You might think you know a good who-dunnit, but you've never seen one like this.
While this wasn’t a live reaction, I very much lost it when I got to ‘that part’ in Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath (anyone who has read it knows what I mean). And as someone who has really only ever read older detective whodunnits like Sherlock Holmes, this novel absolutely got me back into the genre. So, here’s why I think you should read it too, even if this isn’t usually your type of novel.
Before I launch into it though, here’s the blurb for anyone unfamiliar with the book:
“Three couples, friends since high school, rent a luxurious house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first. Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three women will go into the three bedrooms. The three men will each pick a room at random. It won't be awkward later, because they won't know who they've slept with - or can pretend they don't. But when the lights come back on, one of the men is dead. No one will admit to being his partner. The phones still don't work, and now the car key is missing. They're stranded. And the killer is just getting started ...”
1. The Characters
Having not read Jack Heath’s previous novel Kill Your Brothers, I wasn’t immediately familiar with the detective character Kiara and her girlfriend Elise, but that wasn’t really a barrier. Both women are written as very 3 dimensional, with their own drives, problems and arcs that are explored in the story, alongside the mystery being solved.
On top of that, the 3 couples are each very layered, and at any one point you suspect all of them and none of them at once!
2. The Structure
The story is structured in a really cool way, that does a fantastic job of keeping you in the dark but also clued in all at once. The story is told from the perspective of both Kiara and Elsie, the former of whom is investigating the murders, but also each of the couples over the course of the weekend. BUT in Kiara’s and Elise’s timeline, you initially only know the last names of the couples. This means you know where people ended up, but not necessarily which one ended up where until much further along.
I loved this framing device, because it really encouraged you as the reader to be your own detective and form your own threads and ideas, trying to solve it before the book reveals it.
3. The plot-twists, red-herrings and foreshadowing
I’ve left this to last because I can’t go too much into it without spoiling things – I mean, some would argue even mentioning these things are present is a spoiler.
All I can say is I thought I knew who did it very early on, then changed my mind, then changed it back, then changed it for a third time, and when it was revealed, it was so perfectly done! If you are worried this book will leave you a little underwhelmed at any point, you have my complete assurance that it most certainly does not.
So, that’s why I loved Kill Your Husbands and reacted in the way that I did. If you’re even remotely interested in a good murder mystery book, this is the one to go for.
Kill Your Husbands
By Jack Heath
A witty, page-turning, twisty whodunit from the bestselling author of the Hangman series, perfect for fans of Benjamin Stevenson
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