A twisted tale about a perfectly normal happy couple with a lovely house and two children, on the face of it at least!!! CJ Tudor said it perfectly "Dextor meets Gone Girl". This is a hard book to review as it would be too easy to give away the plot and ruin it for others, its face paced and full of twists, some you will definitely not see coming, I swallowed this book whole, even hiding in the toilet away from the kids for a bit of peace to read alone! Will definitely be watching out for more from Ms. Downing if this one is anything to go by.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Firstly I’d like to thank Penguin UK for the ARC of this novel. Also thanks to NetGalley for facilitating. And of course thank you to Samantha Downing for a most unique read!

So, as usual there will be no spoilers in this book review!

This is a book like no other that I’ve read. Normally in serial killer books you might get a chapter or two written from the perspective of the killer and it’ll be anonymous. Not this book. The victims don’t get a say. They don’t get a voice. This is all written from the perspective of a twisted mind and it stands apart because of this.

Usually books where the synopsis talks about dark secrets and twists... well usually you can see them coming or at least have an inkling as to what is going to be revealed - but not here! I was reading it thinking that it hadn’t “gripped” me because I felt no connection or common ground with the main characters, and yet, I couldn’t stop reading - especially as the story gathered pace. But it wasn’t in the normal sense of “oh god I have to see what happens next”, it was “what on earth is going on here? This is macabre... I’ll read a little further and find out” and then the little further you read is even more twisted and leaves more and more questions.

I found it fascinating and intriguing... it is absolutely the darkest book I’ve ever read. That would be the trophy I’d hand out to this author - I have read A LOT of books. A lot of dark books, serial killer books, thrillers, horrors... whatever. But never read anything like this before. This takes the prize as the darkest book which elicited the highest levels of morbid curiosity I’ve ever felt in my life! Bravo!

A good debut novel from Samantha Downing. We are introduced to the perfect couple, living in a nice house with their 2 children. However, this couple have a very dark and disturbing secret which will send chills down your spine. I don't want to say too much about the plot as a lot has already been mentioned and I don't want to give away any spoilers. However, despite the far fetched premised I found that I enjoyed this book. The pace did seem to slow down a bit in the middle of the book but there are a few twists and turns in the story which will hold your interest. Hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Thank you to Penguin UK and netgalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review and feedback.
My Lovely Wife is such a great read. A real pageturner that's keeps you hooked. I finished the book within a day and couldn't put it down. It's hard to talk about the great aspects of the book without giving too much away, but wait for that last sentence. A real good solid thriller, that I would definitely recommend.

Wow. Just wow.

What a blinder of a book!! This is have your head reeling by the end. Start to finish it is truly incredible. If you are a fan of thrillers this is certainly a book for you.

What would you do if you were part of a murderous double act? Millicent and "Tobias" seem happy, they have it made, great jobs, a fancy house and a lovely family. However, they have a dark secret that will lead you on so many twists and turns you will get neck ache!

Loved this! I'll be raving about this book for a while I'm sure of it.

Oh my goodness, this is dark indeed. the perfect couple leading the perfect life with the two kids and yet........... I won't lie I found it a difficult read. There are no characters that you like, with the exception of Jenna the daughter. That said it is compelling reading as you get more and more sucked into the dreadful situation. 

It’s a rollercoaster alright and it won’t be for everyone but ultimately I enjoyed it and recommend it

When I received a copy of My Lovely Wife I had no idea what to expect. The blurb was deliciously vague, only letting readers know that the couple had secrets.

I initially set out to read just a chapter or two before bed but instead found myself tearing through the pages. Over a hundred pages passed before I could bear to put the book down. This morning I finished it.

With a hint of Netflix sensation You, the opening chapters drew me straight in. A man who purposefully meets women at bars? Maybe a little seedy but nothing awful, right. But what if one of those women turns up dead? He's a little more suspicious now....

I'm going to avoid telling you any more about the plot, as I think that might spoil the adventure.

The characters weren't likeable. This isn't a book about good people doing bad things. It is a book about bad people doing bad things, at least in my opinion. There was something endearing about that though. There was no trying to hide from reality.

The husband, our narrator, is a tennis coach. His wife an estate agent. The story of their first meeting is adorable and their life seems pretty perfect at first glance. Two children, a gorgeous house in a gated community.

But what could possibly go wrong?

You'll have to read this for yourself to find out!

My Lovely Wife will be published in May 2019.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK (Michael Joseph) and Samantha Downing for the opportunity to read My Lovely Wife in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis intrigued me... but I found My Lovely Wife to be a very slow read, that seemed to take sometime to deliver the story and read through the first half of the book.

This is sadly “A not for me, but I know others will love it”

This is a well written book however the story didn’t grab me like I expected. I was disappointed with how slow the story moved. It came across as though. Millicent was the driving force behind their secret but you only have the story from a very unmotivated POV. It’s almost as though he was participating with reluctance. Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind to read this book but I found myself looking for excuses to not read.

Thank you! Before I settled down with this book I was beginning to think that I'd lost the ability to enjoy a book! So many of my recent reads have been disappointing, but, not this one!
Hold onto your seat though, this is a killer! I felt guilty enjoying it so much as it's soooo bad, but, soooo good.

This is a riveting, engrossing tale about a couple who have been married for 15 years and have 2 children, they also have a secret extracurricular activity that involves the husband luring young women...I don't want to say anymore as it would spoil what is an edge of your seat thriller and the intrigue and relationship between the wife and the husband is so absorbing. The kids are a bit odd too!

It's not perfect and there are some incredible coincidences, but, it kept me hooked and I read in one sitting. It's shocking, disquieting, mesmerising and more. A really, really good read.

Thanks so much to Netgally and the publishers, Penguin UK Michael Joseph, for the opportunity to preview this book in exchange for my honest review.

First for me from this author. won't be the last.
Great book, kept me reading without putting it down.
Twist! loved it! A must read for any thriller lover!!

Thanks to the publisher and net galley for an early release of this book.

Brilliant plot, excellent main characters that you invest in. I read this book in one sitting and I would highly recommend it.

Samantha Downing has the type of mind that would scare and confuse any psychoanalyst.

There are really light, happy stretches; the perfect family meals, children supported through sports and school, loving times between husband and wife. A perfect setting for a light hearted romance.

Then the lights go out. The only way to move through the maze of dark, dank and scary stuff is to crawl and hope the projectiles go over your head and you manage to avoid the bear traps with their sharpened spikes.

The title did make me wary of Millicent from the start. She also seemed a wee bit like a Stepford wife, although she was always the one running the show.

The dead ends in this maze all have 'bet you didn't see that one coming' written in blood. And I didn't.

An excellent read. The stuff nightmares are made of.

I don’t even know where to begin with this book. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book due to the far fetched plot. However the way in which this book was written made this so addictive and chilling. I was worried if this would be a book where the ending was rushed and ruined the book. That was not the case! My lovely wife far exceeded my expectations.

Utterly compelling and horrifying in equal measure. Shows how lives can be manipulated and how the perfect family image can be so deceptive!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book was very good, it's hard to believe its a Debut Novel and I will certainly be looking out for more from Samantha Downing. The story is told from the point of view of the husband. We follow him from when he fell in love with a cold and mysterious woman, Millicent on a flight. We see how their relationship developed and now in the present day they live the typical middle-class life she is a realtor and he is a tennis coach and they have 2 teenage children. However all is not as it seems, they have a very dark hobby. I won't say more as anything further will spoil the reading experience. If you like thrillers then definitely read this book its a solid 5* read.

This book started so good, one of the best starts I've seen lately and I must confess it wasn't bad. However the "twists" was a bit predictable.
Parts in the middle of the book, until the events "took a different turn" the story stalled a bit, but I think overall this was a good thriller and I am glad I read it.
It would have been excellent, 5 stars if Millicent was explored and developed a bit more. But this is a debut and I would be very interested to read a second book from Downing.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

* spoiler alert ** I might be the only person who didn't like this book.
I found it dull and repetitive... such a shame for what sounded like a great idea.
It picked up about three quarters of the way through,but I'd pretty much given up caring by then.
I know it's a pretty far out there idea anyway,to have a married couple as serial killers.... but everything just seemed unlikely.everything.

My Lovely Wife, a chilling thriller about a seemingly ordinary family hiding a dark secret, will grip you and never let go!!

Despite the far-fetched premise, I really enjoyed reading My Lovely Wife. Ms Downing definitely knows how to grab her reader's attention. I was hooked just after reading the first chapter, when a deaf guy meets a stranger in a bar...

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast paced and quick read.

Many thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

#My lovely Wife#Netgalley
oh my god you really can’t miss this book, after a read the first chapter and Jane really caught my attention, a dark twisted plot you will devour in one sitting. It’s not just about serial killer it’s about, neighbors family and friends. You really think you know people and true every marriage has its own secrets, this is just literally a unputtable down book. If you don’t read this book you will regret it. I believe it’s going to be one of the most talked about books this year. Superb book absolutely fantastic