The First Husband by Elisabeth Carpenter
Genre: Domestic thriller
Read: 2nd February 2025
Published: 4th February 2025
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
I thought my first husband was dead. But when I get a letter with his name on it just days before my wedding, it will tear my perfect new life apart…
As we drive up to the gorgeous house by the lake with its red and yellow roses round the door, I breathe in the pure air and count my blessings. In two days’ time I’m getting married to Matt, my soulmate and the father of my beautiful boy. After all the pain of my past, my life now is perfect.
But later that night I hear a knocking outside. I find the back door swinging open and a card lying on the floor, addressed to me in familiar handwriting…
I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much. All my love, Callum.
Callum was my first husband. Eight years ago, when we were staying at this exact same place for my birthday, he disappeared.
All the people who were with me that terrible night are here for the wedding. My brother. His wife. My new partner Matt: Callum’s best friend. We all had reasons to hate Callum then. We all have reasons to lie now.
The police are sure Callum is dead. But as I look around at my loved ones, I wonder…
Does someone know what really happened that night?
Does someone know what I did?
And if Callum is back, is he the dangerous one… or is it one of us?
An utterly page-turning, gripping psychological thriller, full of twists and gasp-out-loud moments. Perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, Shari Lapena and Claire Douglas.
MY THOUGHTS:
I thought he was dead...I thought I was safe...was I wrong...?
I have loved every book I've devoured by Elisabeth Carpenter so I jumped at the chance of reading this one too. I was hooked from the first page though its pace was somewhat slower and I tried to unscramble the pieces of the puzzle put before me. By the tale's end, I felt a little deflated but happy still that everything was tied up satisfactorily.
After two decades of friendship, Leah and Matt are getting married. They already have a son together, three year old Noah, and it seemed only natural that they should make their union official. But this is not Leah's first rodeo.
Eight years ago, she was married to Matt's best friend Callum when he disappeared from her birthday weekend at the very same cottage they are now to be married in. It was thought he had drowned in Lake Windemere, just a stone's throw away from the cottage that Matt's parents owned and insisted they marry there. It's strange being back in the place where Callum mysteriously disappeared from all those years ago it's almost creepy. It serves as a constant reminder of that fateful weekend that Leah can't quite escape. But she's determined that nothing and no one will stop her from marrying Matt.
When the card arrives depicting a black heart and claiming to be from Callum, Leah is shocked, frightened and then passes it off as a cruel prank. Then each of the group who were there eight years before all get the same text threatening to reveal what they know about Callum's disappearance, also claiming to be from Callum. But it's not until a note is delivered the day before their wedding threatening little Noah that Leah and Matt realise they must revisit that night eight years ago to unravel what really happened if they are to keep their little boy safe.
But it seems the rest of the weekend is not without its problems. The caterers have not turned up and cannot be contacted and there are highly salacious text messages that throw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons. Leah now wishes she and Matt had eloped in a registry office. Being back at the cottage and the lake was a bad idea.
The story unfolds through the past and the present - from the days and hours leading up to Callum's disappearance and the days and hours leading up to Leah and Matt's wedding. Being set in the same location for both adds an air of eeriness with the black waters of Lake Windemere also adding a chilling effect.
I did find it difficult that Leah and Matt would marry in the same place from which Callum disappeared and the reasoning didn't really suffice in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't want to relive a most terrifying event on what is meant to be a happy occasion. And then there was Callum's sudden change in personality. It wasn't sufficiently explained, I felt. I didn't really understand why in the end because while he wasn't really completely likeable anyway, his personality seemed to change dramatically that weekend and no real explanation was given.
However, the story was riveting with a steady pace throughout that kept me turning the pages with each twist building intrigue and suspense with each turn. It was an emotional and unsettling tale with creepy undertones, a reflection of the hidden depths of Windemere's black waters.
A gripping read overall with complex emotions that was entirely entertaining.
I would like to thank #ElisabethCarpenter, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheFirstHusband in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Elisabeth was awarded a Northern Writers’ New Fiction award, and was longlisted for Yeovil Literary Prize (2015 and 2016) and the MsLexia Women’s Novel award (2015). She loves living in the north of England and sets most of her stories in the area, including the novel she is writing at the moment.
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