The Good Bad Wife

by A.J. Wills

The only way to save her best friend’s unborn baby… is murder After months of abuse, Erin finally escapes her violent husband and disappears with nothing but a new name, a bag of cash and a second-hand car.

She rents a basement flat from a couple in the house upstairs, safe for now from the monster she married. And while Jeremy is cold and keeps his distance, his wife Vanessa is spirited and vivacious, welcoming Erin into a world of coffee dates, wine bars and long, liquid lunches.

But late one night, Erin hears sounds she knows all too well coming from above.

Raised voices. Smashing glass. Doors slamming.

The bruises on Vanessa’s arm tell Erin everything she needs to know.

Vanessa, a few weeks pregnant, admits the abuse has been going on for years – but is too scared to walk away.

She has a better idea. To protect her unborn baby, she wants Jeremy dead – and needs Erin’s help.

But is Erin willing to commit murder for a friend she hardly knows? And risk the freedom she’s fought so hard to win?

The Good Bad Wife is the compulsive new psychological thriller from the Kindle #1 bestselling author of His Wife's Sister.

Genres: Thriller

357 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 2, 2026

About the author

***Book bloggers join my ARC team and never miss getting your hands on a review copy of my latest books. You can sign up here: bit.ly/bloggersalert ***

AJ Wills writes standalone psychological thrillers with twisty plots.

He’s a former journalist who wrote in his spare time, before and after work for ten years, until he was finally able to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a fulltime author in May 2021.

He’s never looked back and now runs a small independent publishing company, Cherry Tree Publishing with his wife, AJ McDine, also a thriller writer.

He said: “I've always loved thrillers, but psychological thrillers hold a special interest for me because they're about the scary, insane, disturbing things that happen to ordinary people - and we can all relate to them on some level.”

He lives in Kent in the south east of England.

You can download AJ Wills’s psychological thriller, His Lost Wife, for free by visiting bit.ly/hislostwife

You can find out more about him on his website: ajwillsauthor.com, his Facebook page AuthorAJWills or on his Instagram account ajwills_author

Of course, you can always contact him directly at adrian@ajwillsauthor.com, where he loves to answer messages from genuine readers.

And don't forget to follow him on BookBub for his new releases: bit.ly/BookBubAJWills

Reviews

[Keller (Author Charles Hack) Hackbusch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book: The Good Bad Wife
Author: AJ Wills

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: 📖 (kindle)
Genre: Domestic Suspense Thriller 🔪
Series?: No
Story Pacing: 🏎️
Language: 🤬 yes, medium amount
Spice: 0️⃣ none
Content Warnings: ⚠️ violence, torture, murder, stalking, kidnapping, profanity
Will I continue with this author or series: Yes ✅

Comments: This is now my third AJ Wills psychological thriller, and I’m convinced he needs more exposure. AJ Wills is writing really good, page turning thrillers. If you love the genre, you’ve got to give AJ Wills a chance. His books keep getting better. I read this quickly and was eager to know what happened next. There were several really uncomfortable moments! The book doesn’t feature big twists, but more like big betrayals and big developments that increase the intensity. I was satisfied with the ending and the book as a whole. I’ll will continue to read AJ Wills work!

[Vicky Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping from start to finish, I found this one hard to put down - the characters got under my skin. Fantastic read.
Huge thanks for having me on the arc team.

[sharon moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A.j wills is such a good writer, I’ve read everything he has written and never been disappointed. This is full of twists and turns. Friends are around for the evening with Xander who is a policeman and his wife Ruby. They rung out of wine, Ruby has forgotten it. She instantly offers to go to the shop to get more. She’s prepared deliberately to do this as her husband isn’t who you think he is. He’s a control freak. She’s goes out and has things buried she’s well prepared or is she? He tracks her phone. He keeps her under a tight rein. He comes after her and vows never to give up on her. She manages to get herself an apartment in a different town,the landlords wife and Ruby become firm friends. But all isn’t as it seems and more domestic violence is happening with her landlords. What a mess. 5 stars from me.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like a good psychological thriller, you can't go wrong with this one. Even if it's not your usual read, try it. It's an absolutely brilliant, well written gripping, page-turner, edge of seat read.
It kept me guessing with its revelations, twists, and turns, and no way would I have guessed write. Especially with the authors clever twist conclusion, which left me gob smacked.
There are strong characters you can relate to, and I found myself wanting to shake and shout at the main character.
This captures you from beginning to end and woe betide any interruptions.
All in all, it is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.
Although I had this on pre-order, I would like to thank the author for the advanced copy.
This is my honest and unbiased review of this book.

[Phyllis Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story this is. I was invested from the beginning to the surprising end. Lots of twists and turns and a chance to play detective. No-one is who you think they are. The short chapters kept me reading late into the night. I finished it in two days because of the suspense. Who are these people? One is the wife of a policeman and the other is a carefree wife of a businessman. Or are they?
Interspersed in between are court proceedings and it doesn't tell you who is on trial until you read further. You will be shocked as I was the more you read. Excellently written and thought out story.
I would highly recommend this book and here's a shout-out to A J Wills for the ARC of this compelling book.

[Christine Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good Bad Wife by AJ Wills

The Good Bad Wife by A J Wills is a story of being in an abusive relationship and the victim can be female or male.Erin has finally escaped from her abusive and controlling husband, who is also a serving police officer.
She finds a basement flat to rent and makes friends with Vanessa, she is the wife of the owners of the house. Her husband is distant and has little to do with Erin.
Vanessa tells Erin she is also in an abusive relationship and needs Erin to kill her husband for her.
Erin believes everything that Vanessa tells her,until one day she realises Vanessa lies and this has severe consequences for Erin.
An entertaining story.
Highly recommended

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby is married to Xander and lives in London. Life should be wonderful but Xander, who is a police detective, is also a wife beater. Ruby decides to take matters into her own hands and runs away. We discover early on that Ruby is in Court on a murder charge but who has she murdered and why?

Briefly, after running away Ruby changes her name to Erin, dreading Xander will find her. She meets Vanessa, a kind woman, who agrees to take her on as a tenant in her basement flat and Erin feels that she has finally landed on her feet. And where Vanessa is welcoming, Jeremy, Vanessa’s husband, is not and Erin finds herself in an impossible situation.

This is a fast paced and tense read and will keep you on the edge of your seat. With twists galore I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. Entertaining book.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I feel guilty reading a book so quickly when the author has spent time researching and writing the story, but this was a book I couldn’t put down until I found out what had happened by the end. This is a twisting, turning, tense read. It has short chapters that made want to read ‘just one more’ as I fell into the world of characters who I thought I knew, but who could I actually trust? There’s a court case taking place between the chapters and I wasn’t sure who the guilty person was! I devoured this story in two sittings and I loved it.

Thanks to AJ Wills for sending me the arc of his latest book, due for release on Tuesday.

[Ritta Kloss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adrian…wow! My heart was in my throat during the entire time I was reading this book! Although you’ve stepped away from the psycho thriller genre, you've captured the domestic violence and abuse topic, with ease.
You’ve absolutely set in motion a trail blazing experience that will most likely lead you in to a whole new genre! Not saying you should stop writing the thrillers tho!
There’s just enough to keep everyone’s attention and not enough to scare them away, even if they have triggers to DV.
Amazingly written! Great work!

[Miranda Rijks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow – this was one heart-stopping, page-turning read! It’s the story of two wives and two husbands and abusive, coercive control in relationships. When one woman escapes the clutches of her evil husband (who happens to be a police officer) she finds herself living in the home of another couple also in a toxic marriage. This an original, compelling story with complex characters and I raced through the book. Highly recommend!

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A disturbing read of domestic violence and it has been captured seamlessly. I experienced goosebumps while reading and I loved the heart pounding anticipation. I think the author has taken their writing to another level. I didn't want to turn away from reading until I finished the book. It held on to my attention and had me preparing to run at the same time.

[Kenneth Lingenfelter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A woman escapes her abusive husband and gets an apartment below the owners home. She gets tricked into trying to commit murder. There are a number of twists in this page turning thriller. I read it in one sitting since I could not put it down.

[Eleanor Andersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down. A story that’s happening daily, that we don’t know about, to people everywhere. Well worth a read.

[Mrs Judith Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book

It was twist and turns all through with the ending a complete surprise!
Think this is the best book yet from Adrian can't wait for his next one.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

wife

Took me little longer than usual as I was bored at times but not a bad read at all. Great writer enjoy this writer and books! Would recommend

[valerie gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it

A really well written book interesting plot wonderful characters that keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next thoroughly enjoyed reading this book

[Miss Lorraine Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars plus.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved most of the characters and it was a real page turner. I would highly recommend this book.

[chrissie keirle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book, but thought the main charector was a bit silly and naive hard to believe anybody would do somthing that stupid. Still i am glad that i read it