I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I didn't see the twist coming and it's not what I was expecting. It did feel slightly unbelievable and forced, but it was written well which still made it enjoyable. The characters were well written which made me develop some strong feelings towards certain characters. I would be very interested to read some more from this author in the future.

Thank you Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for this ALC. This was published September 2023.

I know her husband killed her. And I’m going to make him pay…

This is my first job as a housekeeper, but Evan Warner doesn’t need to know that. It’s the first of many lies I’ll tell him. He just lost his wife, Lola , and now he and his young daughter Jessica are adrift. But no amount of cleaning will rid this house of the secrets that have seeped into the cracks. I never forgave Lola for what she did to me. But I can’t let Evan get away with her murder.

This was a 3.5 stars for me. It was a quick read with a good amount of suspense and twists. I would agree with other readers that if you enjoy Freida McFadden or Kiersten Modglin, you will enjoy Emily Shiner's style of writing. I thought she did a nice job of packing a lot of story into 296 pages and not leaving out needed details. There was some predictability but overall a quick, fun read!

This was a slow read for me. For some reason I couldn't get into it. Maybe because I could see the plot coming a mile or way. Or maybe it's how the characters were written.

I have mixed feelings about The Wife in the Photo. I found the story engaging and there were some surprises that I did not see coming. But, I had an audiobook version of this book and I did not enjoy the narrators, and in particular, the male narrator, I enjoyed the story enough to stick with it but had the story been less compelling, I suspect I would not have made it through..

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Wife in the Photo by Emily Shiner Narrated by Todd Kramer and Kate Handford was an excellent psychological thriller that was packed with great twists and turns throughout that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. Once I started to listen to this audiobook it was hard to turn off as it gripped me from the beginning till the very end. It was an outstanding audiobook/book and the narrators Todd Kramer and Kate Handford were superb, they made this book.

I highly recommend this book. I loved it!

Big thank you to netgalley, Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for this amazing ARC in exchange for my review!

3⭐️⭐️⭐️
.
.
.
Thankyou netgalley for the arc copy of this book for honest review.
.
.
.
.
I got to be honest, the only thing that it doesn’t have a stars as much as I like to is the genre. It doesn’t have thriller into it but yet it’s a good story if you love stories about the democrat or government. To be honest I’m lost at some point .
This book is not for me I’m afraid ☺️


❤️shaye.reads

This book was certainly a page turner in the beginning. However, I struggled about half way through because one of main characters acted in a way that was frustrating and couldn't keep my suspension of disbelief from screaming 'What are you doing?!' I finished the book albeit with many sighs and eye-rolls.
I would recommend this book if you want a simple page turner that doesn't require much critical thinking.
Spoiler Alert:
I do not understand how Aerial can be plotting this for months and yet would be so careless as to lose track of time. One would think that if you had the job of housekeeper you would figure out that you can thoroughly snoop/investigate one room a day.
Ok, you forget the first time around when Evan finds you with all the photos, you stumble a bit because you're eager and excited. But! What about the other times, you 'lose track of time' again! Then put a timer or alarm on your phone. Heck, the last scene at the house when you are not supposed to be there you 'forget' to turn your phone to silent. This is just ridiculous and frustrating.

I really enjoyed this audio book. I read parts of the book for myself and then listened to other parts as I drove. It’s definitely an edge of your seat read and causes a lot of questions in your head.

Family fallouts, false accusations and twisted minds. This story was told from different viewpoints and diary style entries. It is hard to figure out who is telling the truth. The harsh reality is that all the characters are twisted so even at the end you’re still not sure who really was to blame.

What the AF did I just read???? Totally not in a good way sitting on the edge of my chair biting my nails…but in a why in the world did I not DNF after Chapter 1???

At the start of the story, we are introduced to the soon-to-be dead Lola. How did she die you may ask? She was pushed down the stairs of a back porch deck. Now this seems rather odd to me. I’ve never seen back porch decks with more than five stairs unless they are overlooking a beach with possible high tide, but that may be just my West Coast experience. So, I found it incredibly hard to break your neck this way. However, Lola is dead and we quickly meet her daughter Jessica and cheating-no-good husband Evan.

Evan is conveniently the town police chief and the epitome of everything that embodies toxic masculinity. He even has an affair with a young dispatcher that screams workplace sexual harassment. As the reader wonders who pushed Lola we are introduced to her diary and the diary of her daughter Jessica along with Evan’s egotistical monologues. Of course, he cannot handle his home and teenage daughter solo due to the important “man things” he is doing and decides to hire a housekeeper.

And here enters Ariel, who is far more invested in the Warner’s lives than she lets on. From the beginning it is obvious what her relationship is to the deceased Lola. I didn’t need the “pushing the oven in with her hip” analogy. We get it…its obvious. Also, please, the bounce back in forth in diaries and big reveal of the psychotic teenager is just laughable. The end of this book had me in tears wondering why I wasted so much of my life finishing it. Absolutely should be a DNF.

Lola died when she fell down the stairs. Close case no one was home and she was found. Leaving her husband police chief Evan and her 14 year old daughter to navigate through life without her.

Things are not going well for the pair and he just needs help. Enters Ariel a highly recommended house keeper to help with the house and dinners for the pair.

Ariel however was watching the house since the death of Lola and is out to prove he had something to do with her death and when she's alone in the house she is trying to find any and all evidence to put him away and protect the daughter.

I started this while driving and I just wanted to keep listening but couldn't there was multi pov from the past and current timelines to help solve was there a crime? Some twist you can guess others was out of left field and as all thrillers I guess you have to read it to find out what happen

Thank you Netgalley for this Audio Arc in exchange for my honest Review.

A new housekeeper comes to discover the horrifying truth above the previous wife. Knowing something is wrong but unable to prove it makes for an uncomfortable and terrifying tale.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a good listen, fast paced with interesting characters. The twists were somewhat predictable but still enjoyable! The narrators were good as well.

I really enjoyed listening to The Wife in the Photo by Emily Shiner. A fast-paced story of a wife who dies by falling down stairs and the husband and daughter she left behind. What really happened to Lola? Did she fall or was she pushed? And who really is the new housekeeper Ariel and what secrets is she hiding? Expect some great surprises at the end. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the Advance Review Copy.

#NetGalley #TheWifeinthePhoto

Wow, this one was a nail biter full of doubts and suspense. My only gripe with the book is that I wasn't completely clear on who exactly was guilty and wicked at the end. It was obvious with one of the characters but not the other. I like my conclusions spelled out for me and this one definitely didn't do that. However, this is a really, really great book. I found myself so nervous in the scenes where the main character is creeping around the house investigating and when the drama came to a head. These types of domestic thrillers are my absolute favorite and this one really delivered. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The storyline was predictable and a bit far fetched at the end. Complicated connections all with the same motive. Didn't like the male narrator, sounded robotic and not plausible at all. If you like murder whodunnits then you will like this. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lola Warner's last thoughts as she tumbles down the stairs to her death is that someone pushed her and the last thing she sees is him standing above her.

Evan Warner is the town's chief of police but he is not holding it together after his wife's sudden death; the house is a mess, they aren't eating and his sullen teenage daughter, Jessica, is out of control... they need help. At the suggestion from his assistant he hires Ariel to cook and clean up the house. Little do they know, Ariel has her own motives for taking this job and her primary focus is to protect Jessica and prove Evan killed his wife. She knows that Evan and Lola's relationship was on the rocks after he had been having an affair and that Lola was leaving him but she must find the proof that he killed her to hide his secrets. As suspicions grow, truths are revealed and no one trusts each other but before the end someone else will end up dead.

This was a decent mystery with a back and forth plot of who done it and who will figure out the others secrets first. It is told from the POV of Evan and Ariel with journal entries from Lola and Jessica. None of the characters are overly likeable which works since they are all keeping secrets. I found the story's pacing to be pretty good until the ending which was over the top. Most of the "twists" were predictable. The one that I didn't see coming felt out of place and unrealistic. Also plot holes were all over... how does a police chief never engage in breaking up a fight even while on duty? Overall this a decent thriller but you probably already know who did it! I had the audio version read by Todd Kramer and Kate Handford, who both were easy to listen to. I preferred Kate's reading because Todd's female voices came off as whiney and mischaracterized.

Oh wow! This one really had me hooked! I enjoyed the narration and despite guessing correctly who murdered the wife there were so many surprises to follow! It’s a whirlwind of a plot and the characters are interesting, either likeable or not!
I didn’t find myself drifting at any point, I was engaged through the whole audiobook so I have high praise for Emily Shiner’s imagination and skill as a writer. Yes, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving this audiobook your time if you enjoy suspense. My thanks to Bookoutre for granting me a copy in exchange for my review.

This was quite the domestic family thriller. Sometimes family dramas are a miss for me, but the thriller aspect definitely puts a unique spin on things. The Freida McFadden comparison in the description is spot on.

Evan and Jessica are trying to find their way after the death of their wife/mother Lola. Evan brings in a housekeeper who is determined to prove that Lola’s death was not an accident. I had the murderer figured out pretty quickly, but I definitely didn’t expect everything that happened in the last 20% of this one.

I enjoyed the narration. I like when audiobooks have a male and female narrator, it gives more to the story being able to differentiate voices.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookoutoure for my ALC of this book.

The Wife in the Photo
by Emily Shiner
Narrated by Todd Kramer, Kate Handford

The Wife in the Photo grabbed my attention from the first page, and held tight throughout while I tried to figure out exactly what happened to Lola, and what secrets everyone had. Halfway through, I was still finding new pieces to the puzzle...Emily Shiner has created a thoroughly complex, satisfying page-turner that kept me listening well into the evening, not wanting to stop listening! Evan and Jessica are learning how to keep living after the mysterious death of Evan's wife and Jessica's mom, Lola. Ariel enters their life with ulterior motives. and she wants to save Jessica from Evan, whom Ariel is convinced is the one that pushed Lola to her death...but is that what really happened??

The narrators were good, though I felt that Todd Kramer's performance was slightly flat. It didn't keep me from listening and enjoying the story. The narrators brought the story to life, and I can't wait to read more by Ms. Shiner.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and Emily Shiner for the chance to listen to and review this ARC!