Wow, what an amazing read - read this so quickly and don't think I've ever ready anything like this!

So many twists and turns, a really interesting read and one that made me question how the author developed the plot!

This was a gripping journey bringing us into the depths of the mind of a serial killing couple. It's full of twists and turns and I thought it got more interesting as the effects of the murders starts to come home to roost. It's a great read but I have huge reservations about the ending of the book. For obvious reasons, I will not spoil the end, but I thought it was really trite and let the book down.
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Wow, this book certainly packed a punch! Very twisted with some hideous characters, I really felt for the poor children in the family. It is a psychological thriller with a difference and it certainly had me hooked.
It made for uncomfortable reading at times, and I'm still not too sure about the motivations behind the couple's actions. Quite a few twists which really made the story interesting, I would certainly recommend this book.

I was contacted by penguin a while ago to complete a survey about this book and I absolutely loved the sound of it so I was ecstatic to receive an email asking me to review it.

I loved this book! A lot of the reviews hyped up the twist at the end of the first chapter, and although it was good it wouldn’t have been enough to draw me in. However, once I was a few chapters in, I was hooked! This book has many twists and turns and although some of them were predictable, I didn’t feel that this took anything away from the story. I found this book to be very well written with characters that were believable and well rounded. The storyline of this book is so different to any others I’ve read lately and it was brilliantly executed. I’ll be recommending this to anyone who will listen!

Wow! Not much more to be said other than Wow!

This story is so full of twists and turns, you will be hooked all the way through. The characters are easily brought into and it keeps your attention to the very end....

My Lovely Wife is a dark thriller on a subject some people may find disturbing.Set in America the ideal couple Millicent and her husband and 2 children Jenna and Rory.Married for 15 years they seem to be the perfect couple but underneath they hold terrible dark secrets and ones that are threatening to spiral out of their control,the story plays out from the couples perspective and how they begin to not trust each other in the brutal games they are playing,it is full of twists and turns with a terrific ending which leaves you wondering just who was the guilty party really ? It is a book i think which won't appeal to everyone but i found it a good read and a good 4 star read at that.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I read this in one go because I just could NOT STOP. Twisted and disturbing and absolutely brilliantly dark and dangerous. Not just another domestic thriller, this will get into your head. Loved it.

We meet Millicient and her husband, who have a great life, sure things aren't what they seem entirely, they live in a crazy expensive area, but really can't afford to, the kids are a little unsettled, rebelling in both the usual and unusual teenage ways. But you know what, they're trying to keep their marriage alive, and it is, it's healthy and it's fun and it's great.

But when a serial killer comes to their suburbian paradise everything is not what it seems to be. And suddenly everything is thrown on it's head. I found myself cheering for the wrong people, hoping that crimes are not discovered, and what's more, I laughed along at things that are not funny. And I took great pleasure in the plotting and the scheming and the twists and the turns. I just kept thinking, who would do that?

You know who would do that? A serial killer, just one of a kind that you've never met before.

Twisted thriller which questions how well we really know our partners. A really evil villain who manages to function normally.

My Lovely Wife will have you gripped, I was unable to put my kindle down, loved the twists and turns in the story, a definitely recommended read.

On the face of it My Lovely Wife is a simple story of man meets girl and there is a connection, a connection so strong that they have to spend their lives together. So they work hard, have two children, work hard, move to the suburbs. In all this there is certain smugness as they compare themselves to their friends and associates. She is bringing up the children in a strict, ‘proper’ way; he listens and seems to agree but silently he spoils the children somewhat.

Simple eh? Oh yes! Then there is the secret. Their compulsion. Their obsession to plan and plot and …

Absolutely brilliant! Didn’t, couldn’t see it coming. Still don’t quite believe it, but I saw it with my own eyes! Now you must read it and see if it surprises you. I bet you can’t guess the plot.

Thank you Ms Downing, what an amazing debut novel. More please!

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This is an excellent novel.
I read it over one weekend and found myself picking it up whist the football was on so that's really saying something.
It's one of those novels that has you hoping the ending won't disappoint and it certainly doesn't. I finally put it down last night with a smile.
Without giving anything away, what starts out as a quirky thriller turns into a cat and mouse battle of wits and ends in a twist that is not altogether unexpected but satisfying none the less.
Many thanks for the entertainment.

So different to what I was expecting but a fascinating read. Millicent and her husband (who I'm almost certain is never actually named in the book) have an unconventional marriage. Actually to the outside world, they seem rather conventional with their house in the suburbs, fairly typical jobs as a tennis teacher & an estate agent and 2.4 children. Behind closed doors though, everything is very dark. We learn early on that there has been a murder and our narrator and Millicent are responsible.

When more than one murder is unveiled, the attention of the authorities is alerted and so begins the hunt for the killer.

I can't say I loved the characters but then I don't think I was supposed to. There are some truly evil goings on which makes this story so deliciously unpleasant.

There is quite a slow start but the end totally makes up for it. A gripping different type of thriller.

You will struggle to read a book with more secrets, more lies and more twists than this one any time soon. We know from the outset that our main character is not who he appears to be; we are first introduced to him as Tobias, a handsome deaf man who is looking for companionship. He 'talks' to women he notices in bars via the screen on his mobile phone, looking for the right girl - but right for what? He makes sure he stands out to the barman, yet everything he tells people about himself is a lie. Including his name.
The truth is he's a family man, a tennis coach with a wife, two children and a lovey home which he and wife Millicent have built together. Or is it the truth? Millicent knows he's out looking for the right one, they discuss possible candidates and he checks that his wife is happy with his choice. That is his part of the deal done. It's over to Millicent to take it from there. It was only meant to be once. But things change. People change. And boy, the changes we see throughout this book are pretty shocking - not just to us the reader, but to our couple who find things out about each other which were never part of the plan; to their friends whose lives will never be the same again, and the children who are far more perceptive and involved than even they realise.
It should have just been the two of them. But neither of them stick to the rules. And ultimately this changes the game into something far, far more sinister.
This is a story of trust and what happens when that trust is betrayed. How easy it is to open yourself up to the person who is supposed to have your back, and how vulnerable that can leave you. My analytical skills in trying to work out where the plot was going in this book fell woefully short of where they needed to be with Samantha Downing's writing talent. Just as I thought I had the characters weighed up, in came another curve ball proving I was way off target. Again! I am blown away by the fact this is the author's debut work, which makes me really excited for her future writing.

It’s pretty rare when I read a book and don’t have a clue what’s going to happen next. I was constantly surprised, in the best possible way! In fact, I was so engrossed I literally didn’t hear as my husband took our son up to bed. I sat there and kept reading and didn’t put it down until I had finished. I was completely captivated.

Writing a book where your readers root for total psychopathic murderers is pretty impressive. Downing has absolutely blown me away.

Edgy, mesmerizing, and seriously dark and twisted, this is my new favorite book so far this year! The prose is crisp and sharp, the pacing consistently quick, the characters unique and exceptional. I could easily see this making its way to Netflix; it’s very like Dexter for the suburban parents. I highly recommend this 5* (can I give it 6*?) read!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

This was an interesting read, but I feel it had a few holes in it that I couldn’t quite ignore. Additionally, I found myself working things out well before the narrator did and from around 15% of the way through I could already guess one of the twists. I was sort of hoping for a few more twists than there were.

I thought the last page/sentence was brilliant. A really good way to end the book.

I'm not quite sure where to start with this review apart from saying WOW first of all. This was an intriguing and amazing book. The story grips you from the first page and draws you in to a story line that you just never saw coming. Bit by bit you are sucked in so that you just have to read another chapter, then another, but each leaves you on a precipice and you can't stop going. It's nothing short of brilliant and incredibly clever. By the time you reach the last few chapters you honestly don't know where it will go, there are no possible ways out To say any more would be giving the secrets away,. It's one of the best books I've read in the last few months and highly recommend it. But leave yourself plenty of hours each day to devour this literary beauty..

I lost my weekend to this book because I couldn't put it down!! Very clever and captivating, enjoyed the whole story and couldn't see how Millicent would get away with the crimes. Would highly recommend!

Great book about a controlling wife and an easily manipulated husband, they seem to have the perfect life and marriage but are harbouring a deep secret.
It took a while to get into this book, but with an hours reading time left I couldn’t put it down. I had to find out how Millicent was going to come unstuck and I’m glad I stuck with it.
I could see this being sold as a film as it has the same suspense as Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.
Thumbs up from me, thanks for letting me read

What a disturbing book but disturbingly brilliant at the same time. With 30 mins reading time left I found myself taking two coffee breaks because it was so chilling. This story is gripping and will leave the reader totally shocked with not only the story but also the terrifying psychological side

A brilliant read

With many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review

This is a must read and I am looking forward to reading more from Samantha Downing