If you want a different kind of crime fiction read, try this. We’ve all heard stories of couples who have shared interests, then have a child & everything changes; welcome to the world of Haze & Fox.

Haze & Fox met in Paris, swiftly fell in love, got married & continued to ply their murderous trade across the rich playground of Europe. Then, they had their daughter & Fox decreed they should move to suburbia & ‘fit in’; Haze agreed but hated it & cracks begin to show in their perfect world. She breaks their agreement & kills, sort of accidentally, & Fox is being pressurised by his parents to return to America; at this point Haze discovers that her new best friend is a detective on maternity leave.

Told from two POVs, the characters are great & Haze says it as it is. The majority of stay at home mums have a wobble occasionally, it’s just her wants are a tad fatal. Totally unbelievable from start to finish (& what a finish!) but a great read. I think another literary Haze & Fox encounter should ensue.

“The couple that kills together stays together…”

“If this relationship was worth saving, why didn’t we do more to try and make it work? I couldn’t help but wonder: if we’d had more date nights, maybe we wouldn’t be standing here right now, in a Berkshire nature reserve at 1am, circling each other with a pair of hunting knives.”

Hazel and Fox are a normal married couple, except they’re ex-serial killers. Once they had it all - jet-setting, a luxury life in London and plenty of bad men to kill - but then they fell pregnant and chose to retire to the suburbs.

Hazel, however, struggles to leave their past behind them and resorts back to their old ways. With the police at the door, she must do whatever necessary to protect her family. “This could save their marriage - unless it kills them first.”

I was so excited to read this book - the concept was just so intriguing. This excitement was well placed as I absolutely loved this book. Despite being a book about serial killers it was absolutely hilarious, the sarcasm and wit the characters presented and the sheer absurdity of the situations they found themselves in made for the perfect novel.

It had award winning sitcom vibes, think modern family but with more violence and murdering, and I think it’ll easily be one of my favourite books of the year.

The themes of marriage - the struggles they faced in their relationship, and how much they worked to keep their family together - was done so well and with peak comedic effect. I loved how normal marriage troubles, is he cheating and her feeling stuck, we’re intertwined with worries such as ‘are the police going to catch us’.

I also loved the side characters, especially Jenny, and how these added more layers to the story. They were also so well developed, and had their own backstories that we followed throughout - but this only added to the overall plot, rather than deviating away from it.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend!

ARC copy provided by Headline & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This crime drama has got Netflix written all over it. I’m sure it’s going get picked up and made into a series pretty soon.

Theblack comedy uber glamorous serial killer novel has to be taken with a pitch of salt but has some very enjoyable moments in there and a lot to say about the mundanity of parenthood and married life . Married couple Fox and Hazel got had a mission to rid the world of bad men . Now that they have a baby they’ve put a stop to their killing spree and live quiet middle class lives -but they can’t scratch the itch for killing.

Haze meets new friend Jennie at a baby group; she is downtrodden and when she tells the couple about her ex partner and what a bad man he is they want to wreak revenge.
3.5 stars rounded up.

The title would make anyone read this! This is a twisted, and dark well written story about a married couple who are trying to adjust to domesticated life as ex serial killers.
Fox and Haze are great witty characters whose lives will be relatable to a lot of couples apart from there tendency for murder. 
Great read. I would recommend it.

I was hooked on the story of Haze and Fox from the first sentence. Who knew I would be rooting for serial killers?! It starts near the end of the story, with husband and wife facing off against each other, both with knife in hand and ends with them back in the saddle murdering the bad men, with the help of a police officer! I loved every second of this book.

I have to be honest and say that I was drawn to this book by its title. What's not to like about combining serial killers and marriage!?
We start with Hazel and Fox, two ex-serial killers who have forgone that particular occupation when Hazel got pregnant. Now parents with a young baby they are trying so hard to keep on the straight and narrow. Problem is, it's so very very boring. Instead of the thrill of the chase and the kill, Hazel has to contend herself with changing nappies and arranging her time and life around the needs of the little person. She is losing herself. Fox meanwhile appears to thrive on his new role as father. But things are about to change when Hazel comes across a person who fits the criteria of needing to be dispatched. But, as well as trying to keep away from the cops, she also has to hide her actions from Fox... Fox meanwhile is being leaned on by his family back in the states to, um, fulfil certain duties. He also has his own secrets...
As well as following the action in the present, we also go back and witness when Hazel met Fox and watch their relationship - personal and professional - develop...
This book was so much fun. It's thrilling, exciting and, also on occasion, very funny! It really had quite a lot of everything and with that, there is always a danger of a book becoming overly busy. But this is definitely not the case herein. All the juggling balls are kept in the air most ably by the author as she juggles the plot point all the way through to their final conclusions. It definitely hit the ground running and held my attention nicely all the way through. It also didn't take itself too seriously which, considering some of the subject matter, is not that easy to pull off.
Characters were excellently drawn and easy to connect to/emote with. I really took to Fox and Hazel right from the off and, if I was social, I would love to socialise with them! They're brilliant and I was quite sad as I reached the end of the book and realised that I was soon having to say goodbye to them. I do wonder if the author may revisit them in future books?
All in all, a cracking read that gripped me all the way through, spitting me out at the end wholly satisfied. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The moral of this story is: the law is shit at protecting people, and every character in this book agrees.

For the second half of the book, I was completely hooked. I couldn't put the book down, and I just had to finish it. So by 1 o'clock, I finally reached the end and... was disappointed by the solution to the Jenny Problem. Let's rewind.

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage is a romantic thriller about two serial killers who have made a pact to stop killing ever since the birth of their daughter, Bibi. Haze is the main protagonist, a mother who detests normality and pines for the kill again. She's tried to fit in with the other mums, but she's never been good at friends and she's clearly struggling. Her husband, Fox, seems to have adjusted just fine, throwing all of his murder prep skills into parenting skills... but things are tense.

Haze, at Fox's urging, makes a friend: Jenny. She's not happy about it, but throughout the book becomes attached to her. More than she wanted or expected to. Wonderful! Jenny is struggling with life too, but unlike Haze, her struggles come from having an abusive ex, being suspended from work, and living with her parents. She has no self-esteem and it's up to Haze to rebuild her again.

But that gets complicated quickly. And all of a sudden, Haze has put her family in jeopardy multiple times, and tries to fix them without admitting the problems to Fox.

Which brings me to my first problem with the book: Fox occasionally has perspective chapters in the book which show us him dealing with Haze's urges and wanting to help her (but not giving in to her demands), dealing with his family when they reappear in his life, and how he copes with not killing. This part felt underdeveloped and probably could have been pulled out entirely to save from the big problem: when Fox's perspective chapters suddenly vanish from the book because the author needs to keep his motivations and perspective secret for the big climax.

I wanted to love Fox, and love his devotion to his wife and child... but his perspective chapters did very little to help with that, especially in the last half of the book, and by the end I was expecting him to completely flip. He didn't... completely... and I'm happy with that ending. Kind of.

It's the Six Months Later epilogue, with multiple chapters, that brought this down to 4 stars for me. Without spoiling it, I didn't like how the author dealt with the potential for them to get caught. I get why certain characters weren't killed, but it's how the epilogue dealt with the problem that disappointed me. There was an easier, more believable solution to keeping Haze and Fox out of prison and still alive, and it wasn't even Fox's plan mentioned in his perspective. It was mutually assured destruction, or grudging acceptance that they were there. They could keep their pact going.

Instead, we have a potential set up for a sequel that I definitely won't be reading.

Surprisingly easy, amusing book given the title! The story was a strange combination of far fetched and mundane. It just wasn't quite fast paced enough for me and was a little disjointed/confusing at times.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is a twisted, dark and witty story about a married couple who are trying to adjust to life with a child, a big change especially if you happen to be ex serial killers!

Secrets, failure to communicate and forcing a smile when you’re actually screaming inside slowly unravels Fox and Haze, so relatable…except for the murder 😂

This was an enjoyable read, I chuckled numerous times and it had twists that kept me engaged right up to the end.

I will not be giving feedback.

The story itself is good but just not gripping or dark enough for me.

Thank you for the opportunity

Fox and Hazel are a wealthy married couple and are devoted to their little girl, Bibi. So devoted, in fact, that Fox took it upon himself to decide that he and Hazel needed to give up on their previous lives - as serial killers!

As serial killers, they only went for people who were evil. They researched, stalked and researched more before killing. They had a perfect system.

After the birth of Bibi, Hazel starts to feel that her life isn’t going so well, she really wants to kill, but has promised Fox that she won’t. She tries to join into mundane life with drinks and meals with neighbours, but she’s struggling … until she makes a friend in Jenny. But all is not as it seems.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I found myself smiling a lot. There is a hint of mischievousness that made me wonder just what was going to happen next.

The story is told in chapters relating to either Fox or Hazel’s point of view.

I loved the characters, it was great to see how they coped with life during and after their time as serial killers.

My thanks to Headline and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm most definitely in the minority here, BUT I just didn't like it. I got 45% in and constantly felt my mind wandering off, I kept trying to dip back in, but unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me.

1.5⭐️ rounded to 2⭐️ as the premise and plot really interested me initially. Maybe it was just too full of humour for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of A Serial Killers Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay in return for my honest review.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and I must say it is a really enjoyable read loved the main characters and certainly didn’t see the twist at the end.

Overall this is a good story. There are highs and lows and the intricacies of marriage and parenthood are well set out. Whilst the experience of being a serial killer parent isn’t one that’s easily relatable, I do believe that this book highlights how much relationships can adapt and change especially through becoming parents.
I enjoyed the banter and witty nature of the book, the author clearly picking up on different social settings and how British humour adapts to those situations. And although the ending may have been thought to have been predictable, she did take it in a direction that wasn’t glaringly obvious, which was nice.
I only have two issues with the story that bring down the rating. One being the tired rhetoric that people who grew up in foster care grow up to be serial killers or other variations of criminals, in my opinion this is a tired narrative and casts a negative light on a system that isn’t best funded and has its own difficulties. I also would have liked if the author had included a note to give readers a heads up to some of the content. Whilst this is very obviously about serial killers, it’s not obvious that scenes about and including sexual violence are included in the book. Due to the graphic nature of some such scenes, I myself may not have picked this book up had I been aware. Obviously this is personal preference but I feel that the title of the book lends itself to a quite unserious story, when in fact there are some serious and potentially triggering topics included.

°𝔸 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕋𝕠 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕘𝕖
°𝔸𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕒𝕪

'𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'

𝙷𝚊𝚣𝚎 & 𝙵𝚘𝚡 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚋𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡-𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝙷𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜.

𝙰 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 - 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙷𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚕𝚢....?

Thanks to @netgalley & @wildfiredoesbooks for the opportunity to read this book. I really enjoyed this, it kept me on the edge of my seat & I kept wondering what was going to happen next!

4.5🌟

#asiamackay #netgalleyuk #wildfirebooks

Meet married couple Fox and Hazel. Soulmates, living a glamourous, adventurous lifestyle which also includes a passion for murder. They tour around Europe, ridding the world of contemptible men. Hazel is an artist whose work is never better than when she is on a high following a killing. Life is just perfect, until Hazel discovers she is pregnant. Fox is ecstatic, Hazel less so. Fox insists they give up their previous lifestyle in order to protect their child. Whilst Hazel does adore her daughter, she struggles with continual internal conflict, missing the excitement of her old life and hating the boredom of her new one. A chance encounter leads her to kill again. She knows she must keep this a secret from Fox, who has secrets of his own. The couple grow further and further apart. Can Hazel fix the mess she created? What will happen when she discovers the secrets Fox has been keeping from her?

On the whole this is a good read, both Fox and Hazel are likeable characters. The slippery slope of keeping secrets from each other was well written and very believable. Accepting the premise of a dazzling couple justifying their murderous spree as ridding the world of bad men (this is fiction after all) I found myself racing through the pages wondering where the author was going to take me. Sadly I was very disappointed by the ending, it just seemed far too neat and a mismatch to the rest of the story, as such I can only give this 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

The story follows Haze and Fox, a wealthy married couple adjusting to life with their first child. Sounds pretty normal, right? The twist is that they’re former serial killers attempting to turn over a new leaf. Think 𝘔𝘳 & 𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩 meets 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.

What the blurb doesn’t reveal is that their past targets were exclusively bad men. In fact, throughout the book, examples of genuinely good men are scarce – limited to Matty, Haze’s late best friend, and Fox, who’s flawed himself. So if you enjoy dark comedy like this and 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘰 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘵 or 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘱𝘦𝘢, this could be right up your street.

The book leans heavily on the dynamics between Haze and Fox, particularly their miscommunications and Haze’s reflections on their relationship. There’s also a strong emphasis on designer fashion, which again adds to the glamorous 𝘔𝘳 & 𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩 vibe. There are three pivotal moments of growth for Haze throughout the story which I thought were great. And yes – more Sausage, please!

Thank you to Headline for the NetGalley and physical copies of this one.

"'Do you even still love me?'

'How can you ask me that? Of course I do. I would've killed you in your sleep months ago if I didn't'"

If you’ve been tearing through everything by Katy Brent and Bella Mackey, meet Asia Mackay and this stylish, sassy and superbly written story about marriage and murder.

Take Mr & Mrs Smith, amp up the drama, add a dash of morally confusing main characters and you’ve got a Serial Killers Guide to Marriage. Full of dark humour, wit and absolutely immaculate vibes the whole way through, this story offers a romance with one hell of a twist, a fierce feminist streak and a darkly enjoyable dose of violence in the form of a retribution fantasy we’ve all played secretly in our heads but is here in black and white on paper. And somehow amongst all this, there were so many feelings and deeply touching emotional moments that had me clutching onto the pages and tearing up.

Jumping between scenes of almost sleep-inducing mundanity, the trials of everyday life as a modern woman as Haze tries to settle into her new life and count the days since her and Fox retired from murder. She was a beautiful narrator - a crass, honest, real storyteller with a fabulous voice. Asia effortlessly wove the modern day with stories from the past from Fox’s luxuriously privileged but cold upbringing to Haze’s history of neglect and heartbreak, never stopping the calm but pacey flow from moving forwards. As we switch between Haze and Fox, we’re left to wonder who is really telling us the whole truth or if they’re both just giving us their sides.

A morbidly funny, high stakes thriller with a darkly delightful edge — balancing a relatable story about losing yourself with getting away with murder.

Hazel and Fox's love bloomed through their shared interest: killing bad men. But now, years into their marriage, and with a young daughter to cherish, things are getting stale. Hazel chafes against Fox's insistence that they put down their knives. So when she gives in to temptation, and the police come knocking, it will either save their marriage or destroy it.

The comic tone of this book is superb, and I really enjoyed Mackay's writing style. Had I read this a few years ago, it would have been a standout favourite. But I think I'm growing fatigued of 'funny serial killer' books and this didn't stand out for me. I don't feel that it reinvented the genre and it just wasn't as compelling as I'd hoped. That's only my opinion, and I'm sure many other readers will love this.

What a cracking take on the serial revenge killing genre! A husband and wife combo. Can a marriage really take the pressure of such an occupation? And what about the occupational hazards!?!! I whizzed through this read and totally loved this author's book. I hope there is a part two to this as it certainly could lead to one. I loved the toxic and dark twists and turns, and always love a story involving bad people getting what they deserve! Totally recommend if this is your thing!