This book was incredible!!! Full of twists and turns. Loved the characters. Perfect for a summer read by the pool or beach! Couldn't put it down!
Thank you to C.L Taylor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A book that will book you in with its short chapters from multiple points of view.

Will is subject to a lot of speculation.

Affairs and scandals throughout too .

Who said that the school run was boring?

Superb read! Thoroughly enjoyed the pace of the novel, short chapters told from different characters within the novel. Will is the Dad who does the school run, meanwhile a group of school Mum's continue to speculate what happened to his two wives. It kept me gripped and will be definitely looking to read another novel from this author. Thanks to Net galley for the advanced copy

Told from different characters perspective with short punchy chapters it’s another success for one of my favourite writers. I did enjoy the WhatsApp group that allowed the reader to know what and who was saying and doing what. Another fabulous novel

A new psychological thriller with twists from the beginning. A very dark read and I really wasn't disappointed by by this read. Tense and it left me gripped to the end

CL Taylor is the author who got me into thrillers so I'm always excited for a new release!

This one follows some similar themes that I've been reading in thrillers lately (Don't you find that always happens?!). There are posh characters, school gate gossip, multiple POVs from deceitful characters, and lots of satisfying twists along the way.

Let's just say, if you enjoyed You Kill Me First and It Should Have Been You, then you'll love this one!

What stood out for me was the point of view of Jude whose innocence/naivety drives the story. She wants to find out the truth and prove Will's innocence, but will she fall into a trap instead?

She's a great lead to follow, although the points of view around her also add more spanners to the works, with more to unravel than you first imagined. The final twist is a goodie too!

Most of all, it's a fun and engaging quick thriller read, and I really enjoyed it!

This is a fantastic fast paced bingeable thriller so many secrets and twists and turns on every chapter I love that this is multiple pov I love to slowly be fed information by all different people keeps me guessing keeps me entertained and keeps me hooked as usual c.l taylor does it again fantastic

I am on the fence about this one. I did like the premise, and I loved the short chapters, which helped with the pacing. However, it was a bit difficult to connect with any of the characters, as there were a number of them. Some plot points felt a bit too drawn out, and some of the twists were predictable. The mystery is not super convoluted, as is sometimes the case. The writing was solid. If you enjoy slow-burn psychological thrillers or a quick read, you may want to give this one a try.

Jude is a newcomer to her neighbourhood and keen to find her place within its social circle. When she gets the opportunity to meet a group of school mothers after hours, she discovers she may have bitten of more than she can chew - because the alliances, enmities and secrets they have are both complex and plentiful.

And when Jude meets single father Will, the two tragedies in his personal life having rendered him somewhat suspicious to other members of the community, she is immediately attracted to him even though she realises that this will complicate things. But Jude has no idea just how complicated things are about to get..

You can always relay on CL Taylor to deliver absorbing and clever stories and this one is no exception. Peppered with ingenious twists, it will leave you guessing until the last page. Don't miss reading this book!

One dead wife is tragic two looks like murder !

A slow start but once it got going was a solid thriller read and I flew through it pretty quickly. Not a massive fan of the school mum type stories unless they really grab me and this one didn't as much as I had hoped but still a decent read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and C.L Taylor for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has it all. Mysterious death, missing wife, mean girl clique, blackmail, secrets, affairs. I loved having different points of view to get to know more characters. The twists and turns were shocking and the end had me reading as fast as I could to know the truth.

Jude has just recently moved into a small town post divorce, she can't warm to the mums who convene at the school gates gossipy judgement oozing out of them. She is however drawn to Will, one of the single dads at the gates and they get on, they have young daughters of the same age and there is no denying the attraction. When Jude finally goes to a group meet set up by the driving force that is Victoria, head mum she is pumped for info about her relationship with Will. In between the gossip and alcohol Jude also finds out why they hate Will so much. His first wife died and his girlfriend went missing, the group is worried for her whilst spilling some gossip and secrets of their own.

So the book goes between the key characters povs, Jude, Victoria, Victoria's ex Andy (who is a cop btw), Sorrell across X days. With a creepy eerie suspense building like what is Will's deal, the domestics between Victoria and Andy (they have kids so custody and all the jazz). Victoria is a total PTA mum but also in everybody's business, little miss popular, its a bit of a bitch and a control freak. The group is a very mixed dynamic, Jude is over their nonsense before even getting fully embroiled in it all but she needs info. What she does hear only makes her want to do some more digging, she has her own trauma from the past which pushes her on and her needs for answers.

Oooooh what a bitchy wee town, gossip, drama, secrets, suspense, thriller, trauma, like this has it all. I have been having some hard readers block but this pulls you in and lets you absorb all their drama/chaos/suspense so you can pause your own life for a bit. This is one of the reasons I love reading so when you can't it is super stressful, this book pulled me out of mine. Full absorption, some shady characters, skulduggery and who doesn't like scandal in a small town that isn't your own, 4.5/5. We are big fans of Taylor's work and yet to read one we didn't like, yet another fab read of dastardly deeds, dodgy biscuit people and a whole lot of drama and danger!

Loved this book! Couldn’t put it down at all! Lots of twists and turns! Highly recommend if you love the suspense

I love this author and this book didn't disappoint.
I couldn't put it down, it kept me engaged ans guessing.
I liked the story, the characters, and the dysfunction. I like how she writes and I always know im getting a good read!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK | Avon for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book had my attention just from the cover. Perfect domestic thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Towards the end, I honestly had no idea who did it. The way the characters were weaved together was just to my liking. I honestly didn't like any of them which is probably the point.

Will has lost not one one but two partners and Jude is trying to figure out what is happening while dealing with all the mum drama, we see chaos. I did find it hard to follow the different POVs but once I got further into the story, it became easier to follow. Overall pretty solid book.

4 stars

It’s Always the Husband
by C.L. Taylor
Pub Date: Jun 05 2025

It's Always the Husband is a great domestic style psychological drama by author C.L. Taylor. A twisty thriller set in a town full of liars, cheats and drama!! Written in multiple points of view with a lot of plot twists that kept me flipping through the pages! A fast read that was hard to put down. I highly recommend this book!

Synopsis: Welcome to Lowbridge. Where secrets hide behind every door…But Will's past is shrouded in tragedy, with questions that no one knows the answer to – and after two tragedies tore his life apart in just a few short years, gossip and rumours abound about what really happened to the women he loved. Because whilst one dead wife is tragic, two starts to look like murder…

Many thanks to #AvonBooks #NetGalley #CLTaylor for providing me an E-ARC of this 5 star read!

When Jude moves to a new town, she is immediately drawn to Will, the father of her daughter’s best friend. The mum clique at the school gates are desperate to find out the nature of their relationship not least because rumours are still circulating about what involvement Will had in the deaths of his previous two partners… With Jude becoming desperate to know the truth and with the lives of all the other mums seemingly in turmoil, what hidden secrets are about to be uncovered?

It’s often said that you never know what goes on behind closed doors and C. L. Taylor definitely shows this in her latest novel, It’s Always the Husband. The school gate is the ideal place to meet a variety of characters, each one with their own troubles and secrets, ones that they would prefer to keep to themselves. When someone seems to know exactly what some of the mums are trying so hard to hide, what will they do to stop everything from being revealed?

It’s Always the Husband is told from the perspective of many of the characters and while I did, initially, find it difficult to remember each of them, as the book progressed and we began to dig deeper into their back stories, it became much easier to follow.

The book is full of twists and turns, keeping you guessing as to what has actually happened. This was probably what I enjoyed most about this book as we, along with the characters, were kept in the dark for much of it before being hit with the true extent of what has been going on in the private lives of this group of friends.

C. L. Taylor has become one of my ‘must read’ authors and I’m looking forward to the next book already.

Another original read by the Queen of the psychological thriller. I disliked all the characters, which is what the author wanted I suspect. It was a good read and perfect for fans of Shari Lapena and Claire Douglas

C.L. Taylor delivers a sharp, twist-filled psychological thriller in It’s Always the Husband, a story that thrives on unpredictability and expertly managed suspense. The narrative is cleverly constructed, drawing readers into a web of deception, shifting alliances, and emotional intensity. Just when the plot seems to settle, Taylor pulls the rug out with revelations that are as shocking as they are satisfying. The story’s chaotic, high-stakes energy keeps you constantly questioning what’s real and who can be trusted. For readers who enjoy psychological suspense with a flair for the unexpected, this novel offers a thoroughly compelling and unpredictable ride.

I have read Her Last Holiday, The Guilty Couple, and Every Move You Make by this author, and they were okay reads. I actually liked Every Move You Make a little more than the others. I wish I could say the same for It’s Always the Husband. As with two of the previous books, I had a hard time connecting to the characters. I wish there were more unique plots in thrillers these days. This one was about a single mom who meets a single dad whose two wives have died.

The character development in this book is practically non-existent. I never knew who I was reading about because they were so interchangeable. Reading it was a chore, and I didn't feel invested at all. The story itself was so very unbelievable that it was hard to enjoy. It just seemed to go on and on and on. At one point, I just said to myself, no more of this author for me. It's listed as "It’s Always the Husband: The brand new nail-shredding psychological thriller for 2025 from the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Guilty Couple". I am learning that if you have to describe your books this way, you're probably lying. Publishers, please stop putting these promises in the titles of your books; we readers hate it.