
Member Reviews

Another brilliant story from Miranda Rijks! When a wealthy musician leaves his estate to the unsuspecting cleaner Mia, rather than his second wife, first wife, children or lifelong live in staff after his suspicious death, all hell breaks lose. The question is why? I was immersed in the book and keen to unravel each characters hidden motivations. Loved the twists at the end, which I did not see coming! Miranda Rijks never seems to disappoint!

Mia is working as a cleaner for a musician, Robin. They bond over their love of music but Robin's wife fires Mia without good reason.
Robin's ex wife is still very present as is his daughter however Mia's past comes to light when something drastic happens and Mia comes into money. No one knows who they can and can't trust and everyone is suspicious of each other.
This book is full of twists and leaves you wondering and trying to work it out right until the end.

This is my first book by MIranda Rijks and will not be my last! I love a good family drama full of angsty characters and this book did not disappoint. This book is told from multiple points of view, alternating between Mia and Tamsin as they try to figure out who killed Robin.
The characters are well developed and realistic. The family reacts how I imagine a family would when soemone unexpected inherits everything. I was immediately hooked and could not put this book down. Much like the other reivews I've read, I did not see the final twist and it's a doozy!
I highly recommend this book to all psyhoclogical thriller lovers!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, Inkubator books, Miranda Rijks, and Zooloos Book Tours. I'm excited to be a part of this tour.

I liked the idea of this book and the theme and characters but for me the writing was a bit wordy and did not flow for me…….that being said I still enjoyed it just not a 5 star for me…..so I’m giving it a 3 star rating which for me is good or average ….and I would still have a friend read it. There were a-lot of storylines going on throughout the book, I’m sure some were to throw us off course……I feel there could have been a better cadence to the flow to the book.
Overall it’s an ok book and I don’t regret reading it.
I received a free copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

The second wife by Miranda Rijks.
She married the man she loved. Then she met his family.
Tamsin has recently married renowned composer Robin Featherstone. Robin is much older, but Tamsin doesn’t care - she’s in love.
This was a really good read. I liked the story. Wasn't sure about characters though. 4*.

This book had me thinking about the movie Knives out but instead of a nurse/caretaker we have a house cleaner/caretaker. A suspenseful whodunnit.

Great book a little slow at times but I pushed through to the end and the twist was great!! Was a first from this author but won't be the last.

Very good book, with interesting story and characters. Has a strong start and good ending. Miranda Rijks definitely has gained my interest 😊

I'm A big fan of Rijks'. I was so happy to be immediately hooked by this new story. Mia gets tangled into an accident when she walks in on her employer having a stroke. Then we meet Tamsin, who is the man's second wife and twenty-five years his senior. These two women clearly have pasts full of secrets and skeletons they don't want revealed.
Things slowed down quite a bit in this story, bogged down by back stories and musician talk that I felt could have been significantly shortened. Greed Greer's its ugly head and then the secrets begin coming to light, twists exploding. The ending was fantastic. A good domestic thriller.

As someone who is just getting into thrillers, I loved this book,! The plot twists were amazing, the characters were well thought out and I did not see the ending coming! I would definitely purchase this book!

Such a good book! High paced, Thrill ride to the very end. Highly recommend if you want a non stop thrill ride of a read.

Thank you NetGalley and auntie for this book. What a really great book. Nine is something else,you can’t help but love Millie. Enzo is such an amazing character in this book with such a twist my head spun. The description’s in this book are so clear I felt like I was watching the story before my eyes. Will definitely be recommending this book to people.

I loved this book, I love all Miranda Rijks books! The twists were amazing, the suspense had me unable to put it down and I did not see the ending coming! Loved it

A good book with a solid plot and characters. I felt it was a little predictable in places, but I enjoyed reading it.

I read this book in one day , I never wanted to put it down . The twists were brilliant and did not see any of the coming .
It is a book that will certainly keep you up all night .
The characters we all plotted out great I ended up liking all the main women characters in this book.
I have enjoyed this author’s style of writing so much I have just downloaded more of her books . That should keep me going for a few nights .

When a wealthy composer dies leaving everything to a woman who is all but a stranger, it raises more than a few questions. Who is this woman? Did she kill him? Did the new wife? Or maybe it was the bitter ex-wife? Or was it the spoilt entitled adult children?
Mia is excited to be working for the renowned music composer Robin Featherstone, even if she is just a cleaner. For Mia is a violinist and had been studying at the Royal Music College when fate intervened putting a halt to her dreams. Now she is trying to find her feet again and as needs must she needs to pay the rent and put food on the table, even if it is just herself. So whilst dusting the furniture or polishing the silver, Mia loves listening to the music emanating from Robin's studio.
Then one day Robin returns with a young wife in tow, Tamsin, whom Mia has heard the family call a gold-digger. But Mia sees Robin's face light up whenever Tamsin enters the room, the ways his voice softens whenever he speaks about her. Whatever their age gap, Mia knows that Robin loves his new wife. Tamsin, she's not so sure about as the woman hardly spends a moment at Stave House. Robin has given her free reign of a credit card to shop to her heart's content and that, it seems, is what she is doing.
Robin has two grown children - a daughter Brooke, who appears to live on and off at Stave House whenever the mood takes her, and an estranged son David, whom Mia has never met and hasn't set foor here for a number of years. It appears father and son do not get along. And then there is Claudia, the opportunistic ex-wife. She's no longer married to Robin but she seems to spend an awful lot of time at Stave House with their daughter Brooke. In the midst of family affairs is the devoted housekeeper Pavla, a Czech-born woman who has worked for Robin for some twenty years. She lives in the cottage provided for her on the grounds with her husband Thomas, who is the estate's groundsman, and son Marek, who when he is assisting his father appears to be silently lurking.
Then one day, Mia discovers a barely conscious Robin clutching his chest on the floor of his studio and calls an ambulance. He has had a stroke. Upon returning home, Robin discovers Mia's love of music and that she is a violinist so employs her as his assistant while he recovers from the stroke. They spend hours talking about music as she makes notations to his manuscripts, as he is yet unable to. The family are jealous of Robin's sudden attention to the cleaner and Tamsin is livid to overhear her husband discussing his private affairs with her.
And then just as Robin is recovering from his stroke, Tamsin discovers his lifeless body at the foot of the stairs, having obviously fallen. She is distraught that her husband of barely a few months is dead. No matter what the family may think, Tamsin truly loved Robin...and now he was gone.
But further distress is to come when the will is read and they learn that Mia is the sole beneficiary of Robin's will and the family, including Tamsin, inherit nothing. Angered that everything is to go to a woman who is all but a stranger, the family decide to contest the will.
Mia is just as shocked at the contents of Robin's will and has no idea why he has left her with everything. Her solicitors advise her to move into Stave House as it is now her legal property but that means living also with Tamsin and, it seems, Brooke and her mother Claudia who have also decided to move in. Soon strange things begin to occur putting lives at risk, leaving everyone questioning the other. Mia and Tamsin find that they cannot trust anyone around them, least of all each other.
Is Tamsin the gold-digger the family think her to be? And is Mia the opportunist who coerced Robin into changing his will in her favour?
And then a dark family secret is revealed, changing everything...
This is my third Miranda Rijks thriller and I just love her engaging style and fast paced narrative. THE SECOND WIFE is a well written addictive thriller with a storyline that had me enthralled from the start. Filled with twist after twist, the reader is quickly immersed within the story as we watch the lives of each of the characters slowly unravel.
Told through the alternating narratives of Mia and Tamsin, THE SECOND WIFE may feel as if not much happens for much of the story but there is an undercurrent burning beneath the surface that certainly threatens to engulf them. But it very definitely has the reader guessing who is responsible. And when that reveal comes, I was partly shocked but not surprised, if that makes a kind of sense. I was heading in the same direction myself and then BAM! Everything happens at once and you're left with..."what just happened?"
But then it comes back to the question that had everyone asking in the beginning...why did Robin leave everything to Mia? It didn't make sense...until it did. I should have seen that coming but it blindsided me.
Overall, THE SECOND WIFE is an addictive domestic thriller and although it is not my favourite by the author, it is still a quick entertaining read. A fun story that I think others are sure to enjoy.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheSecondWife in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

This is a great book where everyone is pitted against one another to see who will inherit everything ! I honestly didn’t see the huge twist at the end which is a new one for me. I love this author and she definitely didn’t disappoint.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. Enjoy !!

Another great read from author Miranda Rijks. I thoroughly enjoy her novels and this did not disappoint.. The characters are so on point and relatable and I really find myself getting within the depths of her novels.
In this book we meet Tamsin who has married Robin, much older than Tamsin but for Tamsin this really is not an issue at all - he is very close to his assistant Mia. Robin's ex wife and kids are not happy about his new marriage to Tamsin. Unfortunately, Robin dies and then the story really takes off - at a high octane pace that I was literally addicted to.
A the Will reading, things do not go as what Tamsin anticipated and it is very clear that Robin's kids and ex wife will literally do anything to stop Tamsin and Mia benefitting from the late man.
The story unfolds beautifully and keeps its audience captive - really worth a read.
Thanks to Miranda Rijks, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The book begins from the point of view of the ubiquitous Second Wife, Tamsin, following her marriage to Robin Featherstone, wealthy composer, despite a significant age difference, which her new stepdaughter and husband's ex-wife are quick to pounce on. The book shifts its perspective to newly-hired cleaning woman, Mia, who strikes up a friendship with Robin, as a fellow musician. But when tragedy strikes and Robin suffers from a stroke, and later dies, his will reveals Mia as his lone beneficiary, triggering a battle between Tamsin and Mia and Robin's children. And when it appears that Robin's death may not have been an accident, who can any of them trust?
I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I found myself quite eager to keep turning the page, not really because I was interested in finding out all of the secrets, but because I thought the characters were written in a way that engaged me. I was looking for comeuppance, and ended up shifting which character I was siding with as the plot progressed. The cast of characters were interesting, and the flaws each of them had was understandable and intriguing. I did have some issues in how Tamsin's father was portrayed, and I felt as though the author could have stayed away from the 'bitter disabled man' trope, which was disappointing to see. The reveal wasn't very surprising, but I was a bit surprised at how the author drew the connection between Mia and the Featherstone family in the end.
I would definitely recommend this as a good domestic thriller!

A page turner from the first sentence. Tamisin is newly married to a much older and wealthy man. Of course, everyone thinks she is a gold digger and after her husband, Robin's, fortune. Tragedy strikes and her 15 month marriage was over in the blink of an eye. When Tamisin is no longer named in her late-husband's will, she is determined to find out why Robin changed it just mere days before his death.
I had no idea there was going to be such a huge plot twist. The climax had me at the edge of my seat and ready for more action!