Books On Tour (Review): The First Wife by Jill Childs

Not going to beat around the bush.

Hands down, this is one of the best psych thrillers I have read. It had everything a person could want in the genre, and I loved pretty much everything about it.

The setting itself is gothic (an old mansion on the cliffs by the sea), which adds to the atmosphere of the opening chapters. That alone drew me in and kept me reading. But it really took off just under half-way through, and I was gobbling up pages to find out what happened next.

The plot is tight and well-written, with enough nuances and hints that I was kept slightly off-balance. I, like Sophie, could sense that something was off but without being able to put my finger on it.

I thought that the characters were realistic. I would only say that I didn’t get a strong feel for Dom, I think mainly because we get to know him mostly through flashbacks. I did think that Sophie’s initial timidity, while unsettling at first, was an excellent catalyst for later events. She needed to have certain personality traits for the rest of the plot to work.

There were twists galore in this book, and I’m not going to give any of them away. Suffice to say that just when you think you have it figured out, you probably don’t. And that goes all the way until the very last word.

If you’re going to be self-distancing, it’s the perfect time to pick up this book.

Author Bio

Jill always loved writing – real and imaginary – and spent thirty years travelling the world as a journalist, living overseas and reporting wherever the news took her. She’s now made her home in south-west London with her husband and twin girls who love stories as much as she does. Although she’s covered everything from earthquakes and floods, wars and riots, she’s decided some of the most extraordinary stories are right here at home – in the secrets and lies she imagines behind closed doors on ordinary streets just like yours.