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Usually, I'm a fast writer. I can write a book in six months. "Serial Wives" , took me ten years.
You know that little voice that whispers, "What will your friends think?" and "Do you really want your mother reading this?" - that voice was with me when I gathered my research, it made me blush when I wrote certain scenes, it made me doubt my choice of the subject matter.
The topic fascinated me for ages: why would a woman sell her body? A low self-image? A way of punishing herself? Some people cut, some people purge, would some have sex for cash? Before long, my thoughts turned to loveless marriages: what about women who have sex with husbands they no longer love, in exchange for housekeeping money, hairdresser allowance, jewellery gifts? Doing it with one or with many, is there a difference? Anyway, that's how it started.
At first, I wanted to write a novel that explored the meaning of marriage and motherhood. But thrillers are what I love reading, and so the concept of a red-headed Constable-In-Training, Zero Zimmerman, started to take shape. At one point, the novel was finished without the serial killer part and without Zero. And then I copy-pasted the deleted scenes back into the manuscript, and decided that "Substitute Wives" had to be a thriller, after all.
What with one thing and another, ten years passed. But now it’s here. And my in-laws aren’t allowed to read it.
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
As accurate as the description of this thriller is, what Serial Wives by Yvonne Walus is really about is so much more than its engaging plotline and its unexpected sub-plots. Enter the world of Constable Zero Zimmerman and the well-paid escorts, Cora and Joy, whom she encounters while searching for a heartless serial killer, and you will emerge with a much better understanding and empathy for prostitutes, and for the work of a rookie policewoman determined to solve a baffling series of murders. Cora and Joy are two good women who, unknown to each other or the cops or themselves, become involved with two bad men who run an illicit baby adoption ring. Does either of these men have anything to do with the sudden rash of prostitutes showing up murdered and wearing a fencing mask? Thriller readers will find themselves turning pages rapidly to get to the identity of the serial killer and solve the mystery before Constable Zimmerman and her associates do.
But equally intriguing and engaging are the characters, from cops to killer to prostitutes in this very well-executed story. Walus’s writing style is tight: whether she is narrating the plot, describing the setting or crafting dialogue between characters, everything comes across as plausible and realistic. Readers easily identify with different characters on various levels. The flirtatious exchanges between Zimmerman and policeman Jack are fun, tension-relieving moments. The love between a mother and her child is beautifully captured through Cora and her 5-year-old daughter, Amy. The smarmy, misogynistic attitude of Bradley toward Cora will make female readers bristle. And as for that deranged killer, well, readers will feel only loathing. Yvonne Walus’s subplots and characterization in Serial Wives give her readers lots to think about beyond the thrill of the primary plot. Since it appears that this novel is the first of a new series featuring Zero Zimmerman, it’s a pretty safe bet that Walus will attract a whole new set of fans and deservedly so. She can count me among them. I love her style of writing and look forward to reading more of her novels. Brava!
