Book Review: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

My Lovely Wife

Author: Samantha Downing

Publication Date: 26 March 2019

Genre: Adult – Domestic Suspense/Psychological Thriller

Pages: 374

Publisher: Berkley Publishing

Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…

Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

I honestly do not think that I have said WTF more times while reading a book than I did while reading this one. Samantha Downing’s debut novel is an utterly addictive and chilling thriller that had me completely entranced from the opening chapter.

Millicent and her husband have been married for 15 years. Unlike most couples who decide to indulge in vacations and date nights to spice up the marriage, these two lead double lives by getting off of on selecting females that will ultimately become their next victim (unbeknownst to everyone, including their children). What’s even more bizarre is that these two are the epitome of a ‘normal’, upstanding suburban family. Millicent is an incredibly successful real estate agent selling homes to the upper echelon of their well-respected community, Hidden Oaks. Her husband is a tennis instructor at the local country club. They have two teenagers, Rory and Jenna, who are actively involved in sports, so they alternate who can attend which events.

It is clear that Millicent runs an air tight ship in their household. She is an overly type A personality that also has a lot of control issues. Additionally, she’s cold and unsympathetic to not only her kids but her husband as well. She has certain (absurdly high) expectations, and she’s not willing to compromise on them. Now I’m not saying that the husband is without his faults (because he definitely has them) but at times, I really felt bad for him because I felt that he would do absolutely anything for Millicent since he always believed that she was out of his league.

I really do feel like a terrible human being for saying that I loved watching this sh*tshow unfold. I mean these two were killing innocent women, but I just couldn’t get enough of this book. The only thing that I wasn’t so fond of with this book is that the story is told exclusively from the husband’s point of view. I really wanted a chapter where we get some insight into Millicent’s perspective.

I don’t want to give more away of the plot because you just have to experience this roller coaster for yourself. It is absolutely worth it. I can’t wait to read Samantha’s next book!

Have you read My Lovely Wife? If so, what were your thoughts? Is this on on your TBR? Let’s discuss!