Evan's wife Lola fell down the stairs and died. He is working and dealing with his teen daughter Jessica. He needs some help at home and when a coworker recommends Ariel, he hires her.

Ariel has an ulterior motive. She wants to investigate Lola's death. She thinks Evan is behind it and she thinks Jessica needs protected. It gets a little hectic, and at times you think you know what's up, but you don't.

This one had some twists and turns I didn't see coming and the audio was well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This psychological thriller had so many twists and turns that made me read (and re-read) the last few chapters to make sure I was hearing everything correctly. One of my favorite types of thrillers are those with unreliable characters and that is exactly what you will find through the multiple POV’s within this fast-paced thriller.

Loyal wife and mother, Lola’s body was found lifeless at the bottom of the staircase. With the chief of police for a husband and loving daughter, her death was ruled a simple accident. Except nothing is ever just that simple. Evan (Lola’s husband) began struggling to keep up with parenting, working full time and keeping the house clean so he decided to hire a housekeeper recommended by his coworker. In comes Ariel, a reliable and hard worker who has her own agenda of discovering what really happened the day Lola died. As she learns more about the events leading up to Lola’s death, Ariel realizes her investigating may have unveiled secrets she didn’t want to know.

I truly enjoyed Emily Shiners writing, my biggest gripe was that the setting & plot felt overdone. I would have loved to hear more of Ariel's background throughout the story rather than a big piece at the end. If the first 75% of the story had a bit more excitement and background detail to match the last 25%, I feel this would have been a knock out of the park. That said, the ending did have me on the edge of my seat and the last several chapters really brought the entire story together for me. In terms of the audiobook itself, I did find the female narrator more engaging and dynamic than the male narrator but overall I feel the audiobook was really well done and it had me engaged the entire time! I hope to read more from Emily!!

Overall, I think the plotting and premise of the book is spot on. I love the twist and thought it was original.

However, the writing felt a little repetitive and robotic. The narrator for Evan made it feel especially choppy. I thought the narrator for Jessica was great.

With a little refinement, I think this could have been an excellent book. I would read books by this author in the future.

Oh my god this one went by so quickly. I could not believe what happened in this book. I did find it a little unbelievable at the end. I enjoyed that everyone was a but unreliable and you weren't sure who to trust. I was shocked that Jessica was responsible for killing her mom! She plotted everything out and it was a bit unbelievable that the dad would cover it all up when multiple people ended up involved. I also knew that "Ariel" had to be related or closer to the family than we initially knew. I think it wasn't anything super special but enjoyable. The narrator kept my attention and was enjoyable.

A very quick read/listen but my oh my... what in a lifetime-movie-low-budget-plot is going on?
The premise was there and trust me it was a promising plot but the execution is just not it.

Rating: ⭐

"The Wife in the Photo" by Emily Shiner left me deeply unsatisfied. I had high hopes for this book, but it failed to deliver on several fronts.

I was so eager to stop reading (DNF) it, but I decided to give it a chance and listened to it at 2x speed, hoping for improvement. Unfortunately, my experience did not improve.

The most glaring issue was the characters. Throughout the story, they displayed a frustrating lack of common sense, making it difficult to connect with or root for any of them. Their actions and decisions often felt forced and unnatural.

The climax of the novel was a bewildering experience. It left me with more questions than answers, as the events seemed to unfold in a way that was not only confusing but also inconsistent with the characters' established behaviors. It left me wondering why anyone would behave in such a way, and it ultimately left me disconnected from the story.

SPOILER ALERT:


One particularly perplexing moment was the reaction of the father, who also happened to be a police officer, towards his daughter. His over-the-top response seemed out of character and added to the overall sense of disbelief that pervaded the narrative.

What truly baffled me was the father's decision to cover up his daughter's murders, even after she killed basically everyone, including people he loved. This choice made no sense within the context of the story and further contributed to my dissatisfaction.

In summary, "The Wife in the Photo" failed to meet my expectations. The characters' lack of intelligence, the confusing climax, and the inexplicable actions of the characters left me with a one-star rating and a sense of disappointment. I regret not giving in to the temptation to stop reading it altogether.

The audiobook I listened to was exceptional, as it kept me at the edge of my seat throughout with its remarkable psychological thriller genre. The element of mistrust among the characters was intriguing, and the presence of multiple narrators and perspectives aided in the seamless transition of the plot.

Hey Siri, please play “No Body, No Crime” by Taylor Swift.

Right, now we’ve got the right back music, let’s talk about The Wife In The Photo by Emily Shanter, shall we?

Evan Warner needs help. He and his daughter, Jessica, are struggling to cope after the death of his wife, Lola, and the house has become too much. He needs a housekeeper. Someone to take the pressure off for a while. So, when his PA at work mentions Ariel, someone from her church who would be perfect as his temporary housekeeper, he jumps at the chance.

But Ariel isn’t who she says she is. She knows that Lola’s death wasn’t a tragic accident. She’s positive that Evan killed Lola. And she’s going to prove it…

I am genuine torn on this one. Because, on the one hand, this did exactly what I wanted – a twisty, edge of your seat, perfect holiday thriller with a cat and mouse element to it, from all four points-of-view (Ariel and Evan are the main two, but we get little glimpses of Lola’s and Jessica’s diaries, and these add an extra layer to the story, which I like as these diary entries do make you second-guess what you think is going on and what’s going to happen next.

And on the other… it’s really predictable (I mean, really predictable. I mean, I saw nearly all the twists coming a mile away. Plus, the reveals were always revealed in really strange places – I mean, most authors would have revealed them at end of chapters as cliffhangers and that would make you keep reading. But here, they were revealed either halfway through a chapter or a few paragraphs into a chapter and it was very unsettled as it was really in a nonchalant way). Also, this is very repetitive. It’s the repetitiveness that really got to me in the end. How many times a chapter – no, a paragraph – do we need to told something? It was bashed over the head time and time again. If it was just one character that did this, I would be a little forgiving, but we got this from all four points-of-view.

It's a fun, popcorn thriller that makes perfect summer reading, but the repetition and the lack of surprising twists lets this down for me.

A little slow to start but picks up quickly. So many good twists and turns that you don’t see coming.

The male reader in this audio book was totally without emotion….absolutely flat affect, as if he was reading a grocery list. So as listener,  I internally groaned when it was his turn to represent characters. But that had nothing to do with how exciting the story itself was.
   You realize at the introduction of the characters, there were connections between them that were part of the evolution of the mystery but the listener had to wait for it to be exposed.
   There were exciting scenes that produced anxious moments that had me holding my breath.
   What was most interesting was how your opinion of the characters shifted as you learned more about their history and what they were hiding.
   Domestic thriller? Psychological thriller? I couldn’t categorize……..just an intense storyline that kept you glued to your headset.

A domestic thriller full of drama, secrets and betrayals keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to read more.

The Wife in the photo was an intriguing read. Stepping into the house the newly hired maid thinks she knows who killed Lola and she’s determined to make them pay for it. But can she keep her own identity a secret while trying to uncover what happened to Lola while trying to keep Lola’s daughter safe.

3.75 stars

This was a fun but reasonably predictable domestic thriller. I saw the end coming right away, and although some of the details were a fun surprise, I wasn’t particularly shocked by some of the bigger twists. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and that’s at least in part because of the semi-predictable patterns that many books in this genre follow.

The Wife in the Photo is a deliciously creepy psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! It's definitely a one sitting read!

Was Lola's death by misadventure, or was it a well-planned homicide? With her husband being the Chief of Police, it's unlikely that any questions will be raised.

After a few days, it's become clear that Evan and their daughter, Jessica, are completely incapable of running a household and making meals. Evan's ultra-capable secretary, Miriam, is very helpful in finding a housekeeper.

Ariel is a gem. The house is spotless within a few days, and the meals are delicious. However, there's just something about her that sets Evan on edge. Just who is Ariel, anyway?

I would highly recommend this title to anyone who loves psychological thrillers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital audio copy of this book from Net Galley.

#TheWifeinthePhoto#EmilyShiner#NetGalley

3.5⭐️

The beginning and middle felt very slow and though there seemed to be events happening quite frequently the frequency of the book fell flat for me in a lot of ways. The last half picked up and had some good twists. Overall it was good but I’m not sure I would be lining up for another book by Shriner.

This story is told from 4 different POV’s Evan (husband,father, and cop), Lola (wife/mother), Jessica (daughter), and Arial (housekeeper). Evan and Jessica Warner have just lost their wife/mom Lola and are learning how to live without her. Although the circumstances of her death were “deemed” an accident it’s insinuated that may not be the case. You hear from Evan and how he is trying to keep everything so close and not wanting to let a secret he is keeping out. Lola kept a diary that she reads throughout the story talking about her marriage with Evan fell apart. Evan needed some help around the house with the cooking, cleaning, and laundry so he decided to hire some help.

Ariel takes a new job as a house keeper working for the Warner household. Ariel makes it clear in the beginning of the story to the readers that she is there to get close to Jessica to protect her. She was close to or knew Lola in the past, but it’s unclear in the beginning how. She wants to get close to Jessica, but neither Evan nor Jessica make it easy for her. Arial believes that Lola was murdered and wants to prove it.

I listened to The Wife in the Photo by Emily Shiner and wow was it good. It took me a minute to get into it, but once I did I had to know what happened. So many twists and turns all the way up until the very end. Read this book if you like psychological thrillers, split personalities, multiples POV’s, family secrets, and lots of twists and turns. Thank you to Bookoutre Audio and NetGalley for letting me listen to this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Meh is my feeling on this one…a few twisty turns especially at the end but I had this one figured out quickly. It went a bit off the rails at the end but that didn’t improve my rating. Thank you netgalley for the arc!

This story is really good and gripping until the twist towards the end which I can’t really go into too many details without giving too many spoilers, but it’s totally random and could really have been written in a more believable way.
Apart from that the actual ending is also pretty good as the rest of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me review this audiobook for an honest review.

I really wanted to like The Wife in the Photo, but this one fell short for me. I think it was more personal & I just wasn't feeling the narrator. Some of the characters really got on my nerves but I pushed through. The ending was alright. I felt like it was lacking something. Again, this is just my perspective & this book just wasn't for me currently.

I'll give Emily Shiner another chance & read a book I already picked up.

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I loved the different points of view from this, jumping from one perspective to another, of the same situation at times was very captivating. A fantastic read if you like page-turning thrillers!

What starts out as a story of a family grieving their wife and mother quickly takes a darker turn, with more twists than I was prepared for! Evan, the rigid police officer father, and Jessica, the teenage daughter with a rebellious streak, hire a housekeeper who is keeping more than one secret. Turns out everyone in this book has something to hide from each other. It will keep you guessing till the very end!