Review: My Lovely Wife

Best enjoyed as

I totally missed the window on sharing a chilling beach read, but this is a good one to toss in your carry-on as you board a crowded plane. I don't recommend reading it in a strange hotel room alone---you might get the creeps.

My Lovely Wife is one of the first books I've read in a long time that I would describe as un-put-down-able.

The Author

Author, Samantha Downing, appears to be a newcomer to the suspense market. My Lovely Wife is currently the only title featured on her website and she has another thriller that is due out in 2020.

The Story

Nobody can describe My Lovely Wife without giving something away, but I will do my best to steer clear of spoilers. Our narrator is a suburban dad who gives tennis lessons at a local high-end club in a wealthy community known as Hidden Oaks in Florida. He and his wife, Millicent live in this wealthy subdivision in the shadow of their wealthy clients (for him, tennis students, for her homebuyers.) They have a fourteen year old boy named Rory and a thirteen year old daughter named Jenna.

Our narrator takes his family seriously and he is particularly serious about keeping the spark in his marriage alive even if it takes an occasional blood sacrifice to do it. Nothing seems to stoke the fires of passion for him and Millicent more then stalking a victim and killing her together. So they do it a few times, and for extra flare, revive the terrifying specter of Owen Oliver, Hidden Oaks's original serial killer. It seemed like a small detail to add for zest, but it ends up being the undoing of them all.

This is a must read.

Downing's character development is spot-on and she uses tension and detail masterfully throughout what, as one reviewer described it "This nasty little book." It is a nasty little book, and it's an enjoyable one.