3.5 ⭐️
The Dead Husband is my first book by Carter Wilson. I listened to the audiobook version.

Rose’s husband dies from an accidental overdose and Rose returns to her family home. Rose writes thrillers and it seems to be hitting a little close to home. This family has a lot of secrets and it’s a journey for sure. It is a little slow but really good. I did figure out a twist early on but there was still a lot of story to keep me interested.

The narrator did a great job and I enjoyed listening to her very much. I did speed it up quite a bit but I was just like listening to a friend.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an advanced listeners copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first by Carter Wilson but I would definitely read more from her after really enjoying The Dead Husband. I hooked me almost immediately from the start and was a pretty fast-moving thriller. I know that I've read another book that has similar events happen with a very similar twist but I can't put my finger on which book it was. Nonetheless, I still found this interesting, shocking, and enjoyable. I didn't feel like there was any definitely shocking twist because the author left many clues along the way but there was certainly plenty of drama. This certainly won't be the most memorable thriller I've ever listened to but it was absolutely worth the listen!

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Carter Wilson for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable audio book. The narrator held my attention through the entirety. The story moved quickly and the characters were intense. I was completely surprised by the ending. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick and fun psychological thriller.

The Dead Husband by Carter Wilson
Narrator - Erin DeWard
Genre - Mystery/Thriller
Rating - 5 out of 5 Stars
Narration Rating - 5 out of 5 Stars

This book has so many twists and turns you will have whiplash. It has a new development in almost every chapter. I loved it!

The basic concept of the book is about a woman who’s husband has passed and she moved back to the one place she has sworn never to go to again. Her Father’s house.

The cops start sniffing around about her husband and a 20 year old disappearance. Her sister is acting very strangely. The heroine has no idea the secrets the sister is keeping or who she can trust.

The narration is very well done. Keeping you wanting to come back for more and more. At first I had trouble getting into it but as the story went on and the narrator got into her grove I couldn’t stop listening.

The ending with the most shocking of all and when the truth comes out will she be able to live with it? We all know I don’t like to give spoilers so I will leave it at that. This is a summer must read for me!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for letting me review this book.

I had a little trouble initially getting into this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The character development is great, the author is very descriptive and makes you feel like you can picture the scene consistently. The plot is intriguing and full of unexpected twists.
Rose Yates returns to her small hometown after the untimely death of her husband. A town she fled years ago to start a new life far from the secrets of her family and a murder she won’t soon forget. Rose is a writer of murder mysteries and suspense novels and as such, has raised a red flag in the death of her husband with a detective who stays on her trail. How did her husband actually die? And what is the thrilling secret her family is keeping? You won’t be disappointed. #thedeadhusband #netgalley

I am pleasantly surprised by this book! The ending made me want more of this story and I now wonder if some of today's thriller authors have deep dark secrets as our main character did. The twist in this story was just....wow! Definitely recommend it to any fans of thrillers!

The Dead Husband
Carter Wilson
Rose escaped her overbearing father and unstable sister twenty years ago. When she discovered her husband’s dead body, she is naturally devastated. The coroner deemed his death accidental from an overdose of mixing medications. The grieving young woman is struggling to make ends meet so she packs up her son and moves home. Things have not changed; her wealthy father is still overbearing and her sister is still unstable. As soon as Rose walks through the door she knows she made a mistake.
Detective Colin Pearson believes Rose murdered her husband. He follows her from Wisconsin to Bury New Hampshire, to question her, determined to prove her guilt. The detective and his expectant wife had recently moved to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin to be closer to his mother who needed help.
Author Carter Wilson leaves clues throughout this tale concerning a crime committed twenty years ago. I could not figure out why Rose thought she could return home. She had left home twenty years ago to escape her domineering father and psycho sister and yet she returns to her father’s house. The detective was very unlikable. He knows his mother needs help; she is an alcoholic and a hoarder. The woman is mentally ill. He jumps when she calls but does not insist, she seek help. He is determined to prove Rose is guilty of her husband’s death. He appears to be trying to make a name for himself.
I figured out who murdered Rose’s husband before I was halfway through the book. This book had great potential but fell short of my expectations.

Wilson’s work is gripping, fast paced and easy to lose time in. He builds a creepy and suspenseful story with characters that both intrigue and chill. I enjoyed Mr Tinder’s Girl very much as well but I felt like this novel moved even more effortlessly. My only complaint is that my family kept bugging me I’m the middle of it for silly things like food…and rides to school… simply a wonderful, well written, and suspenseful thriller with an excellent balance of action and psychological elements.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Thrillers can be hit or miss for me, and sometimes I almost feel like the author is trying too hard to make a book suspenseful. I think that's the case for this book for me, as a listener. This was a slow burn, to be sure, and a bit too slow for me. I would have been happier with a shorter but faster moving story.

Normally I'd rate this book 2 stars, but I'm bumping it up to 3 stars because of the narration. I enjoyed the narration, and the flaws in the recording I'm assuming is due to it being an ARC. At regular playback speed, it was just too slow, but the narrator's diction and speech easily allowed me to speed up the playback time and understand the story and follow along. so for me, this as an audiobook was a 3 star.

I received an audiobook of The Dead Husband by Carter Wilson for review provided by NetGalley.
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A murderer, a victim, and a witness... but no one in this house is innocent
Twenty years ago an unspeakable tragedy rocked Rose Yates's small, affluent hometown... and only Rose and her family know the truth about what happened.
Haunted by guilt, Rose escaped into a new life. Now she seems to have it all: a marriage, a son, a career. And then her husband is found dead.
As far as Detective Colin Pearson is concerned, Rose is guilty. Her marriage wasn't as happy as she'd led everyone to believe, and worse, she's connected to a twenty-year-old cold case. She can play the part of the victim, but he won't let her or her family escape justice this time around.
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Grieving her husband and struggling to make ends meet, Rose returns home, hoping to finally confront her domineering father and unstable sister. But memories of a horrific crime echo through the house, and Rose soon learns that she can't trust anyone, especially not the people closest to her.

From USA Today bestselling author Carter Wilson comes a story of deception, hereditary sin, and what we'll do to protect our own.

What a great listen!! I love thrillers on audio, the narration had me hooked the entire time. The story is fast paced, so many secrets unravel, twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat! I finished this in one listens

Overall I was engaged the entire time and really enjoyed the audiobook. Huge plot twist, secrets within in secrets coupled with some Umm did that really just happen moments, and a perfect ending. *chefs kiss* Great listen/ read for the beach. I will definitely be picking up more Wilson novels!

Rose packs up her life in Milwaukee. She's a recent widow after the death of her husband, Riley. She and her eleven year old son, Max, are headed back to Bury, New Hampshire to her home town to her childhood home with her father and the memories that come with it.

Detective Colin Pearson who thinks there's more to Rileys death and Rose had something to do with it. why does his death seem so familiar as he gets time to follow her back to her home town he starts learning things about the towns past and the family. As he's learning us as the reader are getting looks into the past. Why she was so eager to get out from under her father and family in general.

The Dead Husband was a story I didn't want to put down. I wanted to see how it ended. I had figured out some things early on myself but it was still interesting to see how the author takes us there. How you can't outrun your past and you shouldn't let anyone hold you to keep there secrets. Family is a powerful thing how far would you go to protect them.

This was a fast read I really enjoyed it I just wish there was a bit more shock in the reveal as I said I knew it like the 1st day they were in town what had happen. But would recommend this story to feel thriller seeker readers.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Carter Wilson.

Two stars, rounded up.

The suspense factor in "The Dead Husband" was dead. I set the book aside multiple times -- but each time I returned, I was unable to get excited about the book's storyline and/or MCs.

The book was very slow-burn and repetitive at times and simply lacked a "Wow!" factor. Perhaps I just expected more from a book entitled "The Dead Husband".

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was flat.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I jumped into this one after only seeing the cover and not knowing anything about it and I was definitely surprised in the best way by this book!!
Rose Yates is a novelist and mother who is moving back home after the sudden death of her husband. In her newest book, what is supposed to be a work of fiction has very parallel and damning story lines that might or might not match what has happened in her own life.
It took me a couple chapters to get into this book, but then I was hooked. This month, I have discovered I love books about authors or books about books. While I did think this was alittle too long and could have had more cut out, this was a really good story with minor changes that make it stand out from other ‘dead husband’ tropes in books.

Well, the narration was good! The storyline though? Unbelievable. This had potential but the last quarter of the book just became so far fetched, I just wanted it to end. If it hadn't been an audiobook, I probably would have. The final twist wasn't much surprise when it came though there were some strange twists along the way. Not sure if this author just isn't a good fit for me or of I've read too much of this style and my expectations are really high. This wasn't the worst I've read, but also not one I'd recommend to friends.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Audio review: I really enjoyed this audio production. I thought Erin was a great fit for Rose's character. She also did a good job of portraying men's voices. It was always clear when the dialogue switched between characters. She spoke clearly and was easy to understand, allowing me to listen to this audio at 2.5x speed. Dreamscape always has great audio quality!

Book review: I’m on the fence about this book. I need to put a huge trigger warning right up front that there is a LOT of animal harm in this one, and it’s not glossed over. There were multiple chapters describing the scene. If there is anything that turns me off to a story, it’s people hurting animals. I understand this was used to show how the character is a psychopath, but the point still could have been made without the animal killing. Or even a quick mention of it would have been fine, without describing it in detail. That whole scene was really hard to listen to.

Other than that, I enjoyed the story. I guessed the twist at 15% in, but I don’t think it was overly obvious. The writing was great, and the plot was well-paced. The red herrings were believable, so I definitely doubted my hypothesis a few times as the story progressed.

I enjoyed that the story switched from Rose’s POV to that of the detective, so we got to come at the plot from both angles. I liked Rose’s chapters more than Colin’s, but I really felt for Colin as a character. His character was used in an interesting way to bring the truth to light.

This was my first book by this author, and it won’t be my last. He can certainly spin a compelling thriller, and I was eager to see if my prediction was correct.

My thanks to Dreamscape and Net Galley for this very good audio.

Rose Yates is a mystery author who moves back in with her son Max at her father's home after her husband kills himself. Detective Colin Pearson is suspicious of her because her husband's death mimics a plot in her book AND a 20+ year old cold case her family is linked with.

Very dark and twisted dysfunctional family with creepy supporting characters. Big twist at end I've seen before, but really good.

I enjoyed this book and thought the narration was great. It was definitely a slow burn kind of book. I would have definitely rated it higher, but the ending just didn’t work for me.

The Dead Husband by Carter Wilson

Twenty two years ago a horrible tragedy rocked Rose Yates life, in her small hometown of Bury, New Hampshire. Only Rose and her family know the truth about what happened.

Rose escaped into a new life in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. Married to her husband Riley, eleven year old son Max and a career as a fictional crime writer. Her books aren’t particularly hot sellers. Riley dies tragically in what appears to be a suicide. Rose vowed to never return ‘home’ to Bury, but has no choice. She’s not excited to be around her overbearing father and crazy sister, Cora.

Returning to her childhood home that secret starts to haunt Rose all over again.

Looking into her fictional crime books do they actually have some truth to them?

Overall an okay read. Kept me interested for the most part. I did feel like it was a little too long, my interest drifted a little.

Thank you Carter Wilson, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio to listen to in return for my honest review!

I will definitely read more of Wilson's work in the future, and if the trigger warning mentioned above isn't an issue for you, I'd definitely recommend this novel.

The ending was shocking! I never saw that twist coming. I thought this book was only going to be about a dead husband, but there’s also a dark family secret that’s about to come out! This audiobook kept me wanting to listen for hours at a time. I was desperate to know what happened between Rose, Cora, and her father. The family secret was about 90% of the book and finding out what happened to Rose’s husband was only about 10% of the book. All in all I thought it was a great read!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook!