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The Perfect Couple

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Member Reviews

Gemma thinks she has the perfect marriage, until she comes home from a business trip and finds that her husband has disappeared without a trace. At the same time, the police are investigating several murders in the area in which the victims look very similar to Gemma's husband, Danny. I was pretty interested in this for most of the book, unable to guess what might be going on, but I was underwhelmed by the ending. I also did not like Helena, the detective in charge of the murders and disappearance. She was so convinced she knew what had happened. 3 stars.

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Gemma and Danny, the perfect couple. They've been married for over a year and have recently moved house.
One evening, when Gemma returns from her work trip, she finds the house empty despite her husband assuring her that he will be waiting for her with a bottle of wine.
When two days later there's still no sign of him, she turns to the police, who are investigating a series of recent murders. The victims look a lot like Danny...


This is my first encounter with Jackie Kabler's work and while it was an interesting read that kept me fairly entertained, I'm really on the fence about it.
The story was good with an ending that I failed to guess but...
Gemma, a freelance journalist, while facing the possibility of being arrested, decides to find out the truth by herself, with the help of her best friend. And this would be fine if for most of the book they wouldn't just sit and talk about it, repeating multiple times that they need to uncover the truth by themselves...
And don't even get me started on the useless police who seem to be doing absolutely nothing. It was just a farce. I wanted to scream at them to get a move on and do their job properly.

Overall it was a good suspense thriller, the story has good potential and I am likely to reach for another of Jackie Kabler's books.
I'd recommend it to anyone who's in need of a light read.
Thank you, NetGalley, for gifting me a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

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I voluntarily read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I absolutely loved this
I had not read this author before but will certainly be keeping an eye open for her in future

Lots of twists and turns made this an unpredictable read - loved the story and the characters

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4-5 stars. This was a well written quick read, with characters developed in a manner that keeps you feeling what they are. It provided the necessary thrills, chills, and tension I love in the thrillers I read and had me question everyone at certain times. Overall, I would highly recommend this story and the others I’ve read by this author, or the other I should say, as she seems to know how to write a well written, tense, and shocking thriller!
Will make sure I buzz this book up on different platforms!

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Gemma comes home from a business trip to their new home in Bristol to discover that her husband, Danny is missing.

It takes a while but Gemma eventually reports him to the police as a missing person. Unknown to Gemma though, two men, who are scarily similar to Danny have been found murdered recently in Bristol. Is there a serial killer on the loose?

The police soon begin to question Gemma. Something isn't quite right here. Gemma is saying that Danny has only been missing for a few days - yet nobody has heard from him in weeks. Why haven't any of their new neighbours ever seen Danny? Why did Danny quit his new job before he had even started and why is there hardly any trace of Danny in the new home?

This really held my interest from the off and I loved the fact that I honestly had no idea of what was going on. Where was Danny? Who is telling the truth? What's the deal with the weird neighbours?

The ending was disappointing though and the final "twist", i felt, was not needed and that's the reason for this only having 3 stars on Goodreads from me.
I would still highly recommend this book though and I look forward to reading more from this author.

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Oh this was a great read, a real page turner.

Gemma's husband of almost a year has gone missing, she reports it to the police and their concerned that Danny looks very like to other men who have been murdered.

Their suspions are raised further when they begin to suspect Gemma in Danny's disappearance. Gemma is adamant that she's had nothing to do with him going missing, but nobody has seen Danny since the couple moved from London to Bristol, a few weeks previously, so what is she hiding?

Loved this book, kept me guessing right till the end, the author did a great job of picking holes in Gemma's story... You wanted to believe her, but could you? And what about Danny was he really as perfect as he seemed?

Thanks to net galley for the opportunity to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

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This was an interesting read. You feel the confusion Gemma feels, and at time you even suspect her. I could easily imagine an ending with Gemma as a central reason for everything. But I’d be wrong. There is much more to it. It’s not a predictable plot. It’s well written and keeps you engaged. The ending is truly surprising. The only thing I don’t like about the book is the title. It doesn’t really relate to the book. ‘The missing husband’ would be more apt.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for sharing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gemma met Danny a year and a half ago and they had something of a whirlwind romance and everything was going well. They'd just moved away from London recently and were settling in when Gemma returned from a work trip to find him mysteriously gone. As time passes and he doesn't turn up she gets frantic and calls in the police. You would think this would be helpful but it turns out there is little to no evidence that Danny had lived in the new house even though he'd been with her for weeks before he disappeared. There are also several other disturbing details that come out with time and the police suspect Gemma has something to do with it. It's a mystery that unravels with time, of course.

The premise of this was quite interesting and I found it pretty easy reading throughout. I thought the story from the police point of view was frustrating and filled with a fair bit of incompetence and jumping to conclusions. It didn't quite elicit the sympathy I felt was expected. But Gemma's point of view was much better and you could really feel for her character and the difficulties she was going through.

Overall it was a pretty good read but I did feel the reveal came out a bit too convoluted for me to accept very easily. I give this three stars overall.

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Gemma and Danny are happily married. But one day her Husband goes missing. Turns out there is a series of murder a in their area and all the victims look like Danny! The police think Gemma is hiding something. Pretty fast read, a little predictable

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Mystery lovers will enjoy this standard fare plot and characters. Predictable but still keeps you interested.

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The Perfect Couple was a great twisty thriller. This was the first book I've read by Jackie Kabler and as soon as I finished I immediately went and purchased her other book! I felt like I really got to know Gemma and really liked her. However, the author did a great job putting in so many red herrings that I kept doubting her in the back of my mind! The twists kept coming right up till the last page. Highly recommended!

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Danny and Gemma are the perfect newly wed couple. They moved three weeks ago and have begun starting to put down roots.Gemma is making friends and Danny began a new job with an IT firm in town. When Gemma returns from an overnight stay for work Danny isn't home and his new cell phone isn't in yet so she has no way to contact him. Eventually, she goes to the police to report him missing and discovers that 2 other men that look just like Danny have been found dead in the area.

The book had an amazing plot but it got so far-fetched and just wasn't believable enough. Some of the twists need some additional information to make the revelations smoother.

Thanks to NetGalley for an honest review.

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What a ride! I’ve set up all night to finish it was so good. Danny and Gemma are the perfect couple, on the surface. Well, Gemma thinks so. They have recently moved but now Danny has gone missing. Two men matching his description have been found murdered. They are neither one him. Is there a serial killer targeting lookalike? I liked the characters. They played out like a movie in my head. The book kept me interested. I liked how it would go back and forth from chapter to chapter with Gemma and then the police working on the case. It was very organized. I wasn’t sure who was doing the killing or what happened to Danny. Did his wife kill him or was he alive somewhere living a double life? After all, his profile was on a dating app. What’s up with that? It’s so hard to write this review without giving anything away. Sometimes I would get aggravated at Gemma. But then I would start thinking she was an innocent victim. Then the police reveal that Danny never showed for the job he was taking after the move a month ago. And the bank account hadn’t been touched. No money had been being deposited or withdrawn. But Gemma states that’s impossible because he constantly bought stuff for her and always got takeout for them and paid when they were out. Where did he get the money he used? All her emails from him have disappeared. When it all comes together, it is so bizarre and will have you on pins and needles. In a way it all seemed far fetched, but I can see how it could happen. Some things I found not really correct, like the scene with all the blood. Blood won’t remain liquid after being saved 24 hours. Most of it would coagulate. Unless it was collected in tubes with anticoagulants. I’m thinking some of it had it in it but it would take more than what was drawn to do a big scene. But this was a minor thing and wasn’t written too bad. The book was really written very well. I can’t get over the author’s imagination. I could’ve never come up with this whole plot.

There were a few things that bothered me and why I gave it three stars is how every scene where new characters were introduced, there was always a comment about one of them being gay. Even the head cop was gay. The guy at the gym was a funny line. But still it was really overdone in the book. I’m not opposed to having it in a book. I’d rather not really have that detail about the personal lives in a book like this, but I almost felt like it was being pushed down my throat with the way it was written. If I’d known it was in there, I wouldn’t have read the book. If it was a romance, it wouldn’t have stuck out so much to me.

Another thing, even though this was an awesome book, I wish the ending would’ve been different. It got so far fetched. There were so many times during the book I was thinking the cops would’ve known better. It just wasn’t believable. Maybe it’s because my hubby was a cop so long. Some of the twists needed tweaking.

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I really wanted to like this book it seemed like my type of story, wife comes home to find husband misses, tried to find him on her own then get the police involved, but no this story took a left turn somewhere and threw me off. There were time when I wanted to shake Gemma like there is no way you can be this slow. From the beginning I didn’t understand why she waited to long to call the police.

I actually didn’t even finish the book. I just couldn’t keep going. Between Gemma and her foolishness and DCI Helena being so focused on Gemma only I just couldn’t continue reading. It felt like I was reading a super slow flat story. I would recommend this story to everyone that likes more of in-depth suspense novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Jackie Kabler for the chance to read this ARC in advance in exchange for my honest review.

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I really enjoyed this book so much. It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book.

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The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler is my first read from this author, and it will certainly not be my last. I was pulled in from the very first chapter, and could not look away thereafter for even a moment. This is a heart-pounding thriller that kept me guessing until the very end.

Gemma has been married to Danny for only a year when he suddenly goes missing without a trace. After contacting the police, Gemma is horrified to learn that several men in the area have been found murdered, and each bears a striking resemblance to Danny. But when it becomes apparent that no one but Gemma has seen Danny in weeks, the case becomes even more baffling, and Gemma's life takes a turn that she could never have anticipated.

This is a compelling and twisty mystery that had me questioning everything I thought I knew. Recommended

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for this ARC,

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This book hooked me from the very beginning, so I ended up reading through it in a day. I thought the premise was great: Husband goes missing; serial killer is murdering other men that look exactly like him; the wife claims she knows nothing. This story took quite a few twists and turns, some more believable than others. Overall, this was a super fun read, and I definitely recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

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This has the potential to be a great book. The dysfunctional husband and wife relationship is truly intriguing. I would have much preferred it if the book went more in a domestic thriller route. I felt the serial killer didn't suit the story well. It was almost too many twists.

I did love the ending. I really had no idea what the big reveal would be.

I'd say it's a solid 2/5 stars with the potential to be more.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Firstly I would like to thank #netgalley and #onemorechapter for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review of #theperfectcouple.
I have mixed feeling about this book. Although the premise of it was enough to keep me hooked and wanting to know what happened, I didn’t find it gripping enough and did some skim reading in a lot of pages.
The wife’s character is well developed and I absolutely loved the way her grief and anxiety was portrayed! I could feel her desperation and it was the parts of the book that I enjoyed the most. I did not enjoy the detectives and I found their chapters dull. I do understand that it fitted well within the plot but it personally didn’t work for me. I did enjoy their working relationship and that kept me going.
Although there have been a lot of twists and turns, The Perfect Couple did remind me a bit of Gone Girl. By the middle of the book I have kind of predicted the ending and, even though there are some unexpected twists, my prediction was right and that put me a bit off. I have to say that the last chapter was the most unexpected for me even though I had unravelled most of the main plot before it happened.
Overall I would say that this is a good suspense and thriller book and although not one of my favourites - and it does differ a bit from my preferential reading - I can see a lot of potential and would still recommended it and will absolutely follow Jackie Kabler’s work!

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Gemma married the love of her life - Danny about a year ago. All is blissfully happy and they have made a big move from London to Bris. But one Friday evening, Gemma returns home From a work trip to find Danny is nowhere to be seen and has dissappeared into thin air.

After a couple of days, Gemma contacts the police turns to the police and soon discovers a serial killer is on the loose in Bristol and every victim looks like her missing husband.

The police don’t seem to believe Gemma’s version of events. No neighbours have seen Danny, his work place say he didn’t turn up, there is zero trace of him in the new flat.

The book is full of twists and turns but unfortunately it didn’t hit the mark for me, I found myself skim reading a lot of the pages to get to the crux of what was happening :(

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