Helen Monks Takhar has been working as a journalist, copyeditor and magazine editor since 1999, having graduated from Cambridge. She began her career in financial trade newspapers before writing for national newspapers including The Times and the Observer. Originally from Southport, Merseyside, she lives in North London with her husband and two children. The Marriage Rule is her fourth novel.

‘A compelling and suspenseful thriller that boldly tackles the ever-topical themes of the struggles of being a new mother, bullying in the workplace and, above all, the insidiousness of psychological abuse. This is also a story of female solidarity – women supporting women. I loved this book and whizzed through it in two days!’ Diane Jeffrey, author of The Crime Writer'A new mother wakes to a dead man in her bed in Helen Monks Takhar’s latest feminist thriller. Unnerving and propulsive, The Marriage Rule is a gripping exploration of family secrets, toxic power dynamics, and the snare of abuse. I tore through it.' Allison Buccola, author of The Ascent'Few writers are able to capture human nature as incisively as Helen Monks Takhar. In The Marriage Rule, she crafts a taut psychological thriller that hums with a sense of menace. Raw, riveting and painfully timely, it takes an unflinching look at power, control and the ways in which we efface ourselves for those who deserve it least.' Kia Abdullah, author of Those People Next Door'A riveting domestic thriller with a fresh twist on toxic relationships… a gripping tale that left me wondering how well we really know someone we share a bed with.' John Marrs, author of The Good Samaritan