Monday, 11 November 2024

The Wives by Valerie Keogh - #bookreview #blogtour

 


Natasha met Daniel at a gallery opening she'd gone to with a friend. It had been a crowded event, full of minor celebrities posing for cameras trying to look as if they understood, or even liked, the garishly coloured artwork that had been chosen for the opening...

***

The Blurb

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…


My Review

I have previously read and enjoyed a few of Valerie Keogh's books, and so I jumped at the opportunity to read this when I was offered an early reader's copy for the blog tour.

 I think this is her best one yet and I was gripped from the first page to the last. It is the story of Natasha meeting Daniel. He is charming, caring and charismatic and they marry very quickly. His generosity appears to know no bounds and when he offers to pay for them both along with all of Natasha's friends and their husbands to go on a cruise, Natasha is all the more enamoured with him.

However, it is on the cruise that Natasha begins to see a different side to Daniel, who has dark secrets to hide. Equally it seems her friends have secrets too, and Natasha sees a different side to all of them, and of herself.

This made for an exciting read. Ms Keogh writes extremely well and knows how to increase the tension with the turn of every page. Being set on a cruise ship, I could really feel the sense of claustrophobia that the characters were experiencing. 

The chapters vary in their point of view. Most are written from Natasha's perspective, but there are also chapters written by her friends, Michelle, Barbara and Tracy Ann. This varied perspective gave the book immediacy as I was able to understand the feelings of the different women from their own viewpoint.

The story is loaded with secrets, lies and deceptions, along with some marvellous twists and turns in the plot. This was a five star read for me and I highly recommend it.

If you would like to read my thoughts on the books I have previously read by Valerie Keogh please click on the title links.





Book Details


ISBN: 978 1805494416

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  296 (paperback)


Purchase Links




About the Author

valerie keogh author photo

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.

You can also find Valerie at:







(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)
(all opinions are my own)

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