Psychological Thrillers are often made up of the same ingredients: a seemingly perfect marriage, secrets that are buried, a protagonist that starts to question everything around them. There are elements of that for sure in Natalie Barelli’s The Housewife but the novel works because of the way it transforms a familiar premise into an engrossing and highly addictive mystery.
Barelli, from the first chapters, wastes no time in immersing readers in the carefully organized world of Jodie Davies. On the surface, Jodie seems to have everything she could possibly want. She’s married to the distinguished Dr Roy Davies and prides herself on maintaining a beautiful home, cooking elaborate meals and creating the impression of a perfect domestic life.
But under the smooth surface grows the sense that something is terribly wrong.## The Secret Behind Domestic Perfection
Jodie’s biggest challenge isn’t running her household, it’s living in the shadow of Deborah, Roy’s late first wife. Almost everyone in town still loves Deborah, remembering her as a kind, admired, and seemingly non-confrontational person. Her death was officially ruled a suicide.
Jodie is unconvinced.
She starts to dig into Deborah’s past and unanswered questions begin to pile up. The deeper she digs, the more Roy becomes suspicious. His controlling ways and growing possessiveness only confirm Jodie’s suspicions that Deborah’s death may not have been what everyone thinks it was.
But there is a dangerous complication to Jodie’s search for the truth. She has secrets of her own and to expose them would ruin the life she has worked so hard to create.# A Fast-Paced Story That Doesn’t Let Up
Momentum is one of the novel’s greatest assets. The story is divided into short chapters with well-placed cliffhangers that made it so easy to keep turning pages.
Just as the mystery seems to be falling into place, a new revelation changes the entire picture. The story keeps changing direction and does not let the reader get too comfortable with their theory.
The Housewife is full of rapid-fire plotting, making it a great choice for readers looking for an entertaining thriller that will grab them from the start, rather than a slow-burn mystery.## Suspense from Uncertainty
The novel builds tension without resorting to melodramatic excess. No, Barelli gradually increases the pressure on Jodie, placing her in circumstances where any choice is a dangerous one.
There is a constant sense that disaster could happen at any moment. Readers are likely to be biting their nails to see if Jodie will learn the truth before her own secrets catch up with her.
The suspense feels earned, because it’s not predicated upon cheap surprises; it grows organically out of the situation.# Jodie is the Story’s Greatest Strength
The Housewife is uplifted by its central character.
Jodie is not a conventional heroine. She’s flawed, she’s impulsive and often more driven by emotion than logic. But those imperfections are what make her real.
Her obsession with homemaking, cooking and keeping things neat is more than just a character decoration. She relies on these routines to deal with stress and uncertainty. The everyday details, whether she’s cooking, cleaning, or making meal plans, give insight into her state of mind.
Barelli does a great job of making readers feel like they are part of Jodie’s experiences. Her triumphs are gratifying, her mistakes are maddening, her fears are credible.# Some Supporting Characters Are Not Fully Developed
There is a good deal of depth to Jodie but this does not necessarily apply to all characters.
Roy Davies has a big part to play in the story but his character is surprisingly vague. Readers spend much of the novel wondering what his intentions are, but they gain little insight into his motivations, emotions or personal history. This can make him feel more like a plot device than a fully realized character at times.
Jodie’s mother has a similar issue. Her role in the narrative serves an important purpose, but she often seems overly simplistic. She doesn’t seem like a complicated person so much as a source of conflict and emotional trauma for Jodie.
A little more character development in these areas would have added even more depth to an already compelling story.# Summary
“The Housewife” is a fun psychological thriller that knows just how to keep the reader hooked. It’s fast paced and the tension builds and builds and when the story starts rolling it’s hard to put it down because you just want to see what happens next.
Some of the supporting characters could have been more complex, but Jodie’s compelling voice and expertly crafted suspense of the novel more than make up for those shortcomings.
For fans of domestic thrillers, unreliable narrators, and mysteries full of shocking revelations, Natalie Barelli delivers another highly satisfying page-turner that keeps readers guessing right to the end.## 4.5 out of 5 Rating
An absorbing, page-turning thriller with a memorable protagonist, plenty of suspense and enough twists to keep mystery fans hooked from cover to cover.