Book Review
Five Little Words by Jackie Walsh
Laura Caldwell arrives home from the hospital with her newborn baby, Shay in tow. But amidst the congratulatory cards, there’s a note that makes her blood run cold. Those five little words — your husband is a murderer — change everything. Could her husband, Conor, really be behind the brutal murder of a local barmaid?
In this tiny village in Ireland, where everyone knows everyone, Laura is the newcomer. Her husband was once the town’s most eligible bachelor, and not everyone is happy with their new marriage. Was this card nothing more than an attempt to scare her off? Or is there something darker lying beneath the surface of her new husband?
But as Laura digs deep into the town secrets, she grapples with her own hidden past coming to light. What looks to be perfect, may just be covering something dark.
This post contains affiliate links; as an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you to Hera Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Reader’s Thoughts
As soon as I saw the cover for Five Little Words, I knew this was a mystery I wanted to try. Written in first-person narration, the book has an easy-to-read, typical suspense-style feel to it. With short chapters that have you constantly second-guessing suspects, this suspenseful plotline kept me wondering until the very end.
While I enjoyed the plot, there were certain elements that took me out of the novel. Having an infant myself, some character actions felt incongruous to life with a brand new baby. This probably wouldn’t have been noticeable had I not just completed the newborn stage myself.
Although the cover says that this novel is a “fast-paced thriller” it felt less thriller and more mystery. The characters all had hidden motives and secrets that kept the plot moving forward in an intriguing way, but without the “heart-pumping” sort of action most thrillers have.
Overall, this book was an entertaining read. I loved the small-village, Irish setting and was able to easily relate to the characters. If you’re looking for a quick and easy-to-read mystery with multiple twists at the end, this book could be a good fit!
Five Little Words is available on Amazon on October 21st, 2020.
