First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
- Finally… reveal the book!
Got it? Okay let’s go! Here is the quote…
“There’s something about hot weather that makes Beverley Lightfoot think of finding her husband’s clothes in the trash.”
Do you know this one?
This is the start of a great historical mystery…
It is also about female friendship…
Have you guessed?
Yes? No?
Give up?
Here it is!
The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives
Summary from Goodreads:
A remarkable trio whose lives have been cracked wide open by their husbands’ crimes unite to catch a serial killer in this dazzlingly captivating novel.
Beverley, Elsie, and Margot are not your average housewives. They are all wives of convicted killers. During the sun-drenched summer of 1966, the three women form an unlikely friendship after the discoveries of their husbands’ brutal crimes. With their exes—some of California’s most infamous murderers—dead or behind bars, they are attempting to forge a new future for themselves.
Headstrong Beverley tries compulsively to maintain control of everything around her, all while raising two children. Bookish Elsie fights to make a name for herself in the newsroom, working among men who sneer at her career goals. Glamorous Margot prefers partying to homemaking and devotes all her energy to upholding the appearance that everything is fine—anything to quell the shame from her husband’s deceit.
They know people look at them and think only one How could they not have known what their husbands were doing? How much are they to blame? And yet when a string of local killings hits the news, the three women—underestimated, overlooked, shrewd—decide to get to work. After all, who better to catch a killer than those who have shared their lives and homes with one?
At once a riveting portrayal of shattered trust and a story of gripping suspense, The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives is a testament to the intricacies of women’s lives and how the deep bonds of female friendship can empower, uplift, and lead us to endure.
Confession:
This was a fabulous audiobook that I really enjoyed. Both Saskia Maarleveld and Karissa Vacker do a wonderful job with the narration.
I really enjoyed getting to know these three women. They are all dealing with their grief and guilt over what their husbands did, but they are doing it differently. They are all strong women whose friendship makes them even stronger. They each brought different skills to the table when they decide to catch the killer themselves, mostly because no one will listen to their ideas of who it might be.
The setting of 1966 California was brilliant. Not only because this was a time when there was a proliferation of serial killers in California, but because women were still being dismissed and oppressed and expected to stay home and be good wives. But there were women who were beginning to fight back against those roles, and the three women here were great examples of that.
The plot was well done, and I loved that the backstories of how these women discovered what their husbands were up to was woven into the story. The ways in which they were able to piece together what was happening was also well done, as was the big twist and reveal at the end.
I thought this was a debut novel, but apparently she has written a couple of other books that were released under the name Lizzie Pook. If you are looking for a great historical mystery with some wonderfully strong female leads, this is one you want to put at the top of your TBR.
What do you think? Have you heard about this book? Is it on your TBR? Let me know in the comments.
Until next time…
