The plot is conveyed beneath a veil of claustrophobia in this somewhat grim novel since everyone is imprisoned in their own private emotional universe. Even a smidgeon of kindness and childlike innocence fails to untie this Gordian knot. We follow Lea and Harry through thier realtionships and some ups and downs we have chapter going to the past and in the present day. The description make this book very eerie as you are following these The timeline then switches between the past, with puzzling circumstances as Lea suspects Harry of keeping secrets, and the present, as Lea tries to stay in hiding and does whatever is necessary to protect her son. (Hint: Don’t get in her way!) Art is trying to help Mimi find love in the tune of an altrgorohim. I found this an easy read but wasn't truly invest I'm the characters. For me the pacing is slow and I haven't felt a connect to Mimi or Art. I feel at times this book is a bit long winded. I was excited to read the book because I liked the premise. Unfortunately, I had difficulty with this book. The lost wife' was fun to read and I want to say a big thank you to @netgalley for this review copy!

MY THOUGHTS: I really wanted to love this, just as I loved this author's previous book, The Girl Upstairs, but unfortunately it just didn't happen. OK, so firstly, THAT alone brings the rating down for me. Why kill an animal so brutally? Why kill it at all? To me, it is senseless. I know it fitted in with the context of the story and by the end it did make a whole lot of sense but still...killing a dog, let alone bashing its head in with a shovel, is a big no no and my rating down will reflrect this. The author has written a relatively suspenseful novel, but spoiled by the amount of repetition it contains, and whingeing. Lordy, Lea is a whinger! 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,' is the saying that comes to mind. It is told over two timelines, the present and one year earlier.Beginning with a shadowy, unsettling scene of a desperate woman and child fleeing into the night, ‘The Lost Wife’ tugs at your curiosity right from the start. Written with an impressive chilling tone, the story is enthralling as it takes you on a roller coaster of unexpected twists and turns. The author smoothly transitions between timelines, providing an intriguing juxtaposition of how the past informs the fractured present. There's not a great deal of happiness in The Lost Wife, not exactly what you'd expect with a wedding in the offing. Emily seems to follow a predictable pattern- on Mondays the odors from Emily’s Italian dinner waft upstairs so Suzie cooks a frozen lasagne on Mondays. On Tuesdays is an eggy dish of some kind, Wednesdays Emily goes for the meats. Thursday through Sunday is dedicated to drinking wine with Chinese takeaway on Saturday night. When Emily goes missing Suzie may be the one person who knows her the best. After all, she has heard everything through the thin walls and floors. Everything. Suzie may be the only one to be able to save her.

This past story follows Leah as she finally prepares to marry her successful partner Harry who’s also the father of her child and from the instant he proposes things start to unravel and further escalate as they reach full momentum. Leah is largely dissatisfied with her current life but trying to convince herself she’s not and Harry who is secretive and becoming increasingly controlling. Ms. Lees has written two psychological thrillers. The bucolic, unrefined English countryside and the gritty, congested London streets serve as inspiration for her stories. In the first of her novels, The Girl Upstairs, we start learning about the complicated, passive/aggressive relationship between downstairs Suzie and upstairs Emily.

Creative Play

Fantastic book! Big praise to the author because I did not see that coming! Fantastic plot and well written. Could not put it down.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lea loves Harry...or at least she's convinced she does. Just as she has convinced herself she is happy when it is clear she is not. Nothing in her life has turned out the way she thought and she finds herself a mother too young and tied down at twenty six. She is largely dissatisfied and has no idea what to do about it. I hardly think marrying Harry is the solution but she seems to think it is. But Harry isn't who she thinks he is...and he has become increasingly secretive and controlling. Fantastic book! Big praise to the author because I did not see that coming! Fantastic plot and well written. Could not put it down.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What a twisty story! I genuinely had no idea how this was going to end! A dark domestic thriller, where nobody is who they seem. Easily Ms. Lees' best one yet.' My first read by Lees and I would give her another read in the future. Just no killing of dogs, PLEASE!! EXCERPT: Do you know what I loved most about you, Harry? It was how little you spoke; you were all actions instead of words. You'd leave arguments before they even began. You'd kiss me instead of telling me you loved me. You'd not come home if you were mad at me. I got more from your actions than I ever did from your words, but they could not save you - save us - in the end.I enjoyed the way the author wrote this book. For example, without spoilers of course, the author uses a duel timeline and moves the past closer to the present throughout the book. It never jumps around which makes it a lot easier to comprehend and follow. The novel begins with a love story: Harry and Lea are getting married, but things are not as perfect as they appear. Harry is constantly at work and seems to be concealing something, but what? Lea wonders what her life might be like if she had made a different decision. Ms. Lees’s following thriller, After the Party, is an equally suspenseful, edgy book full of obsessions and secrets. Forever three years Lizzie has been in love with Dean. They are colleagues but he’s never given her a second look.