Happily Ever After the Murders: A Novel

A quiet retirement is not quite so peaceful when the garden holds a decades-old secret. In Happily Ever After the Murders, Rae Wilde introduces Ida and Jean, a couple whose life together has lasted for decades but whose future is suddenly threatened by an unexpected problem in their backyard. Set in late-1990s Rockaway, New York, the story follows the women as plans to replace electrical lines risk uncovering the bodies of their former husbands, whom they killed and buried years earlier. When their efforts to protect the secret take a deadly turn, Ida and Jean leave home and embark on a cross-country escape with their cat, Frankie. Their journey brings new dangers, unpredictable encounters, and a detective determined to catch up with them. Along the way, they must contend with complicated family relationships and the consequences of years spent hiding their relationship from a society they feared would reject them. San Francisco becomes their hoped-for destination: a place where they might finally live openly and on their own terms. Wilde combines crime, suspense, dark humour, and romance in a story that looks beyond the mechanics of a getaway. At its heart are questions of loyalty, ageing, identity, family, and the lengths people will go to protect the person they love. This novel will appeal to readers of LGBTQ+ fiction, later-in-life romance, dark comedy, and character-driven crime stories. Readers can expect an unusual blend of an adventurous road story and an emotionally grounded portrait of enduring love.