REVIEW: The Second Wife by Rebecca Fleet (ARC)

The Second Wife by Rebecca Fleet

Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller

Read: 15th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 5th March 2020)

★★★★ 4 stars

Everyone brings baggage to a new relationship...but this is on a whole other level!

After the death of his first wife to cancer, Alex Carmichael finally met the woman of his dreams. Natalie is beautiful, smart and appears to be the perfect wife and stepmother to his daughter Jade. Their life in Brighton is perfect and Alex and Natalie couldn't be happier.

One evening, Alex stays late for drinks with a client and returns to find his house on fire. Natalie is unhurt though dazed but there is no sign of Jade. He bursts into the burning building to rescue his unconscious daughter before carrying her outside to safety, barely alive. When 14 year old Jade wakes from her coma she tells her father that she saw a man in the house that night although Natalie refutes this, denying any knowledge of an intruder.

Alex then finds himself faced with an impossible choice - to believe his wife or his daughter? He returns to the burnt remains of his house, surprised to find that it was as badly damaged as it at first seemed, and rummages through Natalie's wardrobe looking for answers. He comes across a box of items belonging to someone called Rachel and a photo in which the woman closely resembles his wife and the man beside her looking decidedly shifty. Now Alex has even more questions. Who is Rachel? Who are the people in the photo? What has this all have to do with his wife and what secrets is she keeping?

Natalie has always been controlled, keeping things close to her chest. She has a past that Alex doesn't know about and when he approaches her with questions and that wretched photo she should have thrown away, she has no alternative to tell him about her past and who she really is.

1999: Rachel lives in a London flat with her younger and free-spirited sister Sadie. Their parents are both dead and from early on Rachel took it upon herself to look after and look out for Sadie. The sisters had grown up inseparable but upon reaching her teens, Sadie morphed into someone different...staying out late, drinking and taking drugs.

One day, the sisters meet the charismatic Kaspar Kashani, who is promoting his new nightclub, and Sadie is instantly taken with him. Rachel knows there is something off about him but Sadie refuses to listen to her reservations and goes to the new club. There she falls in love with Kas and does everything she can to be with him, despite Rachel's warnings.

When things start to get messy and go incredibly wrong, Rachel is there to pick up the pieces of her sister's life once again. But in the process she alienates her even further when she becomes a witness in a trial that will change the course of her life forever. After which, she is given a new identity and a new home away from London to start her life all over again.

Compelling with plenty of twists, I love the way the story is told from several perspectives, including Alex and Natalie, in dual timelines from 1999 and 2017. It keeps you guessing as to exactly what is going on and just who is, or isn't, telling the truth. Although a did find there was a lull when the 1999 narratives began as I wasn't sure where they fit in, it soon picked up pace as the narratives switched back and forth to keep you guessing.

What is the link between Alex and Natalie, and Rachel and Sadie? And who was responsible for the house fire that very nearly claimed Jade's life? Alex is determined to uncover what happened, but is he prepared for the truth?

It is so hard to review THE SECOND WIFE without giving anything away. While at first I was puzzled, the plot soon became obvious and I predicted what was coming from about midway through. But that did not impact on my enjoyment because it is still a wonderfully twisty read that keeps you hooked until the very end.

THE SECOND WIFE is a dark tale of secrets, lies and a twisted obsession that is thrilling, intense, dangerous and addictive. It is like a car crash that you find yourself unable to look away, turning the pages to discover the truth and what Natalie has been hiding.

My first book by Rebecca Fleet, THE SECOND WIFE gripped me from the beginning and I found myself invested deeply in Alex and Natalie's story and wanting to uncover the truth. So many whispers of doubt alluded to things not adding up and I suspected the truth in part from early on, while the rest fell into place a little later. The clues were peppered subtly throughout which made uncovering them a little victory for me each time.

A book riddled with chameleon characters, secrets, lies and obsession made this fast paced domestic thriller a must read for any thriller fan.

I would like to thank #RebeccaFleet, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK and #TransworldDigital for an ARC of #TheSecondWife in exchange for an honest review.