💍 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins – Book Review
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 out of 5 stars
A fast, flirty thriller with a slightly soggy ending.
🚨 Spoiler Alert!
If you haven’t read The Wife Upstairs yet and want to go in blind, skip this summary and scroll to the Final Thoughts or just smash that buy button and wing it.
🐾 What's This One About?
Meet Jane, a broke dog walker with sticky fingers and big dreams. She walks dogs for rich people in the Thornfield Estates, casually pocketing a few trinkets along the way (because, you know, "rich people won't notice"). Honestly? Bold move.
One of those rich people is Eddie Rochester, recently widowed (or so it seems). His wife Bea and her BFF Blanche went missing after a girls’ trip on the lake. Blanche’s body washed up. Bea’s? Not so much. Declared dead anyway. Jane smells opportunity and sets her sights on Eddie. Girl’s got ambition.
And it works! Sort of. Eddie is mysterious, handsome, and (checks notes) maybe a murderer? But Jane’s not about to let a little suspicion stand between her and Thornfield money.
🧨 Plot Twist: Who's Really Upstairs?
Well. That title isn’t just catchy. There's literally a wife upstairs.
Jane eventually discovers that Bea is alive and has been locked in a panic room the entire time. Surprise! Not only is she alive, but Eddie has been secretly feeding her, sleeping with her, and just generally keeping up one of the creepiest double lives this side of a Dateline episode.
Eddie proposes to Jane. Jane finds Bea. Jane and Bea team up to knock Eddie out (via figurine to the face—art imitates violence), then lock him in the panic room. The turntables!
💥 Final Twist(s): Everyone Is Trash
While Eddie’s locked up, Jane and Bea chat. That’s when Jane realizes: Bea is the actual murderer. She killed Blanche.
Eddie eventually sets fire to the panic room. Why? To draw Bea upstairs and guilt-trip her into saving him. Bea does run up, proving she still loves him (or at least feels bad). But Jane? She runs for her life, and honestly, same.
In the hospital, Jane is told both Bea and Eddie died in the fire. But only Eddie’s teeth were found. (Hmmmm. You know, the same teeth that were knocked out earlier when Jane whacked him with the figurine?)
In a final twist that somehow feels weirdly underwhelming: Eddie leaves Jane his entire fortune (which used to be Bea’s). Why? If he survived, wouldn’t he want his $$$? That part didn’t land for me. He was money-motivated from the start, so the logic… crumbled a bit, like those burnt teeth.
🧁 The Bottom Line
✨ The setup is juicy.
✨ The pace is quick.
✨ The humor and tone are breezy.
But when the climax should've gone full bonkers, it kinda… shrugged. Still, I had fun. Think of it as a guilty pleasure thriller with a messy, modern gothic twist.
💡 If You Liked This, Try:
-
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine – twisty, toxic wealth vibes
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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – psychological secrets galore
-
The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani – you’ll never trust childcare again
🛒 Snag Your Copy Here:
📚 Buy The Wife Upstairs on Amazon
🛍️ Get the Audiobook on Audible
🐶 One Last Thought
If you're ever walking dogs for the elite and a hot widower invites you inside… maybe just stick to the leash and keep it movin’.
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