The Butcher's Wife

by R.J. Law

Robin Patterson has been following her husband — and she’s terrified of what she might find.

She had a perfect life ... until he came home with blood on his shirt.

Just a deer, he said ... an unlucky encounter on a dark, barren road. But then, just one week later, it happened again ...

Blood on his shirt, scratch marks on his back, and a whole lot of excuses that just don’t add up.

Or at least that’s what she claims.

Jimmy Hunter isn’t so sure. A private investigator with a dark, disturbing past of his own, he’s perfectly suited to see through lies.

Only this time, it’s not so easy.

The news says there’s a violent killer on the loose and the local river has a bounty of human remains to prove it.

Is Robin’s husband responsible? Is she telling the truth? Or are they both part of something bigger and more sinister than Jimmy could ever imagine?

Genres: Thriller, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Murder Mystery

343 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kate Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I need to stop trusting tiktok for book recommendations. Started off really interesting and had a lot of potential but just died off and the ending was just so boring.

[Nicole Baertschiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw this book on a booktok thriller page.. big dud.
Story line started out good & I anticipated a big “wow” & was left with… nothing. 👎🏼👎🏼

[Mia Sidoti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needed a palette cleanser and this was weird and gross and a bit silly/dumb. Lost the plot a few times but sometimes you need a book that you can absorb in a few hours and be done with it.

[Tessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the hell. This was so bad 🫠 After 526336 mentions of teeth flashing or snarling (THERE’S CANNIBALISM, I GET IT) I’m so annoyed I didn’t just give up and move to something better. Also I guess it was my bad but I had no idea this was part of a series so the “Claire Foley” reveal just sent me spiraling trying to figure out who the fuck she was supposed to be and why I should care. The synopsis of this was wildly misleading and I haven’t disliked a book this much in a while. Sooo many things were left unexplained and other than Jimmy being a somewhat okay character I truly didn’t like a single thing about this book.

[Aneira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this reminded me to never trust ‘BookTok’

[Suzy Hart · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many more recommendations from a teenager on TikTok saying ‘this is the best book I EVER READ’ am I going to take??

[Kaitlin Corbett · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the fuck have I just wasted my time reading? I seen people on TikTok saying this was one of the best books ever with the most jaw dropping twists? TWIST WHERE? was the twist in the room?

It’s very rare I hate a book so much it makes me angry but I am absolutely livid I read this! There was too many characters without names so I couldn’t keep up with everyone, then there was just random people coming in and making a mess? I have so many unanswered questions?! God this was such a waste of my precious free time

[Katie W · Rating 1 out of 5]

literally nothing happens. you discover a few things then they never get explored. the title is barely even touched on.

[hannah.rose.reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so bad it’s comical. Wanted a quick thriller and this one lacked everything. Bizarre, juvenile, and repetitive. Anywho, since I read the stupid book I might as well tell you about it.

Jimmy Hunter is a former police officer. Currently a private investigator who works both the underworld and the outer world. Rarely is there a plot where they coexist only and do not commingle. Turns out in this one the same bunch controls both.

Robin Patterson has it all. The husband, the money, the clothes, the swanky clubs, the right friends. The truth is she’s in over her head with an inherited lifestyle she wants to escape from. No one escapes, they get butchered. Jimmy is hired to investigate her husband after a string of body parts show up in the waterways and he comes home with blood on his clothes. She plays dumb, knowing he is the butcher and responsible for said body parts. Jimmy risks his life and gives up his resources of a new life to help give her a fresh start.

Ok I made that sound better than it really is. If you read it you’ll be disappointed. You’ll fly through the pages wondering when the twist happens. IT NEVER HAPPENS. The book just ends ;)

[Breah Stith · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

This book went a totally different way than I expected. Not bad just not what I expected.

[Allison Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, I got the wrong idea of the plot of this book. More my own fault than the book's, I thought this was more of a typical thriller, wife thinks her husband is a murderer, or maybe she's involved in it, and that is not the leading part of this book. If peoples' entire messed-up lives falling apart around them, told from at least three perspectives, sounds intriguing to you, then by all means give this book a chance. In fact, normally that would be intriguing to me, but the main elements of this story aren't usually things I care to read about, (gangs and cults) but given that, it was still interesting to me.
This book is also what I assume is either a prequel or a tie-in to R.J. Law's Claire Foley series, so while the main events of this book are tied up by the ending, there are a few unanswered questions that are meant to be answered in that series.

[Tash · Rating 1 out of 5]

WOAT

[Lacey Morss · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the hell was the point? Everything was predictable. There was no thrill. There was no ending. There were no answers. No twists. No turns. You are given random ass characters placed in random ass situations with no explanations. What with the guild? How did it start? Why would anyone want to willingly be a part of it? If it’s so dangerous why would they bring a random ass person to a party and the cry about the consequences later? Then out of no where more mysterious people show up who are more mysterious than the other people but you never learn who they are just that at the moment they seem like less bad guys than the bad guys. No explanation of who or why. The ending what a joke. It’s like the author got tired of writing and was like okay we are done here let’s wrap this one up. I can’t believe I wasted hours (maybe 4-5) reading this.

[Megan Barker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just about couldn’t finish. Who was the editor? Can’t have had one. The first time the author used wreaking I was confused. The third time, I finally figured out they meant reeking. I no longer trust book tok. I expected cannibalism which wasn’t a deal breaker. Just very poorly written.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely should not have trusted booktok on this one. Dull but also pretty gross. And the author spent way too much time referring to any characters that weren’t white by their race when it literally had nothing to do with the plot, just came across as lazy and offensive.

[Maura Fritzley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story line but the improper quotation mark use was distracting. Over not terribly well written and phrases were somewhat repetitious.

[Kimberly Bain]

Ugh.

Lick their lips, and shrug. Just count the number of times this juvenile author uses these terms. Ugh. This read just sucked.

[Kasey Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so hyped on TikTok and I was so excited to read it, but just completely let down. I almost didn't finish it, if not for my determination to see why it was recommended. I still don't know.
I don't know if this is supposed to be part of a series or what but we waited and waited to learn who "the woman" is, only to be told she's "Claire Foley," like that name is supposed to mean something to us, the reader. I even went back to look, thinking I missed something. Nope. No idea why that name matters.
I tried hard to like it. The "protagonist," if you can call him that, was only semi likeable, Robin isn't even that, and I just couldn't get into this at all.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not going to lie it took me a while to get through this book. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I almost didn’t finish it, but I never give up on a book.

Once I got into it more it really wasn’t bad. It was pretty good and had thorough characters. I think it wasn’t what I was expecting and that’s not a bad thing! It just was very different than what I thought it would be and it was hard for me to get into it.

I did finish it and give it 2.5 stars because it was a pretty good book, just not my favorite. I enjoyed different aspects of it while others I found hard to get into. I don’t know if I would recommend this book, but to each their own!

[Vicki Owen Burns Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason I finished it was because I used my $10 in Amazon credits to purchase the Kindle version and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Had no idea it was a Claire Foley series. Had no idea who Claire Foley was when she was introduced in the book, and still don’t know. Apparently I have to read the other books in the series to figure out her role in this one. You go into the book thinking that Robin is going to hire a PI to determine if her husband is a serial killer only to find that Robin and her husband are members of a cult who eat people, and her husband is the one who cuts them up for the cult. Ridiculous.

[Tristan Webster · Rating 2 out of 5]

A private investigator is hired by a woman to look into her husband after he comes home with blood on his shirt.

This was recommended on TikTok. I found it interesting as a premise but I felt there was too much going on and it loses focus of who the story is about and where it was going. Ending felt flat and also some things didn’t seem clear to me. One big reveal apparently leads into another book series I’ve never heard of, so that was unsatisfying. I was hoping for horror and it gave me watered-down thriller. The kind of thing they sell in airports.

[Nikki Biehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

As many others have said, I’m done trusting Booktok. Another weird cannibalistic (not sure why this theme is so trendy) “thriller” that gave absolutely nothing of substance. There was like 4 different things that we could’ve dove into & instead it was like the author bored themselves so much they decided to just rush an ending with zero resolution & wrap it up in a nice bow. Really a waste of time. Started off with potential & quickly fizzled out.

Also curious to know where the twists were that booktok raved about??

[Margie Stephenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dark and disturbing

This is undoubtedly the darkest most disgusting book I’ve ever read! Don’t start if you’re someone like me that feels compelled to finish reading everything you have ever started! It’s cultish, canabalistic stuff that will give you nightmares. I’m up for a good old fashioned murder mystery but this is over the top. The author is running out of good stories apparently. Sorry RJ Law

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Butcher's Wife by R.J. Law
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Robin Patterson wants to leave her perfect life and her perfect husband. She thinks her husband has done something horrible. She knows he has. She's part of it and wants out.
Jimmy Hunter a PI that deals with the lowest of the city he thinks his earning don't hurt no one. Little does he know he is part of a much bigger, darker, game.
I saw this a lot on booktok but I'm not sure if its the first in the series or not. However, I still enjoyed it.

[KayceeKolt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted a lot more from this book. Seeing the TikTok hype on this really gave me high hopes. Was super excited and ready when it was delivered. Finished it is 2.5 days. I wasn't left going WTF, I wasn't left with saying OMG. I was left with "that's it" - that's what all this fuss was about"? Lack luster in my opinion, but maybe I'm just a little demented and have read way too many more "Dahmer" type books.

[Jacob Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being one of the first full books I’ve read in several years, I appreciate this book kept my attention and kept me invested until the end. With that, the writing style of the author is somewhat predictable, the ending was rushed and clearly written to transition into the next book, and overall mediocre compared to the next book I read - “The One”.

Good enough for a book, not good enough for me to continue the series

[Patricia Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Butcher’s Wife

What a thrill ride! I can’t wait to learn more about Claire Foley. I have a feeling Jimmy’s just getting started, too. He’s a classic flawed hero.

Very satisfying read. RJ Law is my new favorite storyteller! Give this book a read today. You will be glad you did.

[Andrea Holley · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️
The Hunter 🔫
This one felt so all over the place with so many people. Just not my cup of tea.
Jimmy
Getting to the bottom of things is what Jimmy does best. The hunter, the observer, the muscle, the one trusted to get the job done. But is he in over his head with this one?
Have you read this one yet? What did you think?

[Jason Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 38 of 2025

2.5 stars

I don’t want to beat up this book that bad, but the potential was there for so much more. I thought about tapping out, but I did finish it hoping for something. (Not so much)

I decided to read this book after seeing multiple posts on Tik Tok on how good it was. It wasn’t IMO. Like I said it could have been SO much more.

[Kristi Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion but I didn't enjoy this book. It felt rushed, choppy and had no character development. Also, it was just gross. I don't mind graphic content but felt much of it in this book was ridiculous and not needed... maybe it was just poorly done. I know others enjoyed this book, but it just didn't do it for me.