My Husband's Lover by Jess Ryder
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 9th October 2022
Published: 14th October 2022
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
A wife. A mistress. A week away with no escape…
As my girlfriends and I sip wine and share secrets in the flickering candlelight of our remote Scottish hideaway, we all agree we need this break. Every morning we will swim in icy cold lochs and hike to remote beaches and each night we will sip wine and share stories, cosy beside the log burner. It will be a break none of us will ever forget.
But behind my warm smile, there is ice in my heart. One of my friends is my husband’s lover, and it’s only a matter of time before I discover which one. She thinks she has me fooled, but she’s not the only one with secrets.
I don’t let my smile slip, but as I get closer to the truth, it becomes very clear that in these remote Scottish hills, far from help, someone is going to pay for their lies with their life…
A completely gripping and addictive page turner. Fans of The Guest List, K.L. Slater and Jackie Kabler will be utterly hooked on My Husband’s Lover.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Jess Ryder's atmospheric thriller MY HUSBAND'S LOVER.
A wife. A mistress. A week away with no escape…
What a tense and atmospheric read this was! And what better setting than the remote Scottish Highlands. No electricity, no phone signal, no WiFi, no running water, a compost toilet...they call it ecotourism; I call it roughing it in dangerous territory. I've read too many thrillers to find THAT in any way relaxing. No way would you get me there without some form of civilisation nearby. What if there was an emergency? As these women soon found out...
The story builds slowly as we meet Sophie and Ryan in the midst of marital difficulties. The fact that Sophie has let it smoulder without even a hint of forgiveness tells me that their marriage is in trouble. Still reeling from a New Year revelation that he'd been having an affair, which he said was more like a fling, Sophie is furious with her husband for his betrayal. But as you get to know the couple and their story, I'm a bit baffled as to why she is even surprised! The fact that she kind of rumbled him into a relationship and even admitted to her friends they lived together for two years before she managed to drag him up the aisle. That speaks to me that Ryan went along reluctantly...and his behaviour kind of confirmed that. So again, I'm wondering, why Sophie was even surprised by his revelation?
Anyway, in light of his betrayal and after months of marriage counselling, there was no real sign of progress but still they soldiered on for the sake of their two sons. But still Sophie felt betrayed. I get it, I do; I would too in her situation. So she decides she needs something for her...to lose herself in, or maybe to find herself. And so she creates Sophie's Swimmers - a group of women who brave the icy waters of wild swimming.
What is wild swimming? It's basically, to all intents and purposes, swimming in natural pools of water - be it a bend in a river, an open lake or even the sea. It is far more dangerous than the confined spaces of a man-made swimming pool. There are no lifeguards, the waters are invigoratingly cold and if in a river or open sea, there are currents and tides to contend with.
For Sophie, wild swimming is an escape. To make her forget. And together with five other regulars - Fern, Keira, Elise, Grace and Ariel - they meet weekly at a local lake to brave the cold waters. One day, the women are tossing about ideas of a wild swimming trip together somewhere and Fern discovers the perfect place in the Scottish Highlands in a remote cottage with no electricity, running water, WiFi or mobile phone signal, surrounded by lochs in which they can swim. The women jump on board the idea and the getaway is booked. But Fern pulls out at the last minute, leaving the other women to go on without her...and leaving Sophie as the only driver of the group.
It's a seven or so hour drive to the layby in which they leave the car for the 90 minute hike through a single file trail to their remote cabin far away from any kind if civilisation. They are barely into the trip when Sophie gets an urgent call from Ryan. The woman he had an affair with is part of Sophie's group and she has been stalking her for the best part of six months. She asks who but he refuses to tell her. He begs her to turn around and come home but she ignores his pleas. She will just have to uncover her husband's mistress for herself.
However, if she thought this was to be a relaxing week away, then she was very much mistaken. Sophie's problems are only just beginning...
I loved the remote setting in the Scottish Highlands. It made for an incredibly atmospheric thriller, directing the plot with twists, red herrings and tension that was palpable throughout. Although it began as a slow build, it held my attention enough until it picked up its pace and then I was turning the pages at the rate of knots to uncover the who and the why. I had a couple of suspects but leant towards one predominantly which turned out to be correct. But not before ticking off one or two others.
The story unfolds through the third person POV of Sophie and that of the interspersed chapters of the person we know only as "The Swimmer". From those chapters, I nit-picked for any clue to narrow down my suspect pool. But then when they were revealed, it felt a little like an anti-climax and the rest of the ending just sort of petered out. Don't get me wrong, it is still a great read. It just lacked the jaw-dropping twist at the end.
Overall, MY HUSBAND'S LOVER is an entertaining psychological thriller with the tension, the sense of claustrophia and the whole atmosphere that will have you gasping for breath.
I would like to thank #Jess Ryder, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #MyHusbandsLover in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jess Ryder is the author of five psychological thrillers - 'The Ex Wife', 'Lie to Me', 'The Good Sister', 'The Dream House', The Girl You Gave Away' and her latest, published November 2 2020 - 'The Night Away'. All titles are published by Bookouture. She also writes as Jan Page. With many years' experience as a scriptwriter, she loves watching television crime drama. Jess is a passionate reader and particularly enjoys thrillers.
Jess lives with her partner in London, UK and has four grown-up children.
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