By: Valerie Keogh
Narrator: Rose Robinson
ISBN: 9781805494447
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: 11/06/2024
Format: e-book
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
An explosive NEW thriller that will leave you shocked! Meet The Wives...
Lies, secrets, deadly decisions…
When Natasha meets Daniel, she knows her life is made. Rich, handsome and charming, Daniel will make the perfect husband. Even if she won’t make the perfect wife…
She is thrilled when Daniel suggests an all-expenses paid cruise for Natasha, her friends, Barbara, Tracy Ann and Michelle, and their husbands. What better way to show everyone that Natasha has finally made it?
But as the ship sets sail, she learns that far from being the perfect husband, Daniel has terrible secrets that are about to be revealed. And each of the wives has their own reasons for wanting him dead.
This trip might cost more than any of them ever imagined…
A gripping new story from the psych thriller queen that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Perfect for fans of Frieda McFadden, J.A. Baker and Sue Watson.
My Review
Bestselling author Valerie Keogh returns, following The Mother with her latest scandalous domestic suspense, THE WIVES — Four friends and husbands take a seven-day cruise together. Explosive lies and secrets begin to unravel with dangerous consequences and a trip that may cost more than ever imagined.
Best friends. Perfect marriages. A holiday to DIE for...
About...
Natasha is thirty-eight years old, single, and enjoys being a career woman (nurse in charge of the intensive care unit). She has always been independent and never cared about getting married or having children.
Her three friends, Barbara (Ralph), Tracy-Ann (Blake) and Michele (Don) met at university are all married with children. None of them work outside the home except for Barbara, who works part-time as a hospital secretary, and others are stay-at-home moms.
Then everything changes when Natasha meets the charming, rich, charismatic, and dangerously exciting investment banker Daniel at an exclusive art gallery opening. They begin dating immediately, and Daniel wows her with the best restaurants and his large penthouse.
He wants her to move in, then talks her into quitting her job (as most control freaks do), and then a marriage proposal. It happens so quickly. Then, she introduces him to her friends and their husbands. The only issue was a prenup with specific stipulations, but Natasha moved ahead blindly.
After the marriage, Daniel suggests they go on a posh cruise to Zanzibar on the Duchess Mary and take her friends and husbands as their treat.
However, things do not go as planned, and they are stuck on a ship off the coast of East Africa for seven long days.
Had Natasha brought a viper into their friendship group?
Is Natasha the only one in the dark? What are her friends keeping from her? Daniel is not who he seems. Do we know our friends?
Is one ship big enough to hold all these secrets and scandals?
My thoughts...
These questions will keep you on the edge of your seat, unraveling the complex relationships on this ill-fated cruise. The plot twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end, making THE WIVES a wicked, shocking, and unpredictable read with a twist.
If you call these friends, I would hate to have enemies! TRUST NO ONE...
Hold on tight for this wild ride! The question isn't whether someone will murder Daniel, but who will it be and how? There is plenty of why, but whodunit and howdunit? The plot twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end, making it a thrilling, complex, and unpredictable read.
Will it be the wife, one of the other 3 wives, or 3 husbands? Everyone has their motives and agenda. Get in line. There may be some others that need to be murdered before it is over.
Stay away from men like Daniel. Evil narcissistic charmers— the devil in disguise. He has plenty of enemies. Daniel must meet with Kaira Rouda's narcissistic Paul Strom (The Second Mrs. Strom or Best Day Ever to compare their devious blackmail plans. However, Paul might outlive Daniel.
The question is, who has the most to gain? You must read to find out why.
Also, Natasha's friends are not so lovely. Watch your back. Everyone is keeping dirty secrets, and I could not believe that someone did not murder a few people or throw them overboard from the Duchess Mary on DAY ONE.
Told from the wives' POVs: (Natasha, Barbara, Tracy Ann, Michelle). THE WIVES is full of dysfunction, lies, secrets, deceit, affairs, lust, greed, drama, and plenty of unlikeable characters, making it difficult to figure out whom to root for (maybe Natasha, even though she was a little naive). The author gets an A for creating some despicable characters in this entertaining, complex popcorn thriller. The only thing missing was the dark humor I adore.
You would never catch me on a cruise. No way. Not my thing.
Recs...
THE WIVES is for fans of the author and Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, Miranda Rijks, Emily Shiner, and Keri Beevis.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for a gifted, advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. #CoverLove
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Nov 6, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Praise
‘Keogh is the queen of compelling narratives and twisty plots’
—Jenny O'Brien
'A wonderful book, I can’t rate this one highly enough. If only there were ten stars, it’s that good. Valerie Keogh is a master story-teller, and this is a masterful performance.'
—Bestselling author Anita Waller
'Keogh is no. 1 for a reason, and this is another perfect slice of domestic noir. A definite 5 stars.'
—Bestselling author, Keri Beevis
About the Author
Valerie Keogh is the best-selling author of The Nurse. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and a huge black cat, Fatty Arbuckle. She grew up reading Agatha Christie and initially wrote crime novels - she now writes psychological thrillers.
The Little Lies was shortlisted for the Crime Fiction Lovers Award 2021
Valerie has a BA in English and an MA in American Literature.
She is currently published with Boldwood Books.
Order of publication:
Deadly Sleep (2016)
Twisted Power (2016)
Bitter Business (2017)
Wicked Secret (2018)
Secrets Between Us (2018)
The Housewife (2019)
The Dublin Murder Mysteries (2020)
The Three Women (2020)
The Perfect Life (2020)
The Little Lies (2020)
The Lies He Told (2021)
The Couple in the Photograph (2021)
A Taste of Deceit (2022)
The Lodger (2022)
The Widow (2022)
The Trophy Wife (2023) (previously published as Exit Five from Charing Cross)
The Librarian (2023)
The Nurse (2023)
The Lawyer (2023) (previously published as The Deadly Truth)
The Housekeeper (2023)
The Mistress (2024)
The Mother (2024)
The Wives (2024)
