Book Review: My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson
Dorothy Koomson plays an absolute blinder with her latest book My Other Husband.
I’ve read a lot of Dorothy Koomson’s work, I always look out for her new releases, luckily, she seems to have one every year so if you aren’t aware of her previous work there’s a healthy list for you to check out and I recommend you do that.
My Other Husband is a story of love, obsession and secrets, it’s a real page turner and a thrilling story.
From the back….
Someone’s trying to frame me for murder. But I can’t prove my innocence. Because then I’d have to confess about… my other husband.
Cleo Forsum is a bestselling novelist turned scriptwriter whose TV series, ‘The Baking Detective’ is a huge success. Writing is all she’s ever wanted to do, and baking and murder stories have proved a winning combination.
But now she has decided to walk away from it all – including divorcing her husband, Wallace – before her past secrets catch up with her.
As Cleo drafts the final ever episodes of the series, people she knows start getting hurt. And it’s soon clear that someone is trying to frame her for murder.
She thinks she knows why, but Cleo can’t tell the police or prove her innocence. Because then she’d have to confess about her other husband . . .
A series of terrifying murders. A set of complex lies.
And a woman with no way to clear her name.
Admit it, you’re intrigued.
I certainly was and I’m going to try and get through this review without giving away any twists.
Told on a dual timeline – and I’m a big fan of a dual timeline. We meet Cleo.
In the present day, Cleo is busy dismantling her life in Brighton, much to the utter confusion of her husband Wallace and the people she works with.
In the past she’s at university in Leeds….specifically Horsforth.
I’m going to take a slight detour here because the university she’s at (thought it isn’t named) is Leeds Trinity and All Saints, the university I went to, as did Dorothy Koomson so I had a very clear vision of certain scenes, which was lovely.
Anyway, it’s at university where Cleo meets Heath and that’s where her problems begin.
Central to her problems in the present day is Heath.
Heath is without doubt one of the creepiest, male characters ever created. From their first meeting in Horsforth, he set me on edge. He’s obsessive, he’s weird, he’s completely fixated on Cleo.
Yet this isn’t a classic stalker story, it is much more complex than that.
He can be loving and very caring, it’s quite difficult to square the different sides of his personality at times. I questioned whether he was as weird as I initially thought or if I was just judging him a bit. At times I felt a bit sorry for this odd ball who’d been friend zoned.
One thing is sure, seeing the relationship between Cleo and Heath develop was fascinating and made this a real page turner….and that’s before I got to any of the murders.
I couldn’t work out how they were going to be tied together. I couldn’t see how she was going to end up in Brighton ripping her life apart and I couldn’t understand the reasons for her erratic behaviour. What could she be hiding in her past, what is she so scared of? And how does this man have so much control and power over her?
Koomson delicately threads the details together, very slowly revealing more of Cleo’s past. She’s an expert at building tension, as she adds more to Heath’s character, I became more uneasy about this guy and his dangerous, toxic love.
I was that invested in finding out more about Cleo and Heath and how they’d got to the present day, I barely gave any thought to the other problem Cleo had….who was trying to frame her for murder and why.
I was much more interested in the domestic noir, psychological thriller side of My Other Husband.
Dorothy Koomson’s been described as the queen of the ‘big reveal’ and it’s a title she deserves, with every book she manages to take me by surprise, I’m not sure I’ve ever accurately guessed the outcome and even if I’ve had an inkling, she’s thrown something else in that I hadn’t considered, My Other Husband is no different. Give it a read.
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radiosarahc View All
Journalist, writer, traveller, music lover, collector of hats, news addict, bookworm
Sarah Collins Bookworm 
Ooh sounds like one that really keeps you wondering and reading, which I love. Thanks for sharing!
Lauren @ http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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Sounds like a great read. I like psychological thrillers so I’ll need to add this to my reading list. Thanks!
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When they met started their problems. This is an interesting story, and would love to finish the full story. Thank you for sharing!
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