BLOG TOUR - The Mistress

DESCRIPTION:

It wasn’t until that night that I found out he had been cheating. I never would have guessed it of Ralph – I was still head over heels in love with him then. I would have done anything for my husband… that is, until I found out what he was really hiding.

The night it happened, I was late home from a parent-teacher conference. Things hadn’t been the same between us recently and I was hoping we could start over – make things right over a bottle of wine and an early night like the old days. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I sometimes think I never really knew Ralph at all. Because I never thought he’d be capable of doing what he did. It wasn’t only dangerous, it was very, very wrong. And I’m not talking about the affair with Laura.

As I said, I came home that night hoping to finally fix things with the man I love. The very last thing I expected was to find my husband murdered.


No marriage is ever what it seems from the outside. A compulsively unputdownable domestic thriller from a USA Today bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and The Silent Wife.

BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://bit.ly/3bxrLul
Apple: https://apple.co/3d1tYNv
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2YIHmku
Google: https://bit.ly/3e72k2V

MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   The Mistress

Author:  Jill Childs

Genre:   Women's Fiction

Publisher:   Bookouture

Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:  293

Date of Publication:  September 14, 2020

My Rating:  4 Stars

Laura found herself drawn into an affair. Rather plain, not very popular, but this schoolteacher found herself drawn to another teacher, Ralph. So, they have an affair, and everything goes wrong. Dangerous even. Ralph was a husband and a father, and in the blink of an eye, tragedy happens. How is it that Ralph asks Laura to go to is home, with his daughter Anna sleeping upstairs, and things could go so terribly wrong?

Well, this may seem like a spoiler, but what happens is very, very early in the book, so I am going to go ahead and say it. Ralph dies and next thing you know both Laura and Ralph's wife Helen are covering it up. This begs the question: why? How did Ralph die and why did the two women - who should be enemies - choose to cover it up?

If you go and read the blurb you might scratch your head as I did. But then, as I read the book it became very clear when it comes to assuming Ralph's character. There were things about him that will come up in the story, because even though he does not have a point of view in this story, it soon becomes easy to see what type of man he was.

As the story develops, it is told in first person by Laura. How the affair began and how the investigation into his death is relayed. All this is done in quite a dramatic fashion, proving that this book is an excellent domestic thriller with secrets and lies on more than one level.

Jill Childs has done a fabulous job with this book. I loved being misled by the blurb as well as the instant shock of Ralph's death early on. This gave me the opportunity to delve into it so that I could see the man behind the man when it came to Ralph, but also while learning about Laura. What is more is that whatever was going on inside of Ralph's home and family was explored. What is very interesting is that the point of view changes partway into the book, so that raised my interest in this book that much more. 

For an excellent read, one that I certainly could not put down, even for a minute, I highly recommend The Mistress. This book showcases the excellent writing skills as well as character development by Childs. I love that the reveal happened early, while the book still had elements to keep me guessing. 

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.

https://twitter.com/author_jill
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17843718.Jill_Childs
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jill-Childs/e/B07BL52SYB/ref=dp_