REVIEW: The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington (ARC)

The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington

Genre: Psychological thriller

Read: 6th June 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(release date: 27th June 2019)

★★★★ 4 stars

THE MISSING WIFE is quite a different read, but one I actually enjoyed. It was slow in parts and fast in others but it came together rather well. It raised enough questions to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Louisa is approaching 40, a new mum to a tetchy Noah who was an unexpected surprise and she is completely exhausted. She has forgotten what it is like to be a new mother - how exhausting it is, the sleep deprivation - considering her daughter Emily is now a teenager. And despite it all, she loves Noah fiercely. Whether she has forgotten what it is like or she is just getting older, it all seems to be taking a toll on her as she begins to forget things as huge chunks of her day slip by unnoticed. She even forgets when she last fed Noah!

When her best friend Tiff decides she needs something to alleviate the pressure - a pick-me-up of sorts - she arranges a surprise 40th birthday party for her in the hope it will help. But Louisa has always been tight-lipped about her past, so Tiff headed straight to the place where all one's friends are - Facebook. Logging into Louisa's account she then sets to inviting all of her old school friends.

Roping in Louisa's husband Brian, Tiff has him arrange a room at the local pub where Louisa can have a night off, relax and sleep, without baby Noah's constant demands. It sounds heavenly and Louisa can't wait to lay her head down and sleep. But when Tiff suggests she pretty herself up she would take her to dinner, Louisa groans inwardly. She really just wants to sleep.

When Tiff leads her upstairs to where she has a table "booked", Louisa has a sinking feeling...that is only confirmed when she sees balloons tied to the banister declaring "Happy 40th birthday!" This can't be happening. Walking into the room everyone greets her with smiles all round announcing "Happy birthday Louisa!!" Tiff is grinning with pride that she was able to pull this off...while inwardly Louisa seethes.

But the guests are still arriving and who should turn up but Oliver Dunmore, Louisa's first love and his new wife Melissa. He is thrilled to see Louisa again but she is anything but. Her memories of that time of her life are sketchy at best, but what she does remember is Oliver leaving her for university and never coming back. She was devastated. And now he is here? How? And more to the point, why?

Louisa needs to escape. She can't handle all these people and seeing Oliver again is just bringing too much pain back. But she's had too much to drink, mixed with the tablets she took to help her sleep before Tiff dragged her out for "dinner". When she wakes the next day, she has no recollection of what happened or how she got back to her room. By the time she arrives home, she feels anything but refreshed - which had apparently been the whole point of her time away. And then Oliver turns up at her door, the last person she wants to see, informing her that his wife has gone missing!

There is a huge part of Louisa's life from the time when Oliver left that is missing from her memory. She has no idea what happened, only that something did and Oliver left. And now since his return, she is getting flashes of what appears to be memories. But are they delusions? Hallucinations? Or are they memories? But are they from the night of her party, or from twenty years ago?

With so many twists and turns and questions, THE MISSING WIFE will have you wondering who is telling the truth and who isn't? It will have you questioning what secrets are they hiding? It will have you speculating just who can you trust?

The slow unravelling of Louisa's past was almost torturous. The author would give you just a piece and then leave you wondering where it would lead. But it was just enough to keep you turning the pages. Nothing is given away until it is absolutely necessary. And when the moment of revelation came I admit to suspecting as such, but nothing prepared me for that final conclusion.

I found myself questioning that culmination of events that lead to that grand finale. At first, I wondered, was it real? Then was it necessary? And finally, where did that leave Louisa now? But then looking back on it, it's that conclusion that sets it apart and makes it unique. By the end, I found that I thought it an ingenious ending.

Despite the lack of dialogue, THE MISSING WIFE is Lousia's convoluted story of her past and her present and what happens when they collide. While I usually find myself skimming over monologuing and description for dialogue (a personal preference), I didn't so much with this as it was almost like a first person perspective through a third person narrative. I think this book would have done better with Louisa's story in the first person, but it is still an enjoyable read that will have you turning the pages at the rate of knots.

THE MISSING WIFE is my first read by this author but not my last. Some may not like the ending, though after some thought I found it ingeniously clever, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

I would like to thank #SamCarrington, #NetGalley and #AvonBooksUK for an ARC of #TheMissingWife in exchange for an honest review.