The Guilty Wife by Elle Croft @elle_croft #TheGuiltyWife @orionbooks @Lauren_BooksPR

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.

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I'm guilty of many things.

Bethany Reston is happily married. But she's also having an affair with a famous client.

And no one can ever know.

But I'm innocent of murder.

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.

The Guilty Wife by Elle Croft  was published in paperback on 25 January 2018 by Orion Books and is the author's debut novel. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

The Guilty Wife is a really fast paced read, it's one of those books that you can pick up on a dark, miserable Sunday afternoon and totally immerse yourself in. That's what I did, by bedtime, I'd read it all, every single twisting turning page.

One of Elle Croft's real writing strengths is her ability to create totally unlikeable characters. I found very little of Bethany that I could either like or empathise with, yet she is quite beguiling to the reader. She's been happily married to Jason for a while, her photography studio is doing really well, yet she is seduced by her client Calum. He's very rich, and very handsome and their affair is illicit and fun and a bit dangerous.
Bethany agrees to take intimate photographs and presents these to Calum as a birthday gift. Later they argue when Calum makes it clear that he will never leave his wife for Bethany.

Tragedy strikes when Calum is murdered and although Bethany is distraught, she is unable to grieve publicly. She's the 'other woman', the guilty wife.

Somebody somewhere has other ideas though and it soon becomes clear that another person is well aware of just what was going on between Bethany and Calum before he died.

What follows is an intricate game of cat and mouse between Bethany; innocent of murder, but guilty of adultery and a character who clearly is the murderer. Elle Croft creates a fiendishly readable and quite frantic plot, filled with suspense and tension.

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. 

Her debut novel, The Guilty Wife, is a top 20 Kindle Bestseller.

Follow her on Twitter @elle_croft