Nicola Marsh has published 70 books and sold 8 million copies worldwide this coupled with my enjoyment of ‘The Scandal’ the first book I had read by her earlier this year meant the expectations were high for this book
And it was good
I really enjoy how this author delves into the detail of her characters and explores their personalities and what makes them tick, this time its the Parker family from Chicago, upstanding and happy for all to see, dysfunctional and full of secrets that only they know about....but someone else DOES know and is blackmailing them one by one and they have to start trusting each other to get to the bottom of it
It kinda reminded me of a Dallas/Dynasty ish kind of thing, updated for the times to include hacking and the dark web but at the centre of it all ( like those programmes ) is the family!
I was totally wrongfooted by the ‘villian’ and the unmasking came as a surprise and a good one!
Thoroughly enjoyable intricate drama based on a family that pretends, lies and keep secrets but ultimately falls in on itself
8/10
4 Stars

The Last Wife, Nicola Marsh's latest release, is a somewhat predictable but still enticing read. While set as a psychological/suspenseful thriller it is more of a domestic mystery framed by a dysfunctional, wealthy family as the backdrop. Ria married into the powerful Parker family of Chicago and has chosen to remain independent when her husband suddenly leaves both her and their daughter. Her sisters-in-law each have a secret from the past that threatens to harm the family's reputation and they all rely on the family fortune. Ria receives threatening emails that could expose their secrets and put everyone in danger. Who is behind these machinations?

Written from multiple perspectives the novel moves along at a decent pace but really picks up after the halfway point. Most of the characters are a little shallow, intentionally, and hard to like but the mystery is interesting enough while somewhat predictable there are a couple twists. The novel takes place in Chicago and is written by an Australian writer with some notable slang that is not American but it does not detract from the story and if you enjoy English and Australian writing it is not unusual. While I enjoyed The Scandal by Marsh more The Last Wife is a solid novel.

#TheLastWife
A strange and twisted mystery that centers around a rich family, who at times make it hard to like them, feeling threatened by secrets. The multiple POV's made it hard at times to get attached to a character. It does have a ending you don't see coming it is just hard work to get to it.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
An easy to read, quite compulsive book which kept me engaged from the start. A completely dysfunctional family, with lots of secrets which slowly unravel.
It was never quite clear where this was going so the ending was not expected, although I found it slightly weak.
Overall 3.5 stars

Another compelling read by Nicola Marsh! If you like Dynasty I think you'll love this - who doesn't want to see the uber rich spiralling into a mess of their own making? With so many family secrets to uncover as we get to know each member of this dysfunctional family, it kept me turning the pages, eager to find out what was going on. Fantastic!

This book was very interesting. Ria starts to get threatening emails about her sister-in-laws. She is part of the powerful Parker family and it seems someone wants to hurt the family. As Ria digs deeper, she uncovers more secrets about the family. I really enjoyed the book but did not except the ending!

A real page-turner. I liked the chapters written from each characters perspective. It was like a soap opera in book.
A tale of the Parker family. Mother and head of the family, Mary. Her daughter, her sons and their wives.
The superficial world of the mega-rich. Privilege, entitlement, people who want for nothing.
So many secrets, and plenty of lies.
Some glamorous people, with beautiful homes but it’s not all rosy….far from it.
Just when I thought I knew something it was twisted in another direction.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy in which I give my honest opinion.

Decent writing but a somewhat slow plot with a predictable ending.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47550930

This book grabbed me in from the start! Rias husband mysteriously disappeared 5 years ago and although he’s gone, she’s still close with his family, the Parkers. When she receives emails with damaging secrets about the Parker women and strange things start happening to them, Ria sets out to find who’s behind this and who could want to hurt their family? This book was full of drama, dark secrets and a surprising love triangle. Definitely a page turner with a shocking finale!

Poor writing, unlikeable characters; and a plot that was somehow both dull and ridiculous. I was turned off by Rita as soon as the book started - who writes a character that is so full of her own perfection and self-importance? She was a nightmare!

After growing up alone in foster care, Ria has it all -- a handsome husband, beautiful daughter, and a glamorous life. However, she still doesn't quite fit in with her husband's family. But when Ria's husband disappears, she's left having to accept the help of his family in order to survive.

WOW. I cannot say enough about this book! This book was the definition of a page turner -- the plot twists kept me hooked up until the very end!

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Nicola Marsh for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow what a thrilling fast paced read. I loved the way the chapters were separated by each of the characters, most of which weren't very likable but interesting none the less.
I totally didn't see the ending coming!
I look forward to reading more by this author.

This book is deliciously good! I could hardly put it down. The family dynamics in this salacious drama feel like the best reality show mixed with a soap opera. Most of the characters are obnoxious and egotistical with a LOT of secrets to hide, which translates to a fun and fast read. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good whodunnit! Thank you to NetGalley and bookouture for this advanced copy.

The Last Wife is based on a typical soap opera family. Ria Parker was happily married with a daughter, Shelley. Their family is very well-to-do due to the fact that her mother-in-law, May Parker, has a massive business which was started by her husband, Percival. However, her husband, Grayson, left one day and never came back. This book is written five years after he walked away. His mother, May Parker, is helping Ria with raising her daughter, as well as ensuring the family’s fortune is kept secure with the help of her oldest son, Justin. Ria has never quite fit into the family because she is not sure how much her sisters-in-law like her. However, she is getting some increasingly strange emails about her sisters-in-law and is getting nervous about her and the family’s safety. She soon discovers the reason her husband left and realizes that not everything is what it seems to be.

The plot was interesting and there was an excellent twist that I honestly did not see coming. The author, Nicola Marsh, was quite skilled at building the suspense throughout the book, which resulted in me rushing to the end to find out what she kept hinting at. She had a knack for flipping to another character’s perspective just as you thought the answer to a mystery would reveal itself.

That leads me to something else I liked in this book. The author adeptly wrote from different viewpoints throughout this book. She wrote from the perspectives of the Parker wives, May Parker, Ria Parker, Ashlin Parker and Shamira Parker. I was able to place myself in the character’s shoes as I read her different chapters. This helped immensely with character development, because, in each chapter, the author would throw in little tidbits about their past.

As much as I liked the different perspectives for different chapters, I did not care much for the excessive internal thoughts the author felt compelled to spell out. In my opinion, they were a bit hammy and melodramatic. I felt as if I was watching a poorly directed Lifetime movie everytime Ashlin droned on about herself and her self-esteem issues. That could have been left for me to figure out on my own.

The other issue was that I found the reveal of the villain to be a bit unbelievable. I cannot reveal too much because I do not want to spoil the surprise but it was inconsistent with what I read earlier. I felt like there were some loose ends that were not tied up as neatly as they should have been.

There was a bit of sexual content and some recurring themes of infidelity so this book may be better suited to an adult audience. There was not much profanity. This book will be good for adult readers of mystery and thriller books.

Five years after her husband's disappearance, an anonymous person emails Ria Parker shocking secrets about her wealthy and seemingly perfect in-laws, the Parker family. Then, bizarre accidents start happening to the Parker women. Ria is convinced that something sinister is going on in the family and is determined to get to the bottom of it. The last wife is an entertaining and gripping thriller. Told from multiple POVs, I was immediately pulled into the lives of the dysfunctional Parker family with all their secrets, betrayal, greed, and family drama. The characters were well developed and interesting, they were not particularly likable, but I did relate to some of them, and understood why they acted the way they did. This book kept me guessing until the end! The twist did manage to surprise me, but I was expecting a bit more from it. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone looking for a suspenseful, slow-burn thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed it but...... a nice idea but apart from Ria who was almost too perfect the other characters had no redeeming qualities and I found myself disliking them.. Is this a moral tale, possibly.......

I absolutely love a psychological page-turner, The Last Wife by Nicola Marsh promises to be a twisty family drama. The story centers around Ria and the wealthy family she married into, the Parkers. Everyone has secrets, especially this family!

Trusting his family was her first mistake. All Ria ever wanted was a family. Growing up alone in foster care, she imagined just how it would be. So when she fell in love with Grayson and had their daughter Shelley, she was determined to make his family love her too. She knew she’d never fit in with her glamorous sisters-in-law, or at the exclusive picture-perfect Chicago parties her mother-in-law threw, but with Grayson’s arm around her waist, she tried her best to be a Parker.

Everything changed when Grayson disappeared. Until one morning, Grayson leaves the house for work and never comes home. Left to raise Shelley alone, Ria is forced to turn to her husband’s family, to let her intimidating mother-in-law into her life, allow her to babysit Shelley, and accept her financial support. She tries to ignore the feeling that her sisters-in-law never thought she was good enough. They say they have no idea what happened to Grayson, and she tries very hard to believe them.

But Ria is about to learn that every Parker wife has secrets. And protecting her daughter might come at a terrible price.

Another book to add to your TO READ list on Goodreads, or pre-order on Amazon here.

I wasn't a huge fan of The Last Wife since I had no idea what this novel was trying to achieve. Rita is perfect in every way and can do no wrong. Rita gets an email that threatens to expose her ex-husband's family's secrets and then soon after accidents start happening to the family members.

I don't think there was a single likable character and one of my pet peeves is when an author tries to force a character on you. I didn't like Rita at all and hated how she was painted as such a perfect person. I keep waiting for someone to happen, but nothing really did until the end. I just keep getting bounced around from character to character as they went along with their day.

I was disappointed when I started reading The Last Wife when I realized Nicola Marsh was telling us the story from several points of view. That fear soon left. Ms Marsh immediately brings the reader into each of the lives and weaves a compelling story together. I was given an early copy to review.

Really wanted to get excited about this read. I just couldn’t get into it. Still unsure what to think, I seldom give up on books. Unfortunately, I gave upon this one.