Cover Image: The Second Wife

The Second Wife

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Member Reviews

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

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

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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 .

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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/.

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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 !!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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📚🌟BOOK REVIEW🌟📚

Tamsin is happily married to Robin. However, since she is a lot younger than Robin, everyone in the family thinks that she's after Robin's money and money only. Tamsin's marriage tumbles into a void when Robin has a stroke and eventually dies.
When Robin's will is released everyone including Tamsin, Robin's ex-wife and his 2 grownup children is shocked to discover that everything has been left to Mia, Robin's assistant.
With the family hell-bent on stopping the women from inheriting Robin's estate, Tamsin and Mia find that they can't trust anyone.
But a family secret is about to be revealed that will change everything.
Wow. This book! There was a twist at the end of every chapter. Fast-paced and exceptionally addictive. Fascinating characters. Plenty of twists and turns. Definitely a binge-worthy read.

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Thank you NetGalley for this arc ! Robin and Yasmin marry. Robin is older of course suddenly he passes. Someone unexpectedly inherits everything. The ending is so good ! I highly recommend this book

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Thank you to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the e ARC of The Second Wife by Miransa Rijks. A mystery, wrapped up in a lot of family drama, propels this story of greedy characters in a domestic thriller. There were many suspects introduced into the novel and the twists and turns had me guessing who the guilty party was. But after many characters provided reliable alibis, I was not surprised by the climax of the story. I also felt that I might have received the UK edition, as there were many British phrases that I was not familiar with. Usually, it was easy to figure what the phrase meant based on the context of the sentence; but it was distracting to me.

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Thank you @netgalley & @inkubatorbooks for the E-Arc. The opinions are my own.

🅜🅨 🅣🅗🅞🅤🅖🅗🅣🅢:
I enjoyed the short chapters, the multi layered characters complimented the plot well & it flowed smoothly, building up the tension.
A young widow left without a penny, an unlikely beneficiary , greedy children and a conniving ex wife made this book quite a mind bending mix. Even though the setting was scenic, there were so many under currents to the story that it was hard to put down. I admired both Mia and Tamsin's resilience in the face of danger and presence of mind. Both had their back stories that eventually unraveld and it all fell together quite nicely. What I didn't expect was the ending, it was definitely a clever twist! 🤯
This is a great pick if you are looking for a binge worthy psychological thriller.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

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A very suspenseful story with mystery and lots of drama. The author writes a wonderful story with great characters. Will Tamsin survive and inherit everything? Or will she fall victim to her husband’s secrets?

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