# The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie

By Freida McFadden

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-widow-s-husband-s-secret-lie-caf1745c/

Alice attended Grant's funeral. She saw his coffin go into the ground. Yet her dead husband keeps appearing at the grocery store, in traffic and on the street. Finding out why means sorting through the secrets of their marriage while keeping her own deceptions under control.

## What makes it funny?

Even the funeral has bookkeeping problems: Alice isn't certain how deep the grave was, and the miniature beef Wellingtons cost more than her first car. The Brightdreamer review describes another self-referential joke, with Alice reading a Freida McFadden novel while a friend delivers yet another condolence casserole.

### The comedy at work

McFadden exaggerates the promises and habits of psychological thrillers. Red herrings and an unreliable narrator feed improbable chapter-ending twists. The author's own description carries that excess into its sales pitch, treating the reader's dropped jaw as an injury requiring reconstructive surgery.

### Try this if…

Familiarity with domestic thrillers gives the jokes more targets to hit. This is for readers who enjoy recognizing a genre's favorite tricks as the author stretches them past credibility.

### Good to know

Choose it for a short parody of suspense fiction. Brightdreamer enjoyed the jokes while finding the pacing uneven, the characters thin and the plot flimsy.

## What to expect

- Genre: Crime & thriller
- Kind of humor: Parody
- Format: Novella
- Published: 2024

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [Brightdreamer review](https://brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-widows-husbands-secret-lie-freida.html)
- Author commentary: [Author](https://www.freidamcfadden.com/books/short-stories/the-widows-husbands-secret-lie)