First line: “They say he’s bankrupted himself rebuilding the house—all for her, of course.”

Summary: When Bayard Van Duyvil is found dead with a knife in his chest and his wife, Annabelle is missing, speculation starts around the happy couple. Did Annabelle kill her husband? Who is she anyway? The whirlwind romance and quick marriage to an English woman brings gossip and questions to the New York society. Janie, Bay’s sister, is determined to find out who killed her brother and clear her sister-in-law’s name.

Highlights: I am a huge fan of Lauren Willig and her books. She can write a good mystery with well-developed characters. I really liked the character of Georgie/Annabelle. She has a twisted past that is slowly revealed through the story. Her relationship with Bay was one of my favorite parts. I enjoyed their interactions and the way that their relationship changed. The rules and etiquette of society were so annoying but I believe very real for the time. Divorce and gossip were game changers for people of the upper classes. The old money hated the new money. There is a plenty of detail about the period making it easy for me as a reader to understand and be transported into the story. The ending shocked me. I was not expecting the story to wrap up the way it did but it was perfect. As I read another review, they compared it to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I think this is a great comparison.

Lowlights: The switching between 1899 and 1894 got a little confusing at different points. I am not always good about reading the little notes at the beginning of the chapter detailing when and where the story is taking place. It is very important in this book. In the middle, the story seemed to hit a lull. It was all about building up to the climax at the end.

FYI: Another win for Lauren Willig! If you like this, check out her Pink Carnation series. They are fantastic.

Just Gothic enough to make you want to curl up under a blanket - it's a snowy, blustery setting and often frightening....but sort of snarky too. Part murder, part buried secrets, part illicit relationships...all in the superficial setting so valued by the Victorians. I read it on kindle and used the dictionary feature to pick up on some sparkly British terms, although most of the novel is set in New York. Atmosphere somewhere between Edgar Allan Poe and the Titanic. I just loved it.

Oh my, what a book. This started with a charming little love story, then changed, to a deep mystery with a fitting, though unexpected resolution. Truly interesting and thoughtful, but sad and touching, the story takes you through some difficult places. Very different from what I expected, a wonderful book.

<b>4 scandalous, intriguing stars to The English Wife</b> 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The English Wife was off to a slow start for me, but once it picked up, I was glued to it. The Gilded Age is one of my favorite time periods, and instantly this book reminded me of a favorite book that Lauren Willig co-authored with Karen White and Beatriz Williams, The Forgotten Room.

Bay and Annabelle Van Duyvil appear to have it all, but when one of them is found murdered and the other is missing, all bets are off. Janie, Bay’s sister, sought the truth about what happened and befriended an unlikely ally, a news reporter. Janie was, in fact, my favorite character, as I watched her grow into her own, despite an overbearing and cold mother.

While the ending wasn’t what I wanted to happen, it suited the storyline. Overall, a tantalizingly suspenseful historical! I binge read this one!

Thank you to Lauren Willig, St. Martins Press, and Netgalley, for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The English Wife will be published on <b>January 9, 2018.</b>

This was a good story that took place in 1899 in New York and England. The plot was interesting, but, confusing at times. The chapters alternated between before and after the murder of a beloved brother, son, father , husband and lover. The story was a great “who done it” , but, it was difficult to follow at times. There were many extra stories that were unnecessary and confusing and added nothing to the storyline..

Very good Historical Romance suspense with intrigue,mystery,deception ad twists.
Really held by interest with the characters and story.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

The book opens with Bayard Van Duyvil found murdered on the night of their Twelfth Night Ball and his English wife Annabelle is missing, presumed drowned. Bay's sister, Janie, is instrumental in solving the murder.

Although the story had a nice 'gilt age' flavor, the book moved with ebbs and flows as the story is told, surging forward and then dragging back.

2.75☆ rounded up to 3☆

I loved the premise of this story and there was some great unexpected twists. This book had enjoyable characters and a good mystery. I also loved the romance.
Now to the things I disliked; this book was really slow to me and super sad at points. Maybe it’s just because I am in a difficult place but this book could not hold my attention at times and just kind of made me feel down. I liked this book overall, I just wish it wasn’t so drawn out.

I think some people who enjoy a nice historical read would enjoy this book and I am interested in the author’s future works.

Great read, I would definitely recommend if you like murder mystery and romance. The reason I didn't boost the star rating was because it was kind of a sad one for me, unrequited love hits me in the feels. Did I mention- this book definitely does not fit your typical historical romance model. I know that I kept assuming I knew the answers to the love affairs, secret identities, and the whodunits, and I was surprised at nearly every turn (but I could just be really horrible at guessing ;)). The book alternates between past and present (essentially pre and post murder) and between two ladies directly associated with the victim, Janie and Georgie. I won't say anything more about the plot so I don't inadvertently give anything away, but I will reiterate- it's a good one!!

Haven't finished the book, found the writing tedious and the storytelling slow. Not sure I'll pick it up and attempt to finish.

I loved Lauren Willligs pink carnation series. This book was a little harder to get into. I did like how Janie was determined to find out what happened the night her brother and sister in law died, even though she was pretty much neglected by everyone in her family. She believed that a murder/suicide wasn’t possible. The switching back and forth of the storyline was a little annoying at times when I really wanted to know what happened next at some points.
Finding out everything in the end just seemed to make everything sadder. Bay and Georgie loved each other but she couldn’t give bay what he really needed and he wasn’t able to live openly as a gay man. Janie got the truth but I don’t know if it made her feel better. At least she found love and is finally able to live her life in a way she wants

Some aspects of this novel, I really liked. Sadly several others I did not. I could not really warm up to the characters and the story was at times a little tedious and confusing. I might try this one again at a later date, maybe it's me and not the story. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This might be my favorite non-Pink Carnation book Lauren Willig has written. The jumping back and forth in time worked extremely well in this case, the characters were compelling, and it was just a really fun read.

Great story with enough twists in the tale. A very interesting perspective of life in the early 20th century.

It took me a while to get into the book, but once I got through the introduction I was hooked. Willig does a wonderful job weaving together the two storylines and maintaining the mystery and making (almost) every character sympathetic (or at least understandable). Usually, when a book has two different storylines I like one better than the other, but not here. The mystery kept me on my toes, and remained true to the era and the story. I also love the amount of detail Willig puts in her novels, from the copious amount of research to the inclusion of other pieces of literature (in this case Shakespeare).

THE ENGLISH WIFE was an amazing story. It begins at a party. Annabelle and Bay Van Duyvil are debuting their new home, designed to duplicate the home where Annabelle grew up in England, for the upper class society of New York. Things immediately go wrong when Janie Van Duyvil discovers the body of her brother who was stabbed with the knife that was part of his costume. His wife is missing and presumed dead. Janie needs to know what happened to the brother that she admired but didn't know very well.

The story has flashbacks to five years earlier when Annabelle and Bay met in London and fell in love which gives us information about the two of them that Janie doesn't have.

Janie has always existed under the thumb of her overbearing and autocratic mother. Nothing she does seems to satisfy her. Janie also shares the house with her cousin Anne who is back home because her husband is threatening to divorce her. Anne is the opposite of Janie. She is flamboyant and willing to defy her Aunt. Nonetheless, she is under her aunt's thumb as much as Janie is. Anne and Bay were closer in age growing up and they always seemed to form a team that left Janie out.

Because she feels that all of them - herself, her mother, her cousin - are being kept out of the investigation, she goes to a newspaper reporter who she had met when he visited her family kitchen saying he was visiting a cousin for some help. She asks James Burke to help her find out the truth about what happened to Bay and Annabelle. As they investigate, they fall in love but their vastly different social classes is only one of the impediments to a relationship.

This story brimmed over with the social mores of the most upper of upper classes in 1899 New York. It also brimmed over with family secrets, affairs, hidden identities, and murder. It was such an engaging story that I couldn't put it down and read late into the night and when I should have been doing other things. Fans of historical mysteries won't want to miss this wonderful story.

Bayard Van Duyvil and his wife Annabelle seemed to be living such a charmed life when one night Bay is found dead with a knife in his chest and Annabelle is nowhere to be found. With Annabelle thought to be drowned and a murderer to be found the press is all over the story of how this privileged couple ended up the way that they did on that fateful night.

Bay’s sister Janie is convinced that someone out there killed her brother and did harm to his wife and is determined to find out what happened. Janie forms an alliance with a reporter to uncover the truth of that night. With rumors flying all around of affairs and murder everything Janie thinks she knew starts to unravel.

The English Wife by Lauren Willig is a historical fiction novel with a bit of a mystery and a touch of romance within the pages. The story is told by alternating looks into the past to build the charactrers and their story that led to that night along with keeping up with the events in their current time of 1899.

For me this was one that I really wanted to love but unfortunately found myself struggling to connect and enjoy leaving me rating this at 2.5 stars. The biggest problem in my mind was simply the pacing was so incredibly slow with a lot of randomness added in that didn’t feel necessary in my opinion. Also it was a bit tough to connect to characters when struggling to remember who was who with a lot of them similarly named. This one just ended up not my cup of tea unfortunately but others just may enjoy the slow burn mystery.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

2.5 but rounding up because the writing was decent. In fact, towards the end of the book I found several paragraphs and descriptions that resonated--wish there had been more!

This is what I thought I would read:
"At it's heart, this is a gripping and scandalous novel set in the Gilded Age, full of family secrets, affairs, and murder." Late 19th century. Old New York/gilded age, England, the Hudson Valley--meant for me! BUT NOT.

I found it very contrived and convoluted--and often uninteresting; might have put it down at any time. The last 40-50 pages or so, however, ramped it up quite a bit--in fact [to me] to a whirlwind conclusion [that I guessed at many pages earlier, as well as a couple of other plot trajectories]. A huge disappointment. And far too long.

I am clearly in the minority of opinions, however. I guess this read was just not for me.

A story full of romance, love, and murder! A fantastic blend of mystery and suspense that the twist was totally surprising and the ending, not at all what I wanted but it was perfect! I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.