I think I can honestly say that this is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.

Edited my review as to many spoilers!

I really did not know where this book was going. The two central characters, Millicent and her husband, who I don’t think we ever find out his name, live in a nice suburban area.

Both have jobs, nice house, and lovely if not disturbed children, but they realise that they have a closet fetish. Rather than keeping this fetish in the closet they decide to act upon their urges.

The novel goes around their fetish, but then one of them goes too far. Sets the other one up and the plot switches. Suddenly you have no idea who to trust, who is telling the truth, and will the liar be found out. For a while I was not sure.

Very disturbing but very enjoyable fast paced plot. With a twist and thankfully it’s a very good twist.

Every marriage is different...

Okay, maybe not quite THIS different. Right from the start you know that this seemingly average suburban couple have a dark secret under their shiny exterior, but you don't discover how truly dark it is until the book's shocking ending.

I was intrigued by the premise: a husband and wife serial killer team operating under the facade of a perfectly happy and normal family out in the Florida suburbs. I mean who doesn't want to find out what goes on behind the closed doors of those who seem to have it all? My Lovely Wife was well written and believable (to a point), and had me turning the pages late into the night. I completely devoured this in only a few sittings. Some of the twists you could see coming from a mile off, but quite a few I definitely didn't see coming. For someone who reads a lot of books in this genre, that's really saying something.

I teetered between 3 and 4 stars simply because I had a really hard time understanding how a milquetoast middle aged dad went from not being a murderer to suddenly finding in his 40's that murder is "sexy." There just wasn't enough there for me to buy that he made the massive leap from not ever wanting to murder anyone to now stalking women he has no qualms about killing. Millicent though- wow, what a piece of work. I completely buy her deviousness. Millicent was a thoroughly terrifying villain.

Overall this was a solid read even if I had some issues with it. The latter half of the book was stronger, full of nail biting tension before coming to its shocking conclusion. I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of this genre, especially with vacation season coming up. Just be prepared to be questioning the secret lives of all your neighbors once you're done!

Samantha Downing - what an explosive debut you have! WOW! I couldn't get enough of this book and smashed it in 2 days. After the first chapter I knew that I was going to be in for a wild ride - only I did not realise how wild it was going to be. I was totally addicted.. thank you Samantha for a brilliant read.

This is a really hard book to write a review on without giving anything away. As for the plot - all you need to know is this... we have a happy family - husband, wife and 2 kids. Mum is a real estate agent and dad teaches tennis. All completely normal right? Only this couple have a very very dark secret - and it will blow your mind.

Enough said! You need to read this book - it is fantastic and will keep you up way past your bedtime.

Thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

I absolutely loved this book, it had everything a good thriller needs and I couldn't put it down. I will definitely read more by this author in future.

I've never read this author before but so glad I did,

When I first started the book i thought it was the run of the mill but how wrong was I.

Would recommend.

I can’t explain how much I liked this book, and I am so sorry I wasn’t able to come with this review sooner. I couldn’t wait to tell you all how amazing this book is. I finished it in two sittings, couple of days ago. This book goes straight into my top books for this year.

It has a flying start. I got pinned down to my sofa and moved only to grab another cup of tea. In the middle we got settled down a bit. With a reason, tho. The author is preparing us for the great finale. Overwhelming twists come one after another with only one purpose - to blow our minds.

You are living in an expensive suburb. Your neighbors are a nice couple with two kids. They seem to be just a normal married couple. But what if they are not?
Millicent and her husband are a typical couple. Married, with two Kids, nice neighbors, and more importantly - ordinary and unremarkable. Which, makes them the perfect killers. And they are. What is the best way to bring the sparkles of love back into worn out marriage? Become a serial killer couple.

"Millicent killed Robin the same way I had killed Holly. No hesitation. All instinct. And it was sexy."

It is a perfect plot. Brilliant. They are hiding behind the town legend's name Owen Oliver. A serial killer, committed murders of women, and has never been caught. Perfect alibi. The town's bogeyman is back, and he starts killing again.

"They are not going to catch Millicent and me. They don't even know we exist."

It is told by husband point of view. We don't know his name only the one with which he introduces himself to his victims - Tobias. He will drag you into love-hate relationship. He makes you feel sorry for him and hate him for his deeds. But he is the perfect narrator, and I love his way of unfolding the events. It is tempting to tell you more, but as long as the description gives is almost nothing, I don't want to spoil you reading and experience. Grab that book, free your day, turn off your phone and read, read, read.


I can say that all this fuss isn't for nothing. It was said that this will be the thriller of the year and I couldn't be more agree with this. My Lovely Wife is an addictive and twisted thriller that hooked me from the page 1 and I had my full attention I didn't even realize when my fiancé got home! :D I got attached to my Kindle and couldn't pull myself off it. The plot is so intense but at the same time it gives you time to catch up and sink deep into the story.

I can't believe this is a debut novel! It is well-constructed, fascinating, and intricate read. If you love psychological thrillers - this MUST be your next read! I'm 1000% sure I'll read whatever Downing publishes next and I'm so looking forward for her next one. Finger crossed it is going to be as good as this one.

Oh, to be the odd one out - to see all these hyped up reviews and then rate it with one star only because I didn't like it. But well - nobody can blame me for going softer than usual on ARCs! Seriously, thanks to the publisher for this copy, but it just wasn't for me. You'll get an honest review, though, and as usual, this is only my take on things.

The book started out with a bang, with a real intriguing first chapter that left me yearning for more. And more did I get. The main character and narrator, an unnamed husband and father of two teenagers, gently introduces us to his life: his job, his family, his wife and the couples' odd fetish/hobby/kink. What follows are pages and pages about their domestic life, and not even the twist (the "special hobby") could prevent boredom sneaking in. It was all too... bland. Every time a promising little subplot popped up, it got covered up by the narrator's tales about his tennis lessons or dysfunctional marriage.

Neither of the characters are symathetic or made me feel for them - which isn't a bad thing per se. I strongly disliked the main characters in, say, [book:Gone Girl|19288043], yet I followed their story with great interest. That wasn't the case here. Especially since I had the feeling that the author was slightly manipulating me into feeling sympathetic for the narrator, which got stronger as the story unfolded. It felt cheap to me, for this guy was just uninteresting and I didn't understand any of his motifs - why he was so smitten with his wife, for starters. Millicent, the wife, stays cold, cool and distant throughout the entire novel, marking her as "she, we do not like" right from the start.

What else bugged me? Several relationships within the story:
The main couple - see above, I didn't understand, see or feel any of their passion or love for on another. They barely talk about important stuff - the husband ponders a lot, but he never asks his wife any of the important questions that arise throughout the story - and wow, there are a lot of issues.
The father and his teenage son - they strike some kind of, well, deal, which I didn't understand, either: Mainly, it's about a secret the father wants to keep from his wife for reasons unknown (in my humble opinion, he could've easily explained it away, instead, he chooses said secret deal with his son, thus creating even more tension in a quite dysfunctional family already).
A befriended couple - whose relationships takes major turns in what feels like two days, a completely rushed, overloaded and yet somewhat neglected storyline.

The twist at the end? Sadly, I saw that coming from miles away. I have to say, though, the final fifth or so of the book picked up pace again and was a fast and much more exciting read than the dragging middle part. And yet, the ultimate ending left me very unsatisified. I won't got into details here, not to spoil anything, but that didn't work for me at all.

Overall some of the writing felt rushed and loose, I'll credit that to the advanced proof version I received. It doesn't, however, change my issues concerning certain plot points, narration, the ending and general characterisations.

It's hard to say much about this book without giving anything away. It's the story of a couple who, on face value, appear as your average suburban, run-of-the-mill couple, complete with two kids. But they share a secret. A big nasty secret. Well, at least they think they share it. But the appearance of a body throws their relationship into turmoil and one of them realises that the other's secret differs from theirs; big time! But that's just the tip of a very nasty iceberg indeed as scratching at its surface reveals more that expected.
There are ways to alleviate boredom in a marriage. Things that can be done to spice it up a bit when it goes a bit stale. But what this couple did is several notches above crazy. But crazy though it was, and quite horrible in places, it was completely compelling reading. I was glued to the book all day, powerless to the call of all the things I was supposed to be doing instead. It really did hold me in its spell, delivering shock after shock, each one worse than the last.
But shocks don't make a good book. Good storytelling does that and here this book really excelled in the way that information was imparted at just the right time to add to the story but at the same time leaving me wondering about other things. To say that I really had no idea where we were going would be a gross understatement. I worked out quite early that this was not a book for me to try and second guess. I just had to read on and see where we ended up. And we ended up there! Oh My! Outrageous that it was also very funny in places where maybe it shouldn't have been. But it was! And it was Great! And so very well plotted. And that ending... quite chilling...
And then I find out that it's a debut book... Blown Away!
All in all, a cracking read that has catapulted itself into my top five reads this year so far (out of 88) and looks good to still be there at the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This book is dark and twisted from the very beginning, which makes it near impossible to write up without spoiling *something*.

It's about a married couple and narrated by the husband, who sometimes uses a codename, Tobias. They have a particularly horrible hobby, the details of which are not always clear even to Tobias himself. Millicent, his wife, seems to take care of the nitty gritty. He does the 'research'.

Meanwhile - and join the dots if you want - a killer seems to be on the loose in town. Tobias' daughter is deeply affected by this, while his son is more concerned with a spot of blackmail. Tobias ends up trying to do everything - fix his daughter, keep an eye on his son, keep up with the Joneses and simultaneously and hardest of all, keep Millicent happy.

Everything escalates... and everything must end.

It's a fantastically paced suspense - I warn you, if you read at any decent speed at all you WILL finish this in a day.

And yes the main characters are so awful that sometimes you think 'how am I enjoying a book about horrible people doing horrible things?' yet there's a good chance you will, despite yourself. It helps that any violence is largely off-the-page.

If you're a fan of twisty suspense, this is a great example of the genre.

Wow. Thought at first a bit weird and predictable. Couldn’t be more wrong. Right down to the last paragraph I took a sharp intake of breath. Well done

Intrigued by the write up for this book I could not wait to read it. It certainly did not disappoint and had me reading it late into the night as couldn’t wait to find out how it ended.

I enjoyed this thriller a lot! It grabbed my attention from the beginning. I was hooked until the last page and reading to see what's going to happen. The end didn't disappoint as well.
The pace was really good at the beginning and at the end, a bit slow in the middle.
I enjoyed the writing and the portrayal of this husband and wife relationship.
Overall, really enjoyable read. I'd certainly look more from Downing in the future. Recommended.

Many thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this complex and gripping thriller and couldn't put it down till the last page.
I loved the style of writing, how well the relationship between husband and wife was written, and was fascinated and enthralled by the plot.
I'm not a fan of thriller but this one kept my attention and I'm happy I requested it.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A normal ordinary family on the outside but what you see I not always what is going on. Woman start to go missing from a town and a pervious killer is thought to be at large scaring the community. Millicent runs a really strong family unit and you get a real sense of the family and the importance of that but outside she and her husband have a whole other life

A brilliant book with lots of twists and turns kept me guessing until the end

This is the story of two ordinary people who met and fell in love and settled into the humdrum life of suburbia and parenthood. But beneath their veneer of bored respectability lies a dreadful secret they just happen to enjoy sharing.
The market for psychological thrillers with dysfunctional couples must be saturated now. In My Lovely Wife, there was a possibility of another marriage which appears perfect on the surface, but actually they’re getting along pretty well. If anything this is not the dream couple with dream jobs, but a very ordinary pair quietly making their unassuming way in life. Dig deeper into their lives and their gruesome hobby it would appear to be a partnership of like-minded souls. Mix that in with teenage children with all their attendant hormone rushes and development angst as they establish their place in society, and you add another dimension to the novel of a crime viewed from within.
It is because of this set up that you must have a care if you take this book up. My Lovely Wife is a story designed to pique your curiosity. Make you wonder why on earth you should read another psychological thriller. Then you realise to your horror that by continuing to read, Samantha Downing has made you an accomplice in this couple’s crimes. To the extent you’re getting really anxious when the police begin to close in.
The blurb comes with plot twist as a dominant feature, but it is the way the author works with personal interactions and psychological expectations that is far more interesting. My Lovely Wife may appear to be a slow burner at first, but that’s just to lull you into complacency before you’re tipped into something far from routine and ordinary. You absorb the fast-paced plot with a growing air of disquiet, particularly for the narrator as the police investigation of the murders grows apace.
What the author does differently is that all the possible permutations you expect in a psychological thriller are utilised intelligently to create an understated, building tension. She is skilled in turning the normal into something far more insidious. Instead by allowing the reader to become a voyeur into a world none of us would really like to be a party to, you are made to take on the responsibility of being complicit in this couple’s nefarious life and the concern of its effect on their children.
Of one thing is sure, after reading My Lovely Wife you will never allow yourself to be charmed by a silent stranger again.

The blurb on this really had me interested and the complexity of the relationship between husband and wife was in no way understated on it. It’s a very compelling read with fascinating characters however it wasn’t until at least three quarters through when it hotted up and then it really had me wanting more. It’s really well told from the husbands viewpoint and very chilling. A really good debut novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this

If someone loved the Gone Girl, will love this book too!

I enjoyed every page of the book and the twist in the end literally didn't let me sleep that night. I know it is so silly to buy it kept me up to think about it again how things happened.

I had heard some positive feedback about this book and the concept intrigued me, being someone who has seen some crime dramas. However, this just fell flat for me. There were some errors which is likely in an advanced copy. However, my issue was that I just did not connect with the writing and I didn't care about the story. There was nothing propelling me forward, no ending or twist that I wanted to discover. Unfortunately, this one was just not for me.

Thanks to netgalley for the review copy of this great read.
I'll be honest, at first I wasn't too pulled in by the story, but luckily I decided to keep going, and was handsomely rewarded! This was really a thrilling read, and I couldn't wait to see what this committed couple pulled off next.... I did not see the ending coming, but it brought the story nicely an ending.
Highly recommended.

I had high hopes for the premise of this story. There is a great twist at the start of the book, but unfortunately the more the story unfolded the less believable the characters became. I found both the husband and the wife annoying; and the storyline a little too far fetched.

It was however very readable and a quick chilling read, but for me, it was a little disappointing. I think the author could have expanded more on the reasons why they did what they did. At times, the story seemed a little rushed.

I'm sure it will be a hit in the shops though and people will buy it.
t.