Title: Happily Ever After

Author: Mary Horlock

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Baskerville

Publication Date: 9th April 2026 (Paperback)

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

Nobody told her that marriage would be murder . . .

Ned Wheeler was devoted to his family. He was also convicted and jailed for murder.

After spending three decades in prison, Ned’s up for parole. But this is not his story. It’s about Joan, the wife who was fooled by his good looks and charm; Cass, the daughter who wants nothing more to do with him; and Florence, the woman who wants the world to know she’s saved him.

Moving seamlessly between contemporary London, the hedonistic hippy summer of 1970 and the small world of 1980s Isle of Wight, Mary Horlock has delivered an utterly gripping and moving thriller about love, loss and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Review:

Happily Ever After is a quietly disconcerting and immersive look at three women, and their connection to one man, Ned, who has spent the past thirty years in prison for murder and is now up for parole. We see the story from the perspectives of his former wife, Joan, who was taken in by him decades earlier, his daughter, Cass, who has distanced herself from both her parents completely, and Florence, a religious podcaster planning to marry Ned imminently. The narrative obviously is connected to Ned but the real story, which moves between the past and the present seamlessly, is very much focused on these women and how they have been affected by Ned’s crimes. They are not, admittedly, particularly likeable characters but they are intriguing, especially in their respective reactions to trauma and to each other. It’s a compelling read from start to finish, with a few twists and turns I really didn’t see coming. I liked the atmospheric nature of the past sections in particular and I very much enjoyed the way connections to the darker nature of fairytales and folklore were interwoven into the narrative. All in all, Happily Ever After is a layered, vivid and unnerving look at truth, justice, love and duplicity. 

★★★★

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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