Combining a family that the reader will be thrilled not to belong to, a mysterious crime from the past, and a detective who is also concerned about strange circumstances in the present, Carter Wilson’s The Dead Husband is a tension-filled thriller that is both disturbing and exciting.
The story-telling shifts between two different perspectives throughout the novel, but we are primarily following the point of view of Rose Yates. Rose is from an affluent family originally but has been living several states away throughout her adult life. She seemed to have it all, but as the story begins, Rose and her eleven-year-old son are headed back to her family home following the sudden death of Rose’s husband. We immediately know that Rose is seeing the return to her father’s home as a last resort—she is out of options or she would not be doing this. The reasons behind this trepidation are slowing revealed throughout the novel.
Alternately, we are following the point of view of Detective Colin Pearson, who was only recently promoted to detective and has been handed some not-quite-complete cases from the retiring detective before him. One of those cases is the death of Rose’s husband. Pearson’s gut tells him there is more to be learned after seeing the rather cursory interview previously conducted. His instincts tell him that Rose knows much more than she has revealed so far. Though she has returned to her family home in New Hampshire, she is not so far away that Pearson can’t dig a little bit deeper.
While Rose is a generally sympathetic character, and for the most part is pretty relatable, the reader will have a tough time finding many other characters that could be considered likeable. While having likeable characters is of great importance to some readers, I find the devious or despicable ones much more enjoyable. In Rose’s life there is no shortage of unlikeable people, from her cruel and unstable sister to her distant and imperious father, it becomes easy to understand why Rose was so ready to move away as soon as she was old enough.
With a mysterious event from twenty years earlier (that still has Rose consumed with guilt), the grief over the recent loss of her husband, the pressure of helping her son cope with all the tragic changes occurring, and Detective Pearson’s on-going investigation, Wilson keeps the anxiety and tension high for the reader as much as he does for Rose.
Told through quick, short chapters, this fast-paced thriller will keep readers engaged and excited, and at times truly shocked. Not everyone will find the ending entirely satisfying, but it certainly does the story justice.
The Dead Husband is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 4th 2021.
Will you be picking up The Dead Husband? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A murderer, a victim, and a witness… but no one in this house is innocent
Twenty years ago an unspeakable tragedy rocked Rose Yates’s small, affluent hometown… and only Rose and her family know the truth about what happened.
Haunted by guilt, Rose escaped into a new life. Now she seems to have it all: a marriage, a son, a career. And then her husband is found dead.
As far as Detective Colin Pearson is concerned, Rose is guilty. Her marriage wasn’t as happy as she’d led everyone to believe, and worse, she’s connected to a twenty-year-old cold case. She can play the part of the victim, but he won’t let her or her family escape justice this time around.
Grieving her husband and struggling to make ends meet, Rose returns home, hoping to finally confront her domineering father and unstable sister. But memories of a horrific crime echo through the house, and Rose soon learns that she can’t trust anyone, especially not the people closest to her.
From USA Today bestselling author Carter Wilson comes a story of deception, hereditary sin, and what we’ll do to protect our own.
