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Kill Your Husbands
A witty, page-turning, twisty whodunit from the bestselling author of the Hangman series, perfect for fans of Benjamin Stevenson.
'A twisted and devious ride.'
Hayley Scrivenor
'Don't expect to go to sleep.'
Rae Cairns
'There are two brain-teasing mysteries at play
One, an expertly crafted locked room puzzle to solve.
Two . . . how is Jack Heath just so damn good?'
Benjamin Stevenson
Three couples, friends since the university athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first.
Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three men will go into the three bedrooms. The three women will each pick a bedroom at random. It won't be awkward later, because no one will know for sure who they've slept with - though each guest is privately sure that they alone will be able to tell.
But when the lights come back on, someone is missing. A search of the house and the surrounding bushland turns up a body.
Five people remain. They have no way of contacting the police. Nor can they leave - the key to the car is missing. And the killer is just getting started.
Two weeks later, Senior Constable Kiara Lui drives to the house with her girlfriend, Elise. She's already interviewed the survivors. Now, she must work out which of them is lying, and why ...
'A twisted and devious ride.'
Hayley Scrivenor
'Don't expect to go to sleep.'
Rae Cairns
'There are two brain-teasing mysteries at play
One, an expertly crafted locked room puzzle to solve.
Two . . . how is Jack Heath just so damn good?'
Benjamin Stevenson
Three couples, friends since the university athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first.
Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three men will go into the three bedrooms. The three women will each pick a bedroom at random. It won't be awkward later, because no one will know for sure who they've slept with - though each guest is privately sure that they alone will be able to tell.
But when the lights come back on, someone is missing. A search of the house and the surrounding bushland turns up a body.
Five people remain. They have no way of contacting the police. Nor can they leave - the key to the car is missing. And the killer is just getting started.
Two weeks later, Senior Constable Kiara Lui drives to the house with her girlfriend, Elise. She's already interviewed the survivors. Now, she must work out which of them is lying, and why ...
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2023
About the author
Jack Heath
69 books737 followersJack Heath wrote his debut novel, The Lab, in secondary school and sent it to a publisher at age seventeen. He's now the award-winning author of forty novels for adults and children, including the international bestsellers Hangman, The Wife Swap and 300 Minutes of Danger. His books have been translated into ten languages, optioned for TV and adapted for film. He lives on Ngunnawal/Ngambri country in Canberra, Australia, with his wife, their children, several chickens, a few fish and a possum named Oreo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 757 reviews
May 20, 2024
There was a lot going on here, so much that I sometimes had a hard time following it all.
December 10, 2023
Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath
Synopsis /
Three couples, friends since the university athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first.
Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three men will go into the three bedrooms. The three women will each pick a bedroom at random. It won't be awkward later, because no one will know for sure who they've slept with - though each guest is privately sure that they alone will be able to tell.
But when the lights come back on, someone is missing. A search of the house and the surrounding bushland turns up a body.
Five people remain. They have no way of contacting the police. Nor can they leave - the key to the car is missing. And the killer is just getting started.
Two weeks later, Senior Constable Kiara Lui drives to the house with her girlfriend, Elise. She's already interviewed the survivors. Now, she must work out which of them is lying, and why.
My Thoughts /
To preface, I'm a huge fan of Jack Heath's writing and his Timothy Blake series is one of my all-time favourite series reads. Kill Your Husbands is his latest release and I was keen to get reading.
A friend of mine mentioned, not long after I started this book, that it was a follow-up to Heath's 2021 release titled, Kill Your Brother, which incidentally, was a finalist for the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. I don't know whether that is in fact the case, but not having read Kill Your Brother (#mybad #sorryMrHeath) what I can tell you, is that Kill Your Husbands reads well as a standalone.
With the wisdom of hindsight, if there was ONE thing that I could have done to make this book more enjoyable, it would have been to keep a cheat sheet. Its not that there was an over abundance of characters. Four couples. Eight main characters. With a smattering of a few supplementary ones. Even my brain can handle that math. It was more that we were privy to too much backstory. Each character had their own life (or profile) as it were. Here's a breakdown: Dominic is a financial adviser. His wife, Felicity a stand-up comic. Clementine is a fitness model. Her husband Cole owns a gym. Isla is a full-time mum and husband Oscar, a real estate agent. Then, investigating the crimes is Senior Constable Kiara Lui (and her partner, Elise). It becomes more complicated when we learn that the three couples were friends in high school.
Now hitting mid-life, they are all facing adulting challenges. Mortgages, business woes, becoming a parent, or wanting to become parents. What happened to those carefree teenage years? When the opportunity for a weekend away arises, it's one that's too good to pass up. The friends all gather at a house in the mountains for a weekend of reconnecting - relaxing, drinking, and bushwalking. Things get a little spicy when the group discuss and agree on a night of 'partner swapping'. For one night, and one night only, they will sleep with someone who isn't their spouse. What could go wrong???
Six friends rent a house on a mountaintop. Two are murdered, one vanishes, and three come back with conflicting stories.
It's at this point that Kill Your Husbands becomes quite the thriller.
Some Bookish Yays:
🌟 Heath offers up a compelling account of human nature and behaviour. These six friends, who were once so similar, but who are now so different. Or is it all just a façade? Not one of these characters is likeable. I found I could sympathise with some, tolerate some, I could even identify with some; but like? Nope.
🌟 The perfectly paced plot kept me reading. The switching between timelines - the night of the incident and the police investigation (days after) was smooth and seamless and didn't stagger or hinder the forward movement of the plot.
🌟 Loved the ending.
Minor Bookish Quibbles:
🌟 There is a great deal of complexity within each and between each of the characters. You are given a lot of information at the start of the book. I needed a cheat sheet.
🌟 The 'why' behind the murder felt a little flat for me.
My minor quibbles are mine to bear and have no reflection on the quality of Heath's writing. It's superb. If you want to read a crime novel that has you questioning every little decision you have about the identify of the killer, this is the one. If you enjoy a cast of questionable characters, plot twists and unexpected turns, don't waste your time reading anything else, because this will tick all your boxes.
Synopsis /
Three couples, friends since the university athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first.
Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three men will go into the three bedrooms. The three women will each pick a bedroom at random. It won't be awkward later, because no one will know for sure who they've slept with - though each guest is privately sure that they alone will be able to tell.
But when the lights come back on, someone is missing. A search of the house and the surrounding bushland turns up a body.
Five people remain. They have no way of contacting the police. Nor can they leave - the key to the car is missing. And the killer is just getting started.
Two weeks later, Senior Constable Kiara Lui drives to the house with her girlfriend, Elise. She's already interviewed the survivors. Now, she must work out which of them is lying, and why.
My Thoughts /
To preface, I'm a huge fan of Jack Heath's writing and his Timothy Blake series is one of my all-time favourite series reads. Kill Your Husbands is his latest release and I was keen to get reading.
A friend of mine mentioned, not long after I started this book, that it was a follow-up to Heath's 2021 release titled, Kill Your Brother, which incidentally, was a finalist for the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. I don't know whether that is in fact the case, but not having read Kill Your Brother (#mybad #sorryMrHeath) what I can tell you, is that Kill Your Husbands reads well as a standalone.
With the wisdom of hindsight, if there was ONE thing that I could have done to make this book more enjoyable, it would have been to keep a cheat sheet. Its not that there was an over abundance of characters. Four couples. Eight main characters. With a smattering of a few supplementary ones. Even my brain can handle that math. It was more that we were privy to too much backstory. Each character had their own life (or profile) as it were. Here's a breakdown: Dominic is a financial adviser. His wife, Felicity a stand-up comic. Clementine is a fitness model. Her husband Cole owns a gym. Isla is a full-time mum and husband Oscar, a real estate agent. Then, investigating the crimes is Senior Constable Kiara Lui (and her partner, Elise). It becomes more complicated when we learn that the three couples were friends in high school.
Now hitting mid-life, they are all facing adulting challenges. Mortgages, business woes, becoming a parent, or wanting to become parents. What happened to those carefree teenage years? When the opportunity for a weekend away arises, it's one that's too good to pass up. The friends all gather at a house in the mountains for a weekend of reconnecting - relaxing, drinking, and bushwalking. Things get a little spicy when the group discuss and agree on a night of 'partner swapping'. For one night, and one night only, they will sleep with someone who isn't their spouse. What could go wrong???
Six friends rent a house on a mountaintop. Two are murdered, one vanishes, and three come back with conflicting stories.
It's at this point that Kill Your Husbands becomes quite the thriller.
Some Bookish Yays:
🌟 Heath offers up a compelling account of human nature and behaviour. These six friends, who were once so similar, but who are now so different. Or is it all just a façade? Not one of these characters is likeable. I found I could sympathise with some, tolerate some, I could even identify with some; but like? Nope.
🌟 The perfectly paced plot kept me reading. The switching between timelines - the night of the incident and the police investigation (days after) was smooth and seamless and didn't stagger or hinder the forward movement of the plot.
🌟 Loved the ending.
Minor Bookish Quibbles:
🌟 There is a great deal of complexity within each and between each of the characters. You are given a lot of information at the start of the book. I needed a cheat sheet.
🌟 The 'why' behind the murder felt a little flat for me.
My minor quibbles are mine to bear and have no reflection on the quality of Heath's writing. It's superb. If you want to read a crime novel that has you questioning every little decision you have about the identify of the killer, this is the one. If you enjoy a cast of questionable characters, plot twists and unexpected turns, don't waste your time reading anything else, because this will tick all your boxes.
April 15, 2024
3★
“She slipped out of his grip, skin crawling, and patted the envelope in her pocket. Two more days, she thought. Then he’ll be out of my life forever.”
Not a fan, but I can see why it’s caught the imagination of many readers. There are several couples, including Kiara and Elise, the gay cop and her partner. The other three are heterosexual couples: 4 schoolfriends and two ‘outsider’ spouses.
The three couples have a party weekend at a big old house in the hills (beyond mobile range) outside the town of Warrigal in rural NSW, Australia. Planning to reminisce, drink wine, play up. There are mixed feelings about the nostalgia
“… a shared memory. The past was like that, tragedy becoming comedy. Sometimes he heard a song from his youth on the radio, and even though he’d hated it back then, he’d sing along. The act of remembering gave him joy.”
But then – violent murders!
Senior Constable, Detective Kiara Lui is the main character who kind of holds the story together, and I’d like to register a complaint here about the Audible audio. I often listen while I’m reading, and there were so many differences between the wording in the audio and written formats, that I stopped making notes.
The author has replied comprehensively to the following questions in the first comment below. I'm really glad he did. But I'll leave this here, because it did affect my enjoyment and opinion. That's the grain of salt you have to take with my review. 😊)
Kiara is aboriginal. The book says so specifically in a couple of places. So why was that edited out of the audio?
BOOK:
“Her father, a Wiradjuri man, took personal pride in protecting land from developers.”
AUDIO:
“Her father took personal pride in protecting land from developers.”
BOOK:
“She has long since resigned herself to care for this place, however little it cares for her. Her family has been here for tens of thousands of years. She endures the violence, the racism and the homophobia.”
AUDIO:
“She has long since resigned herself to care for this place, however little it cares for her. Her family has been here for generations. She endures the violence, the hatred, and the prejudice.”
Why? A Wiradjuri man is not just some environmental anti-planning campaigner and tens of thousands of years is a lot more than just generations, possibly of a colonial family.
The audio was full-length, 9 hours and 8 minutes, but sometimes, the audio omitted words and even whole paragraphs and actually changed the meaning. I thought having different voices would make it interesting, but it was just a different narrator reading the chapter with that character’s name. Nothing special.
I quit listening and stuck to the text.
Chapters are easy to follow – thank you – each introduced with a character’s first name and the time of the event – now, or before or after the murders. This is important, because Kiara and the police always refer to the couples and those connected to them by their last names, while the chapters and dialogue are first names only.
We don’t know until near the end, which character was killed, or running, or stabbing or anything much.
You should read some other, more enthusiastic reviews about the plot. I thought it was way too far-fetched, and I found it unforgiveable that Kiara tells a character at the very very tail end of the book that she recognised them from a crime scene years before, when Kiara was a junior constable.
Then Kiara goes on for pages, telling the character exactly how and why they had planned murder and how it was all done. Too much left for the end of the book.
But, if I had not heard the audio, with its unfortunate changes, I might have enjoyed it more, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
The writing is fine, the police investigation is fine, the characters were individuals whose back stories made sense, and I could remember who was who – a plus for me. No complaints there. Lots of people will enjoy this ride, but I can see his thriller style may not be for me.
“She slipped out of his grip, skin crawling, and patted the envelope in her pocket. Two more days, she thought. Then he’ll be out of my life forever.”
Not a fan, but I can see why it’s caught the imagination of many readers. There are several couples, including Kiara and Elise, the gay cop and her partner. The other three are heterosexual couples: 4 schoolfriends and two ‘outsider’ spouses.
The three couples have a party weekend at a big old house in the hills (beyond mobile range) outside the town of Warrigal in rural NSW, Australia. Planning to reminisce, drink wine, play up. There are mixed feelings about the nostalgia
“… a shared memory. The past was like that, tragedy becoming comedy. Sometimes he heard a song from his youth on the radio, and even though he’d hated it back then, he’d sing along. The act of remembering gave him joy.”
But then – violent murders!
Senior Constable, Detective Kiara Lui is the main character who kind of holds the story together, and I’d like to register a complaint here about the Audible audio. I often listen while I’m reading, and there were so many differences between the wording in the audio and written formats, that I stopped making notes.
The author has replied comprehensively to the following questions in the first comment below. I'm really glad he did. But I'll leave this here, because it did affect my enjoyment and opinion. That's the grain of salt you have to take with my review. 😊)
Kiara is aboriginal. The book says so specifically in a couple of places. So why was that edited out of the audio?
BOOK:
“Her father, a Wiradjuri man, took personal pride in protecting land from developers.”
AUDIO:
“Her father took personal pride in protecting land from developers.”
BOOK:
“She has long since resigned herself to care for this place, however little it cares for her. Her family has been here for tens of thousands of years. She endures the violence, the racism and the homophobia.”
AUDIO:
“She has long since resigned herself to care for this place, however little it cares for her. Her family has been here for generations. She endures the violence, the hatred, and the prejudice.”
Why? A Wiradjuri man is not just some environmental anti-planning campaigner and tens of thousands of years is a lot more than just generations, possibly of a colonial family.
The audio was full-length, 9 hours and 8 minutes, but sometimes, the audio omitted words and even whole paragraphs and actually changed the meaning. I thought having different voices would make it interesting, but it was just a different narrator reading the chapter with that character’s name. Nothing special.
I quit listening and stuck to the text.
Chapters are easy to follow – thank you – each introduced with a character’s first name and the time of the event – now, or before or after the murders. This is important, because Kiara and the police always refer to the couples and those connected to them by their last names, while the chapters and dialogue are first names only.
We don’t know until near the end, which character was killed, or running, or stabbing or anything much.
You should read some other, more enthusiastic reviews about the plot. I thought it was way too far-fetched, and I found it unforgiveable that Kiara tells a character at the very very tail end of the book that she recognised them from a crime scene years before, when Kiara was a junior constable.
Then Kiara goes on for pages, telling the character exactly how and why they had planned murder and how it was all done. Too much left for the end of the book.
But, if I had not heard the audio, with its unfortunate changes, I might have enjoyed it more, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
The writing is fine, the police investigation is fine, the characters were individuals whose back stories made sense, and I could remember who was who – a plus for me. No complaints there. Lots of people will enjoy this ride, but I can see his thriller style may not be for me.
November 30, 2023
This is a twisty story that had my mind going in all directions, I thought I had it worked out and then no I didn’t, what happens when six friends go away for a weekend together, four of them had gone to high school together two married into the group, the house is in the mountains, no internet, no phones a weekend of drinking bush walking and fun, lots of discussions but when partner swapping is bought up, will it happen?
The answer is yes, with rules three woman will pick a room all lights are out and then the men will enter a room, there is to be no talking no one will know who they slept with, all should be good afterwards that is until one of them turns up dead.
The five reaming realise that the phone isn’t working and the keys to the car are missing, suspicion abounds they need to leave but it appears that the killer is not finished yet, what will they do?
Enter new detective Kiara Lui and the investigation begins Kiara questions all witnesses and is not yet clear on what happened but she will not give up, two weeks later Kiara takes her partner Elise for a romantic weekend at the same house and soon Kiara is thinking this wasn’t such a good idea but she is also discovering some facts while there.
This is a fabulous story truly I changed my mind so many times on who the killer is, is it just one or more and why, why did this all happen, were there plans in place before the weekend started or did it just happen because of things that happened on the weekend?
So many questions to be answered, you need to read this one to discover the answers, Elise and Kiara were in Kill Your Brother and I loved that one as well and they are fabulous characters. This is such a well written story, with a awesome ending that I do highly recommend to any reader who loves a good mystery thriller, fabulous character, a must read.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
The answer is yes, with rules three woman will pick a room all lights are out and then the men will enter a room, there is to be no talking no one will know who they slept with, all should be good afterwards that is until one of them turns up dead.
The five reaming realise that the phone isn’t working and the keys to the car are missing, suspicion abounds they need to leave but it appears that the killer is not finished yet, what will they do?
Enter new detective Kiara Lui and the investigation begins Kiara questions all witnesses and is not yet clear on what happened but she will not give up, two weeks later Kiara takes her partner Elise for a romantic weekend at the same house and soon Kiara is thinking this wasn’t such a good idea but she is also discovering some facts while there.
This is a fabulous story truly I changed my mind so many times on who the killer is, is it just one or more and why, why did this all happen, were there plans in place before the weekend started or did it just happen because of things that happened on the weekend?
So many questions to be answered, you need to read this one to discover the answers, Elise and Kiara were in Kill Your Brother and I loved that one as well and they are fabulous characters. This is such a well written story, with a awesome ending that I do highly recommend to any reader who loves a good mystery thriller, fabulous character, a must read.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
April 22, 2024
Omg!!! I finished this book so fast because I couldn't stop listening! I knew Felicity was touched, but damn!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2023
Author Jack Heath has obviously had a lot of fun writing this follow-up to Kill Your Brother, and that translates to a clever, sly, twisty murder mystery/thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it and, in particular, read the second half very quickly (for me). Although characters from the earlier book appear again, and events from that book would provide good context for some of the relationship angst in this one, I'd say it can easily be read as a standalone.
Three couples with connections dating back to high school rent a secluded mountain-top mansion for an unplugged weekend getaway. There are various tensions quietly simmering within and between the couples, but at heart they are firm, old friends. A cheeky suggestion to spice things up gets out of hand, and by Saturday night one person is dead. There is no mobile reception and the batteries from the landline have been removed. The keys to the one and only vehicle are also missing. To alert the authorities, someone will have to walk back down the mountain.
But - things go wrong and someone else ends up dead.
First on scene is newly-minted Detective Kiara Lui. It's her first murder case. She finds two dead bodies and two live ones. There was also the frantic woman who ran down the mountain in her dressing gown to raise the alarm. That means one person is missing...
The story unfolds across two timelines; the weekend of the murders, and the following weekend, when Kiara (bizarrely) rents the mansion for a romantic getaway with her own partner. To be fair, she thinks it will help provide insight to the case, and her partner is fully aware of the house's crime-scene status. The dual timeline structure is done really well here, and combined with the way the couples are referred to (surnames in the later timeline, first names in the earlier one) it takes a long time and a lot of brainpower to begin to tease out exactly who did what. A masterclass in pageturning! I changed my mind about who the murderer was so many times it gave me whiplash.
If you like your thrillers dark but also a little tongue-in-cheek, this one is for you. Out in November 2023.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an early copy to read and review.
Three couples with connections dating back to high school rent a secluded mountain-top mansion for an unplugged weekend getaway. There are various tensions quietly simmering within and between the couples, but at heart they are firm, old friends. A cheeky suggestion to spice things up gets out of hand, and by Saturday night one person is dead. There is no mobile reception and the batteries from the landline have been removed. The keys to the one and only vehicle are also missing. To alert the authorities, someone will have to walk back down the mountain.
But - things go wrong and someone else ends up dead.
First on scene is newly-minted Detective Kiara Lui. It's her first murder case. She finds two dead bodies and two live ones. There was also the frantic woman who ran down the mountain in her dressing gown to raise the alarm. That means one person is missing...
The story unfolds across two timelines; the weekend of the murders, and the following weekend, when Kiara (bizarrely) rents the mansion for a romantic getaway with her own partner. To be fair, she thinks it will help provide insight to the case, and her partner is fully aware of the house's crime-scene status. The dual timeline structure is done really well here, and combined with the way the couples are referred to (surnames in the later timeline, first names in the earlier one) it takes a long time and a lot of brainpower to begin to tease out exactly who did what. A masterclass in pageturning! I changed my mind about who the murderer was so many times it gave me whiplash.
If you like your thrillers dark but also a little tongue-in-cheek, this one is for you. Out in November 2023.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an early copy to read and review.
July 19, 2024
This was so. Fricking. Good. Rtc
~~~~~~~
͟͟͞͞➳pre read: Someone tell me why this looks so good. Also this is set in Australia so you know I had to read it🤠🤠
~~~~~~~
͟͟͞͞➳pre read: Someone tell me why this looks so good. Also this is set in Australia so you know I had to read it🤠🤠
November 13, 2023
Wasn't this a bundle of fun!
Three couples take a getaway to an isolated cabin in the bush. They decide to swap partners ofor a night - anonymously, in the dark - but one of them ends up dead.
This was a quick thriller that kept me hooked, though it did start a little slow for me. I didn't know this book connected to the main character from Kill Your Brother but, in hindsight, it IS right there in the title. I wasn't expecting so much about Elise and Kiara but I didn't mind. It bothered me more that Kiara's colleagues were so incompetent.
The kink factor was actually pretty low, and I enjoyed the contemplation of these couples and what would drive them to do such a thing. It kept me interested.
Some of the rest did seem a bit cliche, but at the same time this book leans into that a little and recognises its own stereotypes.
Most of the characters are horrible, yet there's still enough of them to feel some empathy when things go down.
Really enjoyed the tension and the switching tenses to keep it fresh. I read it over a couple days and it was great fun to pick up every time.
Three couples take a getaway to an isolated cabin in the bush. They decide to swap partners ofor a night - anonymously, in the dark - but one of them ends up dead.
This was a quick thriller that kept me hooked, though it did start a little slow for me. I didn't know this book connected to the main character from Kill Your Brother but, in hindsight, it IS right there in the title. I wasn't expecting so much about Elise and Kiara but I didn't mind. It bothered me more that Kiara's colleagues were so incompetent.
The kink factor was actually pretty low, and I enjoyed the contemplation of these couples and what would drive them to do such a thing. It kept me interested.
Some of the rest did seem a bit cliche, but at the same time this book leans into that a little and recognises its own stereotypes.
Most of the characters are horrible, yet there's still enough of them to feel some empathy when things go down.
Really enjoyed the tension and the switching tenses to keep it fresh. I read it over a couple days and it was great fun to pick up every time.
November 23, 2023
Set in and near the fictional central New South Wales of Warrigal, Senior Constable Kiara Lui is once again on the job, hoping to solve her first murder case as lead investigator. It’s only been a year since the events chronicled in Kill Your Brother and she is still in the process of helping her girlfriend Elise to deal with the trauma suffered back then. Jack Heath has provided us with an entertaining murder mystery and has managed to put Kiara and Elise through another relationship testing scenario.
The prospect of a weekend away proves too good an opportunity to pass up for three couples, friends from high school who are now hitting their mid-thirties and looking for some direction in their respective lives. But the weekend doesn’t go as planned and Kill Your Husbands becomes quite the black comedy thriller complete with unexpected twists.
When the police show up, days after the fateful weekend, two men are dead, a husband and wife have locked themselves in a bedroom, one woman is a traumatised mess and another woman has gone missing. Something has gone seriously wrong in this isolated holiday house and we’re about to spend the rest of the book recounting the events leading up to the fateful night, not to mention the aftermath.
Isla and Oscar, Clementine and Cole and Felicity and Dom are together in a difficult to reach house, high in the mountains and out of mobile phone range. There’s clearly some underlying tensions going on between some in the party, but nothing could prepare them for the results of a seemingly innocent game of Truth or Dare.
Flicking timelines between the night of the incident and a week later when the police investigation, led by Senior Constable Kiara Lui, tries to unravel what the heck went on. This becomes a perplexing case. We know there are at least 2 dead among the six but exactly who died and how remains unclear for a significant portion of the book. We’re left to try to unravel the frayed strings along with Lui which turns out to be far from a straightforward task.
Just as important, and just as significant as the murder investigation is the personal relationship between Kiara and Elise. Kiara’s decision to organise a holiday stay in the murder house with Elise as her guest is a questionable move, but one that certainly adds a further level of intrigue and tension to the story. Putting Elise this close to a murder case so soon after the trauma she’d recently been through was definitely stretching the friendship.
The success of Kill Your Husbands lies around the complexity of each of the characters involved and their underlying flaws and frailties. Jack Heath does an outstanding job of initially painting each of his main characters as shallow and carefree, up for a good time and ready to party. But by digging deeper and deeper into their psyches we begin to understand there are more sinister realities at play and some may be carrying some kind of ulterior motive with resentment lurking close to the surface of more than one friend.
The diverse cast of characters means that there’s ample opportunity to create doubt over who the murderer may be. Heath has also chucked in a slew of twists and unexpected turns to ensure that we’re navigating the waters of a rewarding domestic thriller.
The events from the earlier book are merely hinted at to create a frame of reference, so you’re going to be able to enjoy this as a stand alone thriller.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin via NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of the book which enabled me to read, enjoy and review what turned out to be a very enjoyable story.
The prospect of a weekend away proves too good an opportunity to pass up for three couples, friends from high school who are now hitting their mid-thirties and looking for some direction in their respective lives. But the weekend doesn’t go as planned and Kill Your Husbands becomes quite the black comedy thriller complete with unexpected twists.
When the police show up, days after the fateful weekend, two men are dead, a husband and wife have locked themselves in a bedroom, one woman is a traumatised mess and another woman has gone missing. Something has gone seriously wrong in this isolated holiday house and we’re about to spend the rest of the book recounting the events leading up to the fateful night, not to mention the aftermath.
Isla and Oscar, Clementine and Cole and Felicity and Dom are together in a difficult to reach house, high in the mountains and out of mobile phone range. There’s clearly some underlying tensions going on between some in the party, but nothing could prepare them for the results of a seemingly innocent game of Truth or Dare.
Flicking timelines between the night of the incident and a week later when the police investigation, led by Senior Constable Kiara Lui, tries to unravel what the heck went on. This becomes a perplexing case. We know there are at least 2 dead among the six but exactly who died and how remains unclear for a significant portion of the book. We’re left to try to unravel the frayed strings along with Lui which turns out to be far from a straightforward task.
Just as important, and just as significant as the murder investigation is the personal relationship between Kiara and Elise. Kiara’s decision to organise a holiday stay in the murder house with Elise as her guest is a questionable move, but one that certainly adds a further level of intrigue and tension to the story. Putting Elise this close to a murder case so soon after the trauma she’d recently been through was definitely stretching the friendship.
The success of Kill Your Husbands lies around the complexity of each of the characters involved and their underlying flaws and frailties. Jack Heath does an outstanding job of initially painting each of his main characters as shallow and carefree, up for a good time and ready to party. But by digging deeper and deeper into their psyches we begin to understand there are more sinister realities at play and some may be carrying some kind of ulterior motive with resentment lurking close to the surface of more than one friend.
The diverse cast of characters means that there’s ample opportunity to create doubt over who the murderer may be. Heath has also chucked in a slew of twists and unexpected turns to ensure that we’re navigating the waters of a rewarding domestic thriller.
The events from the earlier book are merely hinted at to create a frame of reference, so you’re going to be able to enjoy this as a stand alone thriller.
My thanks to Allen & Unwin via NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of the book which enabled me to read, enjoy and review what turned out to be a very enjoyable story.
October 15, 2023
Kill Your Husbands is a novel by Australian author Jack Heath that follows on from his previous novel, Kill Your Brother, featuring several of the same characters and set in the same rural NSW town of Warrigal. Real estate agent Oscar is happy enough to go along on a weekend in an isolated mountain cottage with two other couples, his wife Isla’s school friends, mostly because he has certain expectations about another of the guests.
There are some close friendships within the couples, a financial planner, a stand-up comedian, a gym owner and a fitness model and, while things aren’t exactly as expected on arrival, they rub along fairly well despite different temperaments, even (eventually) agreeing to partake in a risqué plan. Does that go well? As one of their number is found dead in the hot tub afterwards, clearly not.
When an obviously traumatised wife manages to make her way down the mountain on foot, raving about a murderer on the loose, Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui has charge of her first case. She is able to temper the response of the enthusiastic armed response team enough to recover a very frightened couple from the house, discovering two dead husbands, and learning that one of the wives is missing. And each survivor is telling a different story.
Frustrated by the lack of insight produced by witness interviews, and the delay in results of the DNA collected by Warrigal’s inept crime scene technician, Kiara decides to take her girlfriend, Elise, who desperately needs a break, for a weekend up to the (thoroughly-cleaned) murder house, where she might get a better feel of just what happened. But are they safe in this isolated spot with no mobile phone coverage and one of the party still missing?
Heath uses multiple narrators to tell a tale that is cleverly plotted, with twists that might require pre-booking a chiropractic appointment, well-disguised clues and red herrings to keep the even the most astute reader guessing right up to the exciting climax. The reader will wonder about the reliability of some of that narrative, but even as the story ventures into very dark territory, there is some (quite black) humour to relieve the tension.
Heath’s characters are believable for all their flaws and failings, and he captures the feel of the NSW country town with consummate ease. There are some spoilers for the earlier book, so reading Kill Your Brother first is advised. Readers of his Timothy Blake series know they will be in for a wild ride, and the best advice is to just go with the flow for an action-packed and very entertaining dose of Aussie intrigue.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided NetGalley and Allen & Unwin
There are some close friendships within the couples, a financial planner, a stand-up comedian, a gym owner and a fitness model and, while things aren’t exactly as expected on arrival, they rub along fairly well despite different temperaments, even (eventually) agreeing to partake in a risqué plan. Does that go well? As one of their number is found dead in the hot tub afterwards, clearly not.
When an obviously traumatised wife manages to make her way down the mountain on foot, raving about a murderer on the loose, Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui has charge of her first case. She is able to temper the response of the enthusiastic armed response team enough to recover a very frightened couple from the house, discovering two dead husbands, and learning that one of the wives is missing. And each survivor is telling a different story.
Frustrated by the lack of insight produced by witness interviews, and the delay in results of the DNA collected by Warrigal’s inept crime scene technician, Kiara decides to take her girlfriend, Elise, who desperately needs a break, for a weekend up to the (thoroughly-cleaned) murder house, where she might get a better feel of just what happened. But are they safe in this isolated spot with no mobile phone coverage and one of the party still missing?
Heath uses multiple narrators to tell a tale that is cleverly plotted, with twists that might require pre-booking a chiropractic appointment, well-disguised clues and red herrings to keep the even the most astute reader guessing right up to the exciting climax. The reader will wonder about the reliability of some of that narrative, but even as the story ventures into very dark territory, there is some (quite black) humour to relieve the tension.
Heath’s characters are believable for all their flaws and failings, and he captures the feel of the NSW country town with consummate ease. There are some spoilers for the earlier book, so reading Kill Your Brother first is advised. Readers of his Timothy Blake series know they will be in for a wild ride, and the best advice is to just go with the flow for an action-packed and very entertaining dose of Aussie intrigue.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided NetGalley and Allen & Unwin
November 26, 2023
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**4.5 stars**
Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath. (2023).
**Thank you to Allen & Unwin for sending me a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review; due to be published 28 November 2023**
Three couples, friends since the high school athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. On the first night, the topic of partner swapping comes up... not everyone is keen but an agreement and a plan is made so no one will know for sure who they have slept with. But when the lights come back on, someone is missing and then turns up dead. Five people remain with no way to contact the police or even leave - the car keys are missing. Two weeks late Senior Constable Kiara goes to the house with her girlfriend Elise. She's interviewed the survivors and now needs to work out which of them is lying and why...
This is a 'kind of sequel' in that it features a couple of main characters from a previous novel by the author, 'Kill Your Brother', but you can absolutely read this as a standalone and enjoy it just as much; you might just miss some context between Elise and Kiara. The storyline alternates between the present where the readers know some people are dead from a holiday weekend, and the past which is the lead up to said holiday weekend. While readers get to know the three couples going away together, it's only near the end that we find out who actually died - a clever and tricky way to tell a story which certainly kept me guessing the whole time. With multiple character perspectives, readers get to learn the full, very messy, slightly toxic but very entertaining story behind these couples and this fateful weekend.
Overall: highly recommend this entertaining and clever thriller.
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**4.5 stars**
Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath. (2023).
**Thank you to Allen & Unwin for sending me a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review; due to be published 28 November 2023**
Three couples, friends since the high school athletics team, travel to a house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. On the first night, the topic of partner swapping comes up... not everyone is keen but an agreement and a plan is made so no one will know for sure who they have slept with. But when the lights come back on, someone is missing and then turns up dead. Five people remain with no way to contact the police or even leave - the car keys are missing. Two weeks late Senior Constable Kiara goes to the house with her girlfriend Elise. She's interviewed the survivors and now needs to work out which of them is lying and why...
This is a 'kind of sequel' in that it features a couple of main characters from a previous novel by the author, 'Kill Your Brother', but you can absolutely read this as a standalone and enjoy it just as much; you might just miss some context between Elise and Kiara. The storyline alternates between the present where the readers know some people are dead from a holiday weekend, and the past which is the lead up to said holiday weekend. While readers get to know the three couples going away together, it's only near the end that we find out who actually died - a clever and tricky way to tell a story which certainly kept me guessing the whole time. With multiple character perspectives, readers get to learn the full, very messy, slightly toxic but very entertaining story behind these couples and this fateful weekend.
Overall: highly recommend this entertaining and clever thriller.
October 17, 2023
A locked room thriller with adults behaving badly…. Yes please!! And written by Jack Heath.. double yes!!
I just love the way Jack Heath writes such dark and messed up books and still makes them funny. I could hardly put this down once ai started it, it was so addictive with its multiple points of views and the now and then narrative. Sadly, no cannibals in this one though 😂😂
6 friends, 3 couples..one deadly weekend away. It was meant to be a relaxing weekend for these couples to reconnect and unwind. No wifi or phone service in the bush. What could go wrong? They decide to have a night of partner swapping, no lights and no talking. But when the lights come back on one of them is dead. Is one of them a killer? They cannot call for help without phone service and things just get worse, especially when the storm hits.
You do not want to miss this book. It is full of unlikeable characters whose actions spiral out of control very quickly. We soon learn that there is much happening beneath the surface with these couples. A recipe for disaster…but so much fun to read.
A massive thanks to Jack Heath for reaching out, and Allen and Unwin for sending me this early copy to read. Published in Australia on November 29th
I just love the way Jack Heath writes such dark and messed up books and still makes them funny. I could hardly put this down once ai started it, it was so addictive with its multiple points of views and the now and then narrative. Sadly, no cannibals in this one though 😂😂
6 friends, 3 couples..one deadly weekend away. It was meant to be a relaxing weekend for these couples to reconnect and unwind. No wifi or phone service in the bush. What could go wrong? They decide to have a night of partner swapping, no lights and no talking. But when the lights come back on one of them is dead. Is one of them a killer? They cannot call for help without phone service and things just get worse, especially when the storm hits.
You do not want to miss this book. It is full of unlikeable characters whose actions spiral out of control very quickly. We soon learn that there is much happening beneath the surface with these couples. A recipe for disaster…but so much fun to read.
A massive thanks to Jack Heath for reaching out, and Allen and Unwin for sending me this early copy to read. Published in Australia on November 29th
December 3, 2023
Yes! We’ve got swinging! We’ve got murder! Kill Your Husbands has the kind of scandalous, ridiculous fun I love in a novel. It’s perfectly paced to keep you intrigued all the way along. Even though the red herrings might feel a little obvious at times, the pieces of the puzzle fit together nicely in the end. I’m seriously impressed by Heath’s skilled hand in crafting a killer summer mystery.
My full review of Kill Your Husbands is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of Kill Your Husbands is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
December 21, 2023
I love when a book is unpredictable and this one certainly was. Jack made me change my mind so many times. I also love a setting of an isolated cabin in the woods. This book is told by multiple POV's , we had Elise and Kiara (the policewoman) and all the couples. There is so much going on in this book to keep you interested, we had Elise and Kiara's relationship, another crime and all the couples relationship problems. I loved Kill your brother and this one didnt disappoint either.
June 19, 2024
Kill Your Husbands is an isolated location / unknown killer amongst us plot, joining the many descendants of the trope pioneered by Dame Agatha Christie in her 1939 masterpiece And Then There Were None.
Three couples rent an isolated mountaintop house in the southern highlands of New South Wales, Australia. Four of the six 30-ish central characters went to high school together in the closest town, (fictional) Warrigal, which is an hour's drive away, while two spouses have joined the group more recently. Each of the marriages faces some degree of stress - Oscar resents the effect that parenthood has had on his life and relationship with his wife Isla, Clementine and Cole are dealing with the emotional and financial stress of having endured several unsuccessful cycles of IVF, and while on the surface Dom and his younger wife Felicity appear to be happy and affluent, Dom is overbearing with his shows of status and controlling behaviour.
With no wi-fi or mobile reception, the group resorts to drinking and a game of "truth or dare". Before long, the idea of partner-swapping is raised, although it's evident that more than one member of the group had foreknowledge that this would happen. The three women each choose a bedroom, while the three men wait outside. Who will end up with whose spouse, and what will be the repercussions? As foreshadowed in the prologue, events soon turn deadly, with two of the men dead and one woman missing on the mountain as another of the woman stumbles out of the bush near Warrigal, alerting authorities to what's occurred.
Warrigal police officer, Senior Constable Kiara Lui, on her first case as a detective assembles a tactical team and approaches the remote property, uncovering evidence of a party weekend gone badly wrong, and a husband and wife both with knives drawn, barricaded within the upstairs bedroom.
Jack Heath employs a clever technique to keep his readers guessing. The six party-goers refer to themselves and each other by first names, while the police perspective uses only surnames, so it takes some time before we're fully aware of who is dead, who is missing, and who might be suspected of deadly violence.
The narrative shifts backwards and forwards between the events of the fateful weekend as they develop, and Senior Constable Lui's investigation of the murders over the following fortnight. Lui is an engaging character, of mixed Wiradjuri and Vietnamese heritage. She's a tenacious investigator who's trying to prove herself to police hierarchy while also being supportive of her partner Elise, who's still coming to terms with a traumatic experience that occurred a year previously (See Kill Your Brother). An ill-judged attempt to give herself and Elise some time alone together whilst continuing to investigate the crime backfires, as Kiara and Elise discover more than they'd bargained for at the mountaintop hideaway.
Having grown up in the area, I imagine fictional Warrigal to be somewhere in the vicinity of real-life Tarcutta and the holiday home somewhere in the hilly forested country to the east. (Warrigal - alternatively spelled warragul, worrigle and warragal - is a New South Wales Indigenous word from the Darug language meaning wild dog or dingo, although the novel is set in the heart of Wiradjuri country.)
While I found Kill Your Husbands an engrossing and entertaining read, and based around a tantalising premise, I felt that the plot didn't bear too much scrutiny in terms of believability and that many of the characters were fairly two-dimensional. Jack Heath's use of foreshadowing and misdirection are extremely well-executed, and had me guessing the identities of the different victims and survivors right to the end. However, I felt the solution to the mystery, while clever, was somewhat lacking as far as the killer's motivation.
I'd recommend Kill Your Husbands to readers who enjoy fast-paced Australian crime fiction, evocative settings and intriguing character-based scenarios.
Three couples rent an isolated mountaintop house in the southern highlands of New South Wales, Australia. Four of the six 30-ish central characters went to high school together in the closest town, (fictional) Warrigal, which is an hour's drive away, while two spouses have joined the group more recently. Each of the marriages faces some degree of stress - Oscar resents the effect that parenthood has had on his life and relationship with his wife Isla, Clementine and Cole are dealing with the emotional and financial stress of having endured several unsuccessful cycles of IVF, and while on the surface Dom and his younger wife Felicity appear to be happy and affluent, Dom is overbearing with his shows of status and controlling behaviour.
With no wi-fi or mobile reception, the group resorts to drinking and a game of "truth or dare". Before long, the idea of partner-swapping is raised, although it's evident that more than one member of the group had foreknowledge that this would happen. The three women each choose a bedroom, while the three men wait outside. Who will end up with whose spouse, and what will be the repercussions? As foreshadowed in the prologue, events soon turn deadly, with two of the men dead and one woman missing on the mountain as another of the woman stumbles out of the bush near Warrigal, alerting authorities to what's occurred.
Warrigal police officer, Senior Constable Kiara Lui, on her first case as a detective assembles a tactical team and approaches the remote property, uncovering evidence of a party weekend gone badly wrong, and a husband and wife both with knives drawn, barricaded within the upstairs bedroom.
Jack Heath employs a clever technique to keep his readers guessing. The six party-goers refer to themselves and each other by first names, while the police perspective uses only surnames, so it takes some time before we're fully aware of who is dead, who is missing, and who might be suspected of deadly violence.
The narrative shifts backwards and forwards between the events of the fateful weekend as they develop, and Senior Constable Lui's investigation of the murders over the following fortnight. Lui is an engaging character, of mixed Wiradjuri and Vietnamese heritage. She's a tenacious investigator who's trying to prove herself to police hierarchy while also being supportive of her partner Elise, who's still coming to terms with a traumatic experience that occurred a year previously (See Kill Your Brother). An ill-judged attempt to give herself and Elise some time alone together whilst continuing to investigate the crime backfires, as Kiara and Elise discover more than they'd bargained for at the mountaintop hideaway.
Having grown up in the area, I imagine fictional Warrigal to be somewhere in the vicinity of real-life Tarcutta and the holiday home somewhere in the hilly forested country to the east. (Warrigal - alternatively spelled warragul, worrigle and warragal - is a New South Wales Indigenous word from the Darug language meaning wild dog or dingo, although the novel is set in the heart of Wiradjuri country.)
While I found Kill Your Husbands an engrossing and entertaining read, and based around a tantalising premise, I felt that the plot didn't bear too much scrutiny in terms of believability and that many of the characters were fairly two-dimensional. Jack Heath's use of foreshadowing and misdirection are extremely well-executed, and had me guessing the identities of the different victims and survivors right to the end. However, I felt the solution to the mystery, while clever, was somewhat lacking as far as the killer's motivation.
I'd recommend Kill Your Husbands to readers who enjoy fast-paced Australian crime fiction, evocative settings and intriguing character-based scenarios.
April 18, 2024
2.5 stars
December 28, 2023
I literally don't understand how swinging with lifelong friends would be a good idea or how you could convince 6 people to do it. I can't even think of two friends whose partners I'd be willing to hook up with.
And for any future murderers, deleting your call records from your phone doesn't delete them from the logs the phone company has, but I was surprised by who the killer was so this wasn't a total wash.
And for any future murderers, deleting your call records from your phone doesn't delete them from the logs the phone company has, but I was surprised by who the killer was so this wasn't a total wash.
December 14, 2023
I would love to burrow into Jack Heath's brain to find out where this story line came from. Seriously, what is going on up there? Each new book is becoming increasingly unhinged and I think we should all be worried. That being said, I devoured this.
Three couples go away for a long weekend and decide to swap partners for one night. What happens in the mountains stays in the mountains, am I right? What could go wrong? Turns out everything. Long kept grievances and secrets boil to the surface and by the end of the weekend, some are dead, some are missing and some are suspects. Detective Kiara Lui investigates the case in the week that follows.
Heath cleverly hides the identities of each participant by only using their first names during the long weekend (past) and their last names during the investigation (present), meaning I had no idea who was who. Who was dead? Who was the killer? Who slept with who during the swap? I correctly guessed who the dead people were but was entirely wrong on the killer and motive. The last few pages where full of revelations I really should've seen coming but didn't, to my frustration. All in all, a tense murder mystery with some hilarious subtext. Jack Heath is one of my favourite authors and I will read anything he writes, no matter how bizarre he's stories get. Can't wait for the next one.
Three couples go away for a long weekend and decide to swap partners for one night. What happens in the mountains stays in the mountains, am I right? What could go wrong? Turns out everything. Long kept grievances and secrets boil to the surface and by the end of the weekend, some are dead, some are missing and some are suspects. Detective Kiara Lui investigates the case in the week that follows.
Heath cleverly hides the identities of each participant by only using their first names during the long weekend (past) and their last names during the investigation (present), meaning I had no idea who was who. Who was dead? Who was the killer? Who slept with who during the swap? I correctly guessed who the dead people were but was entirely wrong on the killer and motive. The last few pages where full of revelations I really should've seen coming but didn't, to my frustration. All in all, a tense murder mystery with some hilarious subtext. Jack Heath is one of my favourite authors and I will read anything he writes, no matter how bizarre he's stories get. Can't wait for the next one.
November 20, 2023
Three couples head up to a house in the mountains for some R&R. When the topic of partner swapping comes up, everyone seems on board. It is agreed that everything will be done in the dark, so no one knows who they were with and therefore avoiding any awkwardness. But when the lights are back on,one of them is dead.
Whoa baby, this was a WILD ride! Yes, there were a fair few characters to keep track of but once I got to know who is who, the story just flowed. This book was fast paced with short chapters, multiple POV's and dual timelines (then and now). I was meant to read it to a buddy read schedule but found it so difficult to stop at certain parts - it was just so bingeable! I loved trying to figure out the whodunnit on my own and I thought I had it......but then found out I was wrong! A brilliant page turner. If locked room thrillers are your jam, you'll love this one. All the stars from me.
Whoa baby, this was a WILD ride! Yes, there were a fair few characters to keep track of but once I got to know who is who, the story just flowed. This book was fast paced with short chapters, multiple POV's and dual timelines (then and now). I was meant to read it to a buddy read schedule but found it so difficult to stop at certain parts - it was just so bingeable! I loved trying to figure out the whodunnit on my own and I thought I had it......but then found out I was wrong! A brilliant page turner. If locked room thrillers are your jam, you'll love this one. All the stars from me.
January 3, 2024
2.5 stars for me!
I liked the premise, and it was a fun grippy listen but the whodunnit result just left me a little dissatisfied. I needed more motive then ~is just a psychopath~. Found the detective relationship frustrating! And personally hate it when thrillers are just thrillers because of poor communication and bad detective/forensic skills. However, this isn't my typical genre so please entirely disregard my notes.
We were listening to this on our drive from Newcastle to Bungowannah - so close-ish(?) to the areas the story is situated and did enjoy that. Also was free on audible at the time and it did give us much to rant about and discuss and service station breaks. Finished the last 40mins on Jan 1. HPNY!
I liked the premise, and it was a fun grippy listen but the whodunnit result just left me a little dissatisfied. I needed more motive then ~is just a psychopath~. Found the detective relationship frustrating! And personally hate it when thrillers are just thrillers because of poor communication and bad detective/forensic skills. However, this isn't my typical genre so please entirely disregard my notes.
We were listening to this on our drive from Newcastle to Bungowannah - so close-ish(?) to the areas the story is situated and did enjoy that. Also was free on audible at the time and it did give us much to rant about and discuss and service station breaks. Finished the last 40mins on Jan 1. HPNY!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2024
Three couples go to a remote house for a weekend away and when Kiara, the detective turns up with the Tactical response group, there are two dead bodies, one couple barricaded in a room upstairs armed with knives and arguing, and a missing woman. Another woman had already made it down the mountain. I found this an entertaining ‘who dunnit’, I certainly didn’t pick the killer. It’s written in a slow reveal way, between the investigation and a jump back in time to the events of the weekend at the house. It did take me a while to separate the characters from each other, so it was a bit confusing to start but it resolves into a satisfying read.
May 13, 2024
Diezgan ok krimiķis, ja neskaita visai idiotisko ideju - davai uz vienu reizīti samainīsimies sievām - jo kas gan varētu noiet greizi? “Kurš vainīgs” līnija bija izturēta pietiekami interesanti, ļaujot lasītājam nodarboties ar minēšanu, bet personāži gan kā no kataloga paņemti - te, šķiet, ir aprakstītas visas iespējamās laulības dzīves klišejas. Iztēle laikam nav autora stiprā puse, un arī pulkstenis ne. Bet lasīt var.
June 22, 2024
5 stars audio and story!!!
November 27, 2023
⭐️5 Stars
You can always expect a few deliciously sinister surprises from Jack Heath and he certainly delivers in Kill Your Husbands. You’re in for a locked room thriller with a lively pace, dark humour and messed up adults behaving recklessly. What’s not to love, you won’t be able to put it down!
Three couples rent a holiday house on an isolated mountain top in bushland for the weekend with no wifi or phone service in the area, how peaceful and relaxing, but only three of them come back! They’re friends from uni and decide to swap partners when the topic jokingly comes up in conversation. The thing is they’ve set up some unusual rules ensuring nobody will know for sure who they have been with that night and when the lights come on there is a dead body and they find themselves stranded with a killer on the loose.
We are are reacquainted with some characters from the previous book Kill Your Brother although this book can easily be read as a standalone. Senior Constable Kiara Lui is on the murder case and she bizarrely takes her partner Elise to the same retreat for a romantic getaway after the horrific event and clean up but was that a great idea?
Kill Your Husbands is well written, has a compelling plot and I loved the wit.
Publication Date 28 November 2023
Publisher Allen & Unwin Australia
Thank you so very much Jack Heath Allen & Unwin for sending me an ARC copy of the book
You can always expect a few deliciously sinister surprises from Jack Heath and he certainly delivers in Kill Your Husbands. You’re in for a locked room thriller with a lively pace, dark humour and messed up adults behaving recklessly. What’s not to love, you won’t be able to put it down!
Three couples rent a holiday house on an isolated mountain top in bushland for the weekend with no wifi or phone service in the area, how peaceful and relaxing, but only three of them come back! They’re friends from uni and decide to swap partners when the topic jokingly comes up in conversation. The thing is they’ve set up some unusual rules ensuring nobody will know for sure who they have been with that night and when the lights come on there is a dead body and they find themselves stranded with a killer on the loose.
We are are reacquainted with some characters from the previous book Kill Your Brother although this book can easily be read as a standalone. Senior Constable Kiara Lui is on the murder case and she bizarrely takes her partner Elise to the same retreat for a romantic getaway after the horrific event and clean up but was that a great idea?
Kill Your Husbands is well written, has a compelling plot and I loved the wit.
Publication Date 28 November 2023
Publisher Allen & Unwin Australia
Thank you so very much Jack Heath Allen & Unwin for sending me an ARC copy of the book
December 7, 2023
This book was painful. I typically finish all books but I had to skip ahead to the last chapter. Would not recommend
January 6, 2024
this is why i'm an advocate for divorce.
December 15, 2023
Australian author Jack Heath is back in the charts and on my reading schedule with Kill Your Husbands this month. Heath is known for writing gritty and gruesome crime novels - like the Timothy Blake series - as well as killer adventure books for kids, but this latest novel feels like a shift into a new writing style as he ventures into contemporary psychological thriller and domestic noir territory.
Kill Your Husbands focuses around three couples and I'll admit it took me a while to cement the different personalities, their individual relationship dynamics and variously intersecting backstories. Once I was able to do that, it became even harder to figure out what the hell was going on.
Setting out for a short digital detox getaway in New South Wales, a couples swap goes wrong when one of the party ends up dead. Moments of laughter like this break up the tension in this whodunnit:
'I'm told he was a bit of a larrikin.' 'You mean a dickhead.' Kiara gives a slight nod. Page 218
I didn't warm to any of the characters as their various egos, undercurrents of jealousy and envy along with the competitive nature of their friendships was sickening to read. All six characters in this isolation thriller were flawed and unlikeable and as a result I wasn't invested in their survival.
There were some interesting character insights, but these weren't the sort of people I would ever have as friends or regularly choose to associate with.
"It hadn't seemed very funny at the time - kind of mean, actually. But fifteen years later, he found himself laughing along, not because it was clever but because it was a shared memory. The past was like that, tragedy becoming comedy. Sometimes he heard a song from his youth on the radio, and even though he'd hated it back then, he'd sing along. The act of remembering gave him joy." Pages 62-62
I think Kill Your Husbands has all of the juicy elements of an international bestseller, (I'm thinking Ruth Ware level here) however I'll admit to being a Heath purist; if there's such a thing. For me that means I prefer to read his 'shock and awe' style of writing, the way he's able to make characters say and do things no author - I read - is doing. Heath has the skill to make me laugh while making me recoil and writing plots that make my jaw drop. 'That' wasn't here in Kill Your Husbands, and while some readers will appreciate the 'gore left at the door' approach, I genuinely missed it.
Jack Heath is an 'auto-read' Australian author for me and I suspect he'll attract a wider reading audience with Kill Your Husbands which can only be a good thing for readers. It's rare that an author can adapt to so many writing styles and I'm excited to see when he next releases a book 'for me'.
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *
Kill Your Husbands focuses around three couples and I'll admit it took me a while to cement the different personalities, their individual relationship dynamics and variously intersecting backstories. Once I was able to do that, it became even harder to figure out what the hell was going on.
Setting out for a short digital detox getaway in New South Wales, a couples swap goes wrong when one of the party ends up dead. Moments of laughter like this break up the tension in this whodunnit:
'I'm told he was a bit of a larrikin.' 'You mean a dickhead.' Kiara gives a slight nod. Page 218
I didn't warm to any of the characters as their various egos, undercurrents of jealousy and envy along with the competitive nature of their friendships was sickening to read. All six characters in this isolation thriller were flawed and unlikeable and as a result I wasn't invested in their survival.
There were some interesting character insights, but these weren't the sort of people I would ever have as friends or regularly choose to associate with.
"It hadn't seemed very funny at the time - kind of mean, actually. But fifteen years later, he found himself laughing along, not because it was clever but because it was a shared memory. The past was like that, tragedy becoming comedy. Sometimes he heard a song from his youth on the radio, and even though he'd hated it back then, he'd sing along. The act of remembering gave him joy." Pages 62-62
I think Kill Your Husbands has all of the juicy elements of an international bestseller, (I'm thinking Ruth Ware level here) however I'll admit to being a Heath purist; if there's such a thing. For me that means I prefer to read his 'shock and awe' style of writing, the way he's able to make characters say and do things no author - I read - is doing. Heath has the skill to make me laugh while making me recoil and writing plots that make my jaw drop. 'That' wasn't here in Kill Your Husbands, and while some readers will appreciate the 'gore left at the door' approach, I genuinely missed it.
Jack Heath is an 'auto-read' Australian author for me and I suspect he'll attract a wider reading audience with Kill Your Husbands which can only be a good thing for readers. It's rare that an author can adapt to so many writing styles and I'm excited to see when he next releases a book 'for me'.
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *
December 2, 2023
The Weekend to End All
A group of high school friends and their spouses get together for a weekend in a remote (very important, this) cabin, and the shenanigans begin from there. A suggestion of partner swapping unearths long held desires and grudges, and soon the bodies start piling up. But who is the killer, and why? Kiara, detective in a small town police force (where everyone knows you, and your business) and her (life, not police)partner Elise (from the first book apparently, but look at me starting in book two like it’s not something I always seem to do) take an weekend break at the crime scene (romantic!) to try and get a feel for the crime. Wittily written, with more red herrings than a Norwegian fish factory, this book by a prolific author I’ve never heard of (again, surprise) kept my interest and had me guessing right to the end. Reading Kill Your Brother isn’t necessary before this one as much is explained throughout, and has little bearing on this book.
A group of high school friends and their spouses get together for a weekend in a remote (very important, this) cabin, and the shenanigans begin from there. A suggestion of partner swapping unearths long held desires and grudges, and soon the bodies start piling up. But who is the killer, and why? Kiara, detective in a small town police force (where everyone knows you, and your business) and her (life, not police)partner Elise (from the first book apparently, but look at me starting in book two like it’s not something I always seem to do) take an weekend break at the crime scene (romantic!) to try and get a feel for the crime. Wittily written, with more red herrings than a Norwegian fish factory, this book by a prolific author I’ve never heard of (again, surprise) kept my interest and had me guessing right to the end. Reading Kill Your Brother isn’t necessary before this one as much is explained throughout, and has little bearing on this book.
March 12, 2024
Bloody hell Jack, that was good!!
Kill Your Husbands is a fast paced, sometimes humourous, always shocking, dastardly read.
Three couples, most of them friends from high school, go away for a weekend to catch up and destress. A few too many drinks on the first night and the idea of partner swapping comes up. Can't see that going wrong! By morning one of the husbands is dead and the blame game starts.
Who was with who in those bedrooms? Who used handcuffs and likes it rough? Who were they hoping it was going to be?
Realising they are out of mobile coverage and the keys to their transport can't be found, panic starts to set in. One of them did see a torch out in the bush and who has been camping in the tent not far from the house? They start to wonder if the killer is one of them or outside the house.
The story is told retrospectively from the pov of all the characters and in the present from the pov of Kiara Lui, the detective assigned to the case.
This book was so fun to read. The couples all have their secrets, from their partners and each other. They all have motive to be the killer. They all had opportunity to be the killer and the clever way this story is written will have you guessing all the way.
If you like a twisty, fast paced thriller then this will fit the bill. Highly recommended.
Kill Your Husbands is a fast paced, sometimes humourous, always shocking, dastardly read.
Three couples, most of them friends from high school, go away for a weekend to catch up and destress. A few too many drinks on the first night and the idea of partner swapping comes up. Can't see that going wrong! By morning one of the husbands is dead and the blame game starts.
Who was with who in those bedrooms? Who used handcuffs and likes it rough? Who were they hoping it was going to be?
Realising they are out of mobile coverage and the keys to their transport can't be found, panic starts to set in. One of them did see a torch out in the bush and who has been camping in the tent not far from the house? They start to wonder if the killer is one of them or outside the house.
The story is told retrospectively from the pov of all the characters and in the present from the pov of Kiara Lui, the detective assigned to the case.
This book was so fun to read. The couples all have their secrets, from their partners and each other. They all have motive to be the killer. They all had opportunity to be the killer and the clever way this story is written will have you guessing all the way.
If you like a twisty, fast paced thriller then this will fit the bill. Highly recommended.
September 9, 2023
I was one of the lucky readers to receive a copy of prolific author Jack Heath’s upcoming crime novel Kill Your Husbands. If you don’t follow Jack on social media yet, follow him NOW because he is incredibly funny and can write a killer book (pun intended). He is also a master of gasp-out-loud twists and creating creeping suspense. I had to read this compelling thriller with the lights on!
Sometimes a book comes along that is just so different to everything else you’ve read that it makes you sit up and take notice. 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 is such a book. I had never read anything of Jack’s before (sorry, not sorry) so I began reading with no preconceived ideas and now I want to read everything he’s ever written!
The characters are multi-faceted, and the twists are clever and plentiful (and one in particular was absolutely BRILLIANT, I may have sworn out loud!). The occasional touches of humour gave the story a charming quirky vibe… it sucks you in before it ramps up the dial to spine-chillingly terrifying!
In 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 three couples go away for a weekend and decide to swap partners for the night. When the lights come on, one of them is dead. They find themselves stranded, without phone service or the keys to their car, hours from civilisation. Is one of them the killer, or are they all going to become victims?
The chapters are told from the third person perspective of multiple characters and this is the book’s strength, as Jack nails them every time, while giving the reader just enough to ensure they read past the chapter’s end. This is an addictive, turn the page, locked-room thriller that I found impossible to put down.
Thanks Jack for asking me to read 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 for an honest review. You really ticked all the boxes with this one!
Sometimes a book comes along that is just so different to everything else you’ve read that it makes you sit up and take notice. 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 is such a book. I had never read anything of Jack’s before (sorry, not sorry) so I began reading with no preconceived ideas and now I want to read everything he’s ever written!
The characters are multi-faceted, and the twists are clever and plentiful (and one in particular was absolutely BRILLIANT, I may have sworn out loud!). The occasional touches of humour gave the story a charming quirky vibe… it sucks you in before it ramps up the dial to spine-chillingly terrifying!
In 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 three couples go away for a weekend and decide to swap partners for the night. When the lights come on, one of them is dead. They find themselves stranded, without phone service or the keys to their car, hours from civilisation. Is one of them the killer, or are they all going to become victims?
The chapters are told from the third person perspective of multiple characters and this is the book’s strength, as Jack nails them every time, while giving the reader just enough to ensure they read past the chapter’s end. This is an addictive, turn the page, locked-room thriller that I found impossible to put down.
Thanks Jack for asking me to read 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 for an honest review. You really ticked all the boxes with this one!
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