Housewife Chronicles

This book was written in a really easy to read format and I found I could get into the story straight away. I managed to read this book throughout a full day so it was one you could get through very quickly and it is well paced although not brilliantly plotted.

This book defies genre definitions and while I usually enjoy books that can cross genre boundaries, I think this book was trying to be too many things. It follows Beth who finds out her now dead husband was having an affair with her yoga teaching next door neighbour Gina for a year. Two weeks before his death Beth kicks him out and he dies of a heart attack but then the police suspect his death might not have been as natural as first presumed.

In present day Beth has a flirty storyline with both Gino the next door neighbour's twin brother and the detective investigating her for possible murder. Gina is trying to become friends again with Beth but might be pregnant with Beth's dead husbands baby. Beth's kids have their own problems and Beth is thinking of selling the house and buying an arts studio. Phew! It was a lot going on!

I felt at times like I was reading different books within this novel as Beth's romance plot lines felt totally different than the murder mystery elements or the Gina / Beth frenemy dynamic that plays out in the story.

This will be a great escapism read for those that are fans of contemporary and women's fiction and it has a sharp bite of humour through it that I very much enjoyed. It also is a book about the positive power of female friendships and forgiveness. Topics not addressed in such a uplifting way in most popular fiction.

Thanks to the author Jennifer Snow, who also independently published this work and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fun Tale Told In A Possibly Unique Way. In some ways, this was a typical light-ish, women's fiction level mystery involving a dead husband, a separated wife, and the mistress who caused the separation. It ultimately becomes a feel-good tale of friendship and bonding between female neighbors with a bit of a dark undertone, which was very well executed - darker than the Hallmark Romance level romances Snow typically writes under this name, but nowhere near as dark (and far funnier) than the depths Snow plumbs as JM Winchester. But what truly makes this book so rare and possibly unique is the decision to tell the tale from the perspectives of both the wife... and the mistress. Excellently told story that will ultimately have you guessing until very nearly the last word. Very much recommended.