty of nefarious characters.

This book is not for the faint-hearted; it’s full of action, graphic violence and multiple scenes of peril.  It’s written at a fast pace with oodles of tension and is recommended to those of you who enjoy reading action/thrillers and I am looking forward to continuing to follow Simon Peake's trials and tribulations in the future.  

Many thanks to the author, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this, the second in this explosive series.

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