The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott

Elizabeth Arnott’s debut thriller, The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives, opens with three women, all wives of serial killers, who spot the signs of a new predator in their sunny 1966 California neighbourhood and start investigating before law enforcement does. It’s a gripping hook, but what makes this novel work so well is what Elizabeth builds beneath it: a sharp story about the women who end up in the orbit of violent men, and the way they’re judged, overlooked and expected to carry the shame.

Elizabeth has long been fascinated by the psychology of murderers, and two decades ago she wrote her university dissertation on serial killers, back when ‘true crime’ wasn’t a cultural juggernaut. At the time, her tutor made her promise not to contact murderers in prison! But in this novel, her attention shifts away from the men who kill and toward the forgotten victims: the wives, daughters and sisters who become part of the narrative through no fault of their own 

Elizabeth introduces Beverely, a suburban mother, who is trying to raise two children under the long shadow of their father’s crimes, terrified of what might be inherited and what might be noticed. Elsie is ambitious, and would like to be a reporter, but is stuck doing administrative work in a patriarchal newsroom. Meanwhile, Margot is glamorous but financially strained. Their friendship begins as something like a support group for a club nobody wants to join. Soon, their shared experience becomes the engine of the story and their collective power is unleashed!

Set in 1966, with the early stirrings of second-wave feminism it was also an era when women were routinely dismissed as too fragile or emotional to be taken seriously. This is what makes the plot so successful; watching these women be underestimated then quietly out-thinking the systems around them.

What’s particularly effective is how our assumptions are also cleverly challenged. The ‘how could they not have known’ question is overarching. The answer is embedded in each of the marriages with the daily reality of secrecy being normalised, questions punished or laughed away. The result is a brilliant thriller that doesn’t just entertain but also provides a more empathetic understanding of women behind the headlines.

Reviewer: Andrea Molloy

Viking