His Next Wife
Handsome and magnetic, Jack was everything I ever wanted—until I moved into his cold, looming estate. The excitement of our new marriage shatters when I spot a mysterious figure watching me from an upstairs window, only for Jack to insist that we are entirely alone. My unease grows when I stumble upon a pristine wedding gown belonging to his late wife, hidden in the very room where I saw the shadow.
Jack’s shifty behavior and his insistence on locking that door only fuel my paranoia. As he becomes a stranger, leaving me isolated in the echoing halls, I become consumed by the memory of the woman who came before me. Driven to the brink by his denials, I finally find a way back into that forbidden room. But the truth waiting behind that door is more terrifying than any ghost, and once it’s revealed, there is no going back.
- Willow - Jack’s wife
- Jack - Willow’s husband
- Ava - Jack and Laura’s daughter, 9
- Noah - Jack and Laura’s son, 8
- Jenny - Ava And Noah’s nanny
- Laura - Jack’s previous wife
- Ruby - Jack’s personal assistant
- Tom - Jack’s previous bodyguard
- Caroline - Jack's first wife
- Seven years ago: Laura and Jack celebrate their third wedding anniversary on their yacht, where Laura is pushed overboard.
- Present: Willow finds Laura’s old room which is still filled with her things.
- A friend of Jack's plants doubt in Willow's mind that Laura's death was an accident.
- Willow finds Laura’s laptop, which contains a journal Laura kept.
- When Noah was one month old, Laura left him unsupervised in the bath, after which Jack stopped trusting her alone with the children.
- Sue says Tom was involved with Ruby, and when Jack found out, he demoted Tom.
- Laura's diary: Jack talks in his sleep and mentions the name Caroline; in the attic, Laura later finds a newspaper article about her.
- Willow goes to the attic and finds the newspaper article Laura mentioned; Jack and Caroline were college sweethearts, married, and Caroline died in a hiking accident on their honeymoon.
- Laura’s diary: Laura believes someone is drugging her food, causing hallucinations and lost time.
- Laura's diary: Laura was having an affair with Tom.
- Jack tells Willow he thinks Laura killed herself because she was unhappy.
- Willow asks Tom about his affair with Laura and he says he ended it after a couple of days and Laura was upset.
- Tom insists Laura was unstable and she must have killed herself.
- Willow collects all of Laura’s old cosmetics so they can be sent to a lab to check for hallucinogenic drugs.
- Ruby talks Willow into climbing onto the roof to see the view.
- Willow realizes Ruby is the one behind everything and confronts her.
- Ruby says she doesn't like that Jack's wives take him away from her.
- Ruby was the one who drugged Laura, put Noah in the bath, pushed Laura off the yacht, and killed Caroline.
- Jack finds the women on the roof and Willow manages to get away from the edge and Ruby falls off the roof.
- Epilogue, three months later: Ruby had been drugging Laura through water bottles.
- Jack gets rid of all Laura’s things, the yacht and gets a new assistant named Dudley.
- Willow is pregnant.
- Willow and Jack buy a new house.
I have mixed feelings about this one. D.K. Hood’s writing style is engaging, and I really appreciated the character dynamics. Willow was a standout as a strong, capable protagonist rather than the typical meek wife trope we often see in thrillers. Similarly, Jack was a breath of fresh air as a husband who wasn't constantly controlling or gaslighting his spouse.
However, the plot itself struggled to keep me hooked. The premise feels very familiar for the genre, and there wasn't enough of a unique hook to make it stand out among similar domestic thrillers. I felt that the twist was predictable and the pacing was slow. I found it difficult to stay invested as there was nothing happening to create that page-turning excitement people seek from thrillers.
- Laura - Dead - Pushed off the yacht by Ruby
- Caroline - Dead - Killed by Ruby
- Ruby - Dead - Fell off a roof
- Jack - Alive - Moving on from the past
- Willow - Alive - Pregnant with Jack’s child
- Ava and Noah - Alive - Excited about the new house
- Murder
- Mention of suicide
- Infidelity
Publisher: Bookouture
ISBN: 9781805503941
Publication Date: January 14, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
