Review: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Hidden Oaks has fallen victim to a serial killer, again. Years after his release from prison for torturing and killing a series of young women, Owen Riley appears to have resurfaced. The women of Hidden Oaks are now on guard, prompted by a warning letter sent to the media from the killer. As the clock ticks down to the day Owen has claimed he will abduct another woman, the police and gossips alike are desperate to find Owen. Only one couple seems to be immune to the scandal, perhaps because they know more about the victims than they should.

When book covers claim that their contents are a marriage of two of your favourite things, you can’t help but pick them up. Heralded as ‘Dexter (the killer, not the cartoon, to clarify) meets Gone Girl’, I was hooked before I started. So, it was with great satisfaction that I got what was promised – a dark tale of deception, murder and a little psychosis. If you enjoy your murder mysteries with a touch of darkness and a dash of sexiness, you will not be disappointed in this offering. My Lovely Wife is the likeable over-achiever of the genre – fast-paced, unpredictable, intriguing, and a little glamorous.

I love a good dash of noir, and this book is delightfully dark. Equally worthy of praise is the sheer deception that has gone into the plot – there are so many twists you may just find yourself trying to predict the outcome only to be turned around so much you come full circle. There is a pure, innocent joy in not being able to predict the outcome of a story – in being so immersed, and so thoroughly fooled, that you’re forced to follow the breadcrumbs left by the writer. Samantha Downing has demonstrated her talent for the unconventional – for a dark story with heaps of tension that remains fresh, enjoyable and highly entertaining throughout – what a triumph!

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing is published by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House.