Book Review Tuesday: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

Posted on by

Warm and cozy window seat with cushions and a opened book, light through vintage shutters, rustic style home decor. Small cat on window seat, along with coffee cup by pillow, Words Book Review Tuesday superimposed over imageHappy Tuesday! I have an intriguing book to share, one that I can definitely see generating a lot of book club discussion.The Other Mrs. is also slated for Netflix, and I can’t wait! I have so many thoughts about this story, but I’ll restrict them to my review.

And a bonus today—look for a special announcement at the end of this post! 🙂

Book cover for The Other Mrs. shows lighted window in gale of dark house, a woman's image in backgroundThe Other Mrs.
by Mary Kubica

The Other Mrs. is a psychological thriller with a murder mystery at the core. Dr. Sadie Faust and her husband Will, a professor, relocate to Maine when Will inherits his sister’s home.

Will’s sister Alice, has committed suicide, leaving her old home, and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Imogene, behind. Maine is a huge adjustment, especially given the home is located on an island, the mainland only reachable by ferry. It’s winter and storms are common. Queue claustrophobic atmosphere. I’m not a fan of winter, but I do love reading books set during the season.

And then there is Imogene—bitter and resentful—who does everything in her power to make Sadie feel threatened and unwelcome. Sadie and Will have two other children, Otto, fourteen and awkward, and Tate, grade school age and a bundle of energy. Shortly after the Faust family moves into their new home, a neighbor woman is murdered. Thus, begins the mystery of who killed her and why.

The story unfolds through the viewpoints of three different characters—Sadie, a woman named Camille, and a young girl called Mouse. Chapters alternate between them, some more engrossing than others. There were several chapters mid-point where the story dragged, and I grew weary of Camille and Mouse’s narration (mostly because it’s told rather than shown), but Sadie’s chapters kept me thoroughly engrossed. As suspicion regarding the killer mounts, she pulls a few stunts that had me doing palm/forehead, but they’re forgiven in the overall tension of the book. Once past the middle bubble, I couldn’t read fast enough.

Between the setting with the plague of winter snow, the oppressive weight of Alice’s questionable suicide, and Imogene’s rebellious behavior, there’s a lot going on in this book in addition to a murder mystery.

I did figure out the main plot point early on, but the author peppered the story with enough curve balls to make me second guess myself repeatedly. And I do mean repeatedly. Eventually, my suspicions were proven right, but the connection to the murder and the killer’s motive came as a complete surprise. If you enjoy psychological thrillers that blur lines with domestic thrillers and murder mysteries,The Other Mrs. is well worth the read. 4.5 Stars from me.

AMAZON LINK
Genre: Domestic Thrillers > Murder Thrillers

Now, about that bonus I mentioned…

My Story Empire colleagues and I have big announcement taking place today. We don’t normally post on a Tuesday, but our news couldn’t wait. If you haven’t already visited, I invite you to hop over to the Empire, and see what the Story is all about. 😉

39 thoughts on “Book Review Tuesday: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica”

    • She was new to me too, Priscilla.
      Tessa (of Tessa Talks Books) had reviewed it on her blog a while ago. It was the first I’d heard of the author or the book. Lately, I’ve picked up several books I’ve seen on review blogs. Erm…it’s like I don’t have enough to read or anything, LOL!

      Like

      Reply ↓

  10. Sounds like a good read, Mae, although I’m on the fence with the price:) Nothing like being stuck on an island in winter is with a murder, though.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

I love comments, so please scribble a thought or two!

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.