I have to say that Anna-Lou Weatherley did it again. I got hooked on the Detective Dan Riley series from the first one, Black Heart, and she just continues to make them better and better. We start with Darcie, who is a local hero but also ends up missing. There are multiple timelines and multiple POVs which just add to the suspense. We start to dive into her past and realize what she has endured and it makes it scary to think what could be happening to her as she is currently missing. There aren't many leads and the police, and Detective Dan Riley, who is putting his family life in jeopardy, keep ending up with more questions the more they start to uncover.

I think this might have been the best in the series so far. There was so much going on but Anna-Lou Weatherley made it literally, un-put-downable. I liked being able to see the team again and how they interacted with one another to put the case together and try to save the day. The character development continued to be excellent and I thought this one was fantastic.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Anna-Lou Weatherley for the eARC of The Housewife's Secret in exchange for an honest review. Publication date for The Housewife's Secret by Anna-Lou Weatherly is set for 12 January 2024. Grab your copy of the next Detective Dan Riley case!

The Dan Riley series are one of my favourite series. So easy to get stuck into with fast paced plots. The Housewife 's secret was no different.

This time, Dan in on the case of a missing woman, Darcie who seems to have no history. The leads are few and far between but Dan's team and his instinct help him to start peeling back the layers of this complex case.

Just in time for Dan to arrive on his family holiday (albeit a week late!)

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

What a book! Was totally gripped and it allowed me to take my mind off the excessive turbulence of the flight I was on, in order to devour the second half of this book.

We get to really know missing person Darcie, with her story being told in multiple time lines. I really felt sorry for her and her past, and was also terrified for her.

And I can't believe that Dan Riley just from hearing the bare bones of this missing persons case, was happy to give up some of his annual leave, when he was due to go on holiday with his family, in order to get stuck into the case. Although I think everyone is glad that he did.

From the police perspective there is initially very little to go on at all, and it was interesting seeing how they investigated. And good to catch up with Dan's team too.

And that conclusion, just wow! I was totally hooked on this book and think it may be the best book so far in the series. Utterly gripping, I couldn't get enough of it.

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

Apparently, this is a series. I didn't know that when I requested the book and read the description of the book on NetGalley. It can be a stand-alone though. I enjoyed Darcie's(MFC) POV the most. The writing is exemplary. The last few chapters I felt were missing more closure. Especially with Darcie & her husband. Maybe a few months later chapter on what has happened since this all transpired.
It's a decently quick read. It's a good book to curl up with on the couch on a rainy day.

Pacy, dark and tense this book is a proper page-turner! It's part of the Dan Riley series, but honestly works great as a standalone as well. In this book, after a measured, slow-burn beginning, the mystery catches fire and it's impossible to stop reading. I especially loved the flashbacks to Darcie's past, deftly interwoven with the current timeline – and heart-stoppingly twisted. And while I did guess whodunit, the tension was so high throughout the book I was never really sure how it would all turn out and hurtled towards the terrifying end. A super enjoyable, sharp and lean read, perfect for classic thriller lovers!

Thanks, Net Galley and Bookouture for the ARC!

Darcie may look like the perfect wife and hostess for a man like her surgeon husband Gabe, but she is hiding secrets that are so huge that at times they feel like they might swallow her up entirely. And it is not just with Gabe's friends that Darcie is playing a part, she has been less than honest with her handsome spouse from the very beginning.

While Gabe knows only that she has had a difficult and complicated relationship with her mother, he has no idea of just how complicated his wife's real story is!

When a good deed involving saving a little girl catapults Darcie into the limelight, complications multiply. And after the arrival of a mysterious missive leads to Darcie's sudden disappearance during a walk with their dog, Gabe seems to be as much in the dark as everyone else...

So, what is really going on here? That is what Detective Dan Riley needs to find out, before something even worse happens.

This is a fast paced and entertaining story, with a decidedly dark side to it, which keeps reader engaged. Although it is part of a series, the book can be read as a stand alone. And there are plenty of surprises along the way! Recommended for lovers of domestic suspense in particular.

This was a fast paced read that kept me hooked from the beginning. The characters were likable and the story line was gripping. I think the ending was a little predictable but I still really enjoyed this book. Being as though this author is from the UK, there was definitely some things I had a hard time understanding but I used common sense and figured what some things meant. Overall, great read !

I've loved all the previous Detective Dan Riley books so I was super excited to get my hands on an eARC of The Housewife's Secret!

I started this book late one afternoon and finished it the next day! From the first page I was a slave to the words in it. I so love Anna-Lou's writing style; always suspenseful and always keeping me wondering and guessing. This story was gripping and had me sleuthing until its explosive end.

Dan Riley is one of my very favourite characters and I feel as though I know him. I wanted to make this book last but I just couldn't! Now it's a long wait for the next one! 😅

Thanks again to NetGalley and Bookouture for an eARC of this book. Expected publication date is 12/1/24

The Housewife's Secret (Detective Dan Riley) by Anna-Lou Weatherley was a riveting and thrilling story that kept me guessing until the very end! It was so exciting to read with all the twists and turns, incredible realistic characters, and intriguing mystery happening. I couldn't put it down. This story is the definition of a page-turner! I loved it!

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Such a great book. So manh twists and turns. How am i supposed to go on with the rest of my day when all i can think about is this book.

Thanks netgalley and bookouture.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren’t influenced by any one else

Darcie meets husband Gabe and makes the perfect housewife, she has told Gabe she has had a difficult time with her mum but he doesn’t know everything, no one does. Some secrets are better left that way, or are they?

Things take a turn for Darcie, and if only people knew her real truth, things would be different, help would be on the way.

This is my first of Detective Dan Riley series, so I am now looking to start with the first of the series as I loved it! If it wasn’t for the time of year, I would have read much quicker haha! Highly recommended

One of my favourite authors and also Det. Dan Riley I just loved this book once again. To be honest it did take me longer than usual to get into the storyline but once in I couldn't put it down, all the characters were good and everything brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC which I can definitely recommend and I look forward to the next one in this series.

This is the first time that I've read a book of Anna-Lou Weatherley and Wow! I am hooked! Darcie has the perfect life. Rich, beautiful, married to a doctor husband who adores her. She lives a quiet life until she saves a little girl's life. This puts her out into the spotlight, where someone from her past catches up with her and Darcie disappears. Detective Dan Riley and his team are assigned to find Darcie. He uncovers Darcie's dark, disturbing past that she's kept so well hidden, until now. Dan's sharp, witty approach leads him to crack the case on where Darcie could be. This psychological thriller shows that some secrets remain buried.... others come back to haunt you.... A must read.

𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅, 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔?

I had no idea this was part of a series, but I was assured it could be read as a standalone, and it easily did. Darcie has worked to escape her past, and she's enjoying life with her husband Ben. While they are hosting another couple for dinner, an anonymous letter arrives in the mail slot, and Darcie knows her perfect life is in jeopardy. When she doesn't return home after walking the dog, police want to know, did she walk away from her life willingly, or was she taken?

There were so many twists and turns in this book, and even though I was able to solve part of the mystery, other parts eluded me until that final shocking end. I'll definitely be checking out the other books in this series. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this early read. This title will publish January 12, 2024.

What a great read. Not only is this a dark thriller about a woman who vanishes walking her dog but also has an amazing back story and I loved delving into Darcie's life and her history and it had a really satisfying ending. Will be on the look out for more by this author.

This was a really exciting read which kept me hooked until the very end. I didn't want to put it down.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What a gorgeous book! The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people. This book has so many gigantic twists in every chapter. And once again I just Loved reading it. I suppose all you need to know is that it’s a cracking action-packed story with a highly satisfactory ending – I really do recommend it.

Rated 4/5 stars
This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I will preface that I had not read any of the other books in the Detective Dan Riley series. However, I had no issue keeping up with the plot/storyline. I think this book could be read as a standalone.
I absolutely devoured this read. That ending was incredible and I could not put the book down. I felt that each chapter ended wanting you to keep wanting more. I love a who-dunnit. I typically can guess the who, but this time around, I couldn’t guess! There were too many options!
I am definitely going to have to go back to read the others in this series.

I loved this book. It was the first Detective Dan Riley book that I have read and now I want to go back and read the rest. Dan is a really relatable character, there is nothing fancy about him, he’s just a normal person trying to do his job the best he can. In this book, he was trying to find Darcie, a missing woman who had potentially been kidnapped. I didn’t guess the ‘who?’ Or the ‘why?’ And it’s good to not always know that until the end.

I’ve never read a Detective Dan Riley book before but I thought this was easy to follow and did not require you to have read the previous ones. I liked the clues along the way. It made it easy to follow along and you can focus on the “who” but the “why” is still kept as a thrilling twist.