THE BEST WAY TO BURY YOUR HUSBAND
ALEXIA CASALE
*****
'Maybe if I do enough weird stuff in the run-up no one will suspect a thing when I move into the body-disposal phase of my life as a secret widow.'
Sometimes a woman has to take matters into her own hands . . .
Sally never meant to cave her husband's head in with a skillet. Or at least she didn't until suddenly, she did.
But Sally isn't the only woman in town being pushed to breaking point. When coincidence brings four strangers together, a surprising solidarity is formed.
So can they find the best way to bury their husbands – and get away with it?
MY REVIEW
*****
I got a few worried glances from my husband whilst reading ‘The Best Way to Bury Your Husband’ by Alexia Casale! When Sally snaps in lockdown and ends up murdering her husband with her Granny’s prized skillet, she realises her problems are only just beginning.
Alexia Casale previously worked as a specialist human rights non-fiction editor – focusing on violence again women and girls. In her author’s notes she writes that – ‘on average a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK… at the start of the Covid lockdown, the femicide rate doubled’. Whereas How to Bury Your Husband can come across as a bit of a black humour farce initially, there is a disturbing reality at its core, and it has a much darker undertone as its central message.
All of the female characters in the book are scarily easy to relate to – all trying to find a way out of their difficult situation, and in doing so, they then need to dispose of the bodies! There is a dark humour to the story which kept me gripped, and there is also a deadline looming as well as events unfolding which add tension and up the pace nicely – I found myself flying through the pages, wanting to find out if they would get away with their crimes.
There is also good character development in the group of women as they work out how to live again without the rules created for them by their controlling husbands and working together as a team to literally get away with murder. There is also a nice twist at the end which I did see coming but enjoyed nonetheless.
Overall I highly recommend How To Bury Your Husband, it’s an engaging read about an important topic. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin UK General – Fig Tree, Viking & Hamish Hamilton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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