Classic fare from Sharon Bolton. A dark and involved crime thriller with unforgettable characters within a sinister psychological drama.

A story where it is difficult to build rapport with many of the cast as their motives and actions seem contrary to normal human values. This is a complex, many layered account, over different time lines and from contrasting viewpoints. This is expertly developed and managed by the creative writing of this established and well repetitive author.

The weather plays a great role in this account and the prevailing conditions are described with great insight. The roads become impassable and driving becomes almost impossible.
The perfect counterpoint to this mayhem in police office Garry Mizon. For me he is undoubtedly the star of the book and the novel comes alive whenever he is on the page. He is brave and observant, an accomplished high speed, tactical driver and he secretly wants to be a florist!

The shifting storyline and the intriguing manner which the plot is mapped out, with narrative development from different character’s perspectives, makes the mystery fade and take focus with each passing page.

I enjoyed this original approach and the author manages to achieve all she sets out to do in this complex novel that touches on a number of social and political aspects.

There is great care to reflect end of life hospital care; abusive relationships and trolling on social media.
What I liked best within the story was the shifting sexual tension between various characters. It also seemed authentic and coupled with the idea that civilian life after the intensive anxiety of military service would lead to less inhibition and risk-taking totally realistic. The degree of control and establishment of power, through threat and fear made for chilling reading at times.

There are no loose ends here but like life, justice doesn’t catch up with everyone and you wonder if someone could really get away with murder.

Such a clever book! Really well written with a clever storyline that keeps giving twists. I did find it took a little while to get into it because I couldn’t work out what was going on, but I’m glad I stuck it out as it ended up being well worth it.

I adore Sharon Bolton and will religiously read all of her books without fail and they just never disappoint!
In this one, it took me a little while to get used to the point of views changing but it all comes together and starts to make sense fairly quickly so it gets easier. Sharon is good at the drama and thrills throughout her books and this one is no different, it was pacy and easy to fly through and I fully recommend this!

Great book lots of twists and plenty of edge of the seat thrills

A great author and a wonderful cast of characters especially ones you loved to hate

Looking forward to more books from this author she is definitely one of my go toos.

Highly recommend

Wow, this book left me gasping. I really struggled with it at first as the viewpoints changed in the middle of a chapter. Initially thought it was because it was a proof copy of the book but as I carried on reading I realised that that was how the book had been written. Olive is the wife of a prominent MP who is staying the night in a hotel. She is dining alone but on returning to her table she is joined by a woman, who is a stranger to her, but says that she is her wife. They end up spending the night together and Olive confesses her secrets to her that she has been keeping from all her friends. When Olive goes missing her husband and the mystery woman become the main suspects. The story flips between Olive and the police investigating the case, PC Garry Mixon and DS Lexy Thomas. I can’t begin to explain all the secrets and lies but it is a most compelling and gripping read. My favourite book of the year.
Thanks to Netgalley and Orion for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed my first Sharon Bolton book!
I listened to the audiobook as part of an online book club.
I've heard the good reviews about this author, so was excited for it!
I enjoyed it, but I don't think it really wowed me as much as I hoped, but it was worth reading.

I was certainly intrigued by this book. The opening definitely caught my attention and hooked me in.

However it took me a while to get used to how quickly the viewpoints would change mid chapter, between Olive and Garry. In fact initially given I was reading an advance copy I was wondering if something had gone wrong in the editing or formatting as I wasn't even sure Garry's storyline initially was anything to do with this book .

Rest assured as you proceed it does all start to make sense, and not only that I started to really get interested in both of our main characters. There is more to Olive than what you first think. and the more I got to know the more I wanted to know.

And I was really rooting for Garry too, he is a bit of a bumbling cop, how gets involved in this investigation mainly due to his excellent driving skills, and I really liked seeing him develop as the story progressed.

This was a really good book, that had me invested at all times.

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This was quite hit and miss for me, and I nearly gave up on it very near the start. The opening scene of the novel was just so weird and oddly contrived. Once I'd got past that, it developed into quite a good missing person story. I liked the characters of Lexy and Garry and would enjoy reading another book which featured them, but it was their interactions which carried the story for me, rather than a strong plot.

Olive Anderson is dining alone at a hotel when a glamourous stranger joins her table, pretending to be her wife. What starts as a thrilling game quickly turns into something dangerous.

I initially thought I wasn't going to like this book and almost DNF very early but glad I pushed on a a little further as this became a thrilling page turner and I couldn't put it down. The story had me gripped. Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group and Sharon Bolton for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (Sorry I didn't get to this much sooner !)

This book has an incredibly slow and confusing start, but does develop into an interesting and twisted story. There were no major shocks, but it was still quite hairy at times - it's just a fairly average, although well written, psychological thriller.

Well thank you Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley that was total unexpected.
Revenge is sweet and it certainly was in this book.
Brilliant, this was absolutely brilliant and highly recommend.

I have loved all of the author’s previous novels and so was excited to read The Fake Wife.
The premise sounded interesting; when MP Michael Anderson reports his wife Olive missing, the police investigation, lead by DS Lexy Thomas aided by PC Garry Mizen becomes more complex than they expected.
Although this starts off extremely slow paced I loved the atmospheric setting and was intrigued by the opening chapters. I loved the characters of Lexy and Garry and their scenes really lifted the novel for me. However, overall I felt this was one of the author’s weaker novels that had little tension and was too slow paced with an unbelievable plot.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Took me a time to get into this book but it was q good story with lots of character twists so d turns. First Sharon Bolton book that I have read I believe

Just enthralling page turning suspense. I could not stop reading until I found out the outcome. Just exactly who is the supposed fake wife? And why are women related to my husband going missing? Will I be next?

Unfortunately, I was unable to download this book before it was archived and so am leaving this as a review/explanation as I didn't know what else to do after finding a few books I had managed to miss in a section of my account entitled Not Active: Archived, Not Downloaded; so I thought it best to clear it up. I have already bought a copy and will leave a review on places like Amazon, Goodreads, Waterstones, etc, once I've completed it and formed my thoughts on it. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for the opportunity.

A suspenseful revenge thriller. Olive is dining alone at a hotel when a mysterious woman sits down at her table and pretends to be her wife. Although Olive is married to a man, she goes along with it. Things get even more bizarre when Olive is kidnapped. A fast-paced corkscrew of twists and turns will keep you hooked.

Sharon Bolton is an accomplished author who writes intelligent and original novels. I really wanted to love this one, but just couldn’t get on board with it. Not for me.

Such a fabulous book! I loved it and could not put it down. A must read! The characters, the story line everything was perfect. The book will keep you totally engrossed!

This was one of the best books I've ever read. I went out and bought the hard copy of it just so I can add it to my collection

The story is completely uninteresting and frankly stretches credulity right from the beginning. And if it's aimed at an adult audience, must we really have a sex scene every few pages? Not for me. I feel as if I've read this book a thousand times in the last few years.