When Alex arrives home one evening he finds his house on fire, his wife Natalie is standing in the garden and his teenage daughter Jade is trapped inside.
His daughter is rescued and taken to hospital but Alex is concerned about his wife’s behaviour.
Natalie is Alex’s second wife and she is stepmother to Jade. Alex feels suspicious that Natalie got out of the house and left Jade inside.
A psychological thriller with lots of twist and turns
I enjoyed reading this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this plotting, mystery, twisted thriller. Really enjoyed it.
Natalie and her step daughter Jade are caught in a house fire and when Natalie's husband sees his wife after the rescue his first reaction is that she’s not very upset about poor Jade and her injuries causing her to be admitted to hospital. Are they victims or is there more to this than it seems?
Jade tells her Dad Alex later that she’s had seen a man in the house on the night of the fire and that she had seen him other times as well.
The story is told in the present and past from two sisters perspectives with tales from the very dark and mysterious nightclub and it’s owner Kas.
Everyone is hiding something in this book, everyone!
Lots of twists coming from all angles and the narration of the past and present was done very well indeed. You didn’t see the twists coming and they kept coming. Well done Rebecca Fleet. I’ll hope to be reading your novels again.
Thanks Net Galley for the advanced co

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

I thought initially this book started off quite slowly and I wondered if it was for me. I became engrossed in the story the more I read and the book began to be a real page turner and compelling read. Told in past and present times by the 3 main characters, the book is about obsession, sisterly relationships, murder, loyalty and families. There were lots of twists in the plot, most I expected and one I didn’t. Nothing that wowed me though. I felt the author wrote the story really well and her characters thoughts, feelings and emotions were believable. . A good read. 4 stars

This book had me hooked from the first few pages! Everyone is hiding something, and after a house fire, it all starts spiraling out of control. I liked how the chapters were from the perspective of the different characters, and I liked the flashbacks. There were so many twists & I did not see them coming.

Got totally hooked in the narrative very early, and the story went in a direction I didn't expect.
The interweaving of past and present, as well as mixing the narrators, was done very well. Cleverly leading the reader exactly where the author wanted !

Natalie is Alex Carmichael’s second wife, he has a daughter Jade from his first marriage to Heather who has died from cancer. Whilst he is out working late there is a serious fire at their house, Natalie escapes while Jade is trapped inside. She is rescued by fire officers and though Jade is injured it seems she will recover. From this point in the wheels start to come off all their lives and Alex finds that nothing is what it seems. The story is told from several perspectives including Natalie and Alex and there are two time frames, 1999 and 2017.

At the start of the book I can’t say that was very engaged with the storytelling as I think the writing is not terribly convincing at this point but then something seems to click into place and it all starts to come together and from then on it’s gripping and hard to put down. It’s almost like the author now knew her direction and warms to the theme - pardon the pun. The plot is good, the characters, though not very likeable are well portrayed and very easy to picture. None of them, even Alex, are entirely who they pretend to be as they’re all wearing either a thin veneer or a complete disguise if not a major revamp. This makes the novel very interesting. There are moments of tension and at times it’s dark and one character Kaspar Kashani is disturbed and disturbing. There are plenty of twists and surprises, some unsettling events, threats and the end is unexpected but you could argue that the second wife got her just deserts.

Overall, this turns out to be a good and enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC.

When Alex met Natalie she changed his life. After the tragic death of his first wife, which left him a single parent to teenage daughter Jade, he’s determined to build a happy family. But his new-found happiness is shattered when the family home is gutted by fire and his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder. Alex is faced with an impossible choice: to believe his wife or his daughter? And as Natalie’s story unravels, Alex realises that his wife has a past he had no idea about, a past that might yet catch up with her.

What a read this is; thrilling, intense, dangerous and addictive. The perfect mix. We start with the house fire and follow the family as they struggle to pick up the remnants of their lives. Fleet expertly weaves flashback chapters into the plot, these turned out to be my favourite sections as they begin to build a picture of the secrets yet to be revealed.

Without giving anything away, I will say the plot is obvious and I saw it coming very early on. However, this did not impact my enjoyment of the read because it is still a fantastic plot twist to have and puts another edge on the read.

Fleet's characters are marvellous. Alex and Jade have a strong bond that I enjoyed following. Natalie is of course the star of the show and it was incredibly addictive to get to know her and then learn about the life she has created for herself and the secrets just waiting to be unearthed. Returning to the flashback chapters, the characters here are vulnerable, flawed and add to the suspense and danger.

'The Second Wife' is an addictive, intense thriller with deadly twists. I adored this gripping read and the characters that come with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for an advance copy.

#TheSecondWife #NetGalley
A dazzling psychological thriller.
Alex and Natalie are happily married. Although she's his second wife. His first wife was dead because of a tragic incident happened in the past, leaving behind her daughter Jade with him.
One night their house catches fire and Jade told her father that she saw a man in the house that night. Is Jade telling the truth? Who was that man? Does Alex really knows his second wife?
Narration and characters of the story are mind blowing.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Transworld Publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this awesome psychological thriller.
A must read.

This was a good book, could have been shorter as it was dragged out a lot but a good story.
Thanks netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an early copy of this book.
Alex lived with his daughter a Jade after his wife died and she was everything to him.
Then he met Natalie they took it slow and Natalie was delighted to meet Alex, but he never told her at the beginning of their relationship that he had a daughter.
When they met Natalie thought she Would like jade but she did not want to be a mother she wanted Alex to herself.
Natalie then thought up ways of getting rid of Jade which then really started getting very interesting in this book.
If it had been shorter it would have got five stars.but will give this book four stars as it really was an exciting story.

Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 'The Second Wife', Rebecca Fleet has written a tautly-plotted, twisty mystery, full of atmosphere and character. This is one of those 'who do you believe?' type novels, that grips you by the throat from the first page and won't let go. Fleet's exploration of the dark-side of human subjectivity is handled with a deft touch, with the trope of the unreliable narrator (or should that be narrators?) at the forefront of this engaging mystery. Fleet, is, however, is quite the tease and it is was almost impossible for me to see the twists coming, but come they did, and to top it all there were plenty of 'did I really read that?' moments to keep me entertained on a dark, cold night. So, "The Second Wife' is certainly an unmissable novel for the purists of crime fiction and the psychological thriller. With an engaging plot and multi-layered characters, this was an absorbing, literal page-turner of a read.

#TheSecondWife #NetGalley

Absolutely amazingly written. Had me gripped from the first 3 pages.

I must admit I did get a bit confused between the sisters, but definitely worth reading TIL the end to work everything out.

Rebecca has done an amazing job with this one and it’s the first I’ve read from her and I will be on the lookout for more!!

This book started off very slowly and quite confusingly with the different times /perspectives but it developed into a great story. I am pleased I stuck with it

I loved The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet and was delighted to receive an ARC of The Second Wife from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book captivated me from the very first chapter. Natalie and her stepdaughter Jade are the victims of a house fire. Natalie's husband is suspicious that Natalie doesnt seem as upset as he thinks she should nor does she seem as distraught by Jade's injuries as he expected her to. Then Jade says a strange man was in their house the night of the fire but Natalie is adamant that this isn't true. Suspicions grow, things aren't what they seem. Are both ladies victims or is one the firestarter? Just when you think you know what is going on Rebecca hits you with plot twists that will have you re reading certain paragraphs of the book as your mind is blown. Another mesmerizing read from Rebecca Fleet. #netgalley #rebeccafleet #thesecondwife #tea_sipping_bookworm #bookstagram #goodreads #litsy #penguinbooks #randomhouseuk

This book had me gripped from the beginning.
A great plot with a man torn to choose to believe his new wife or his daughter.

I liked the way it flitted Between past and present. It’s such a well written book, with a huge twist at a great point in the book

Wonderful book , I enjoyed reading this so much . Great hopping back and forward to the past and future to keep the suspense up . Great twist I didn’t expect, I do love a twist .i will be looking for more from this author, highly recommended from me

An enjoyable read particularly the latter stages. I am not sure that all the story-lines actually got resolved and if they did I a not sure that they were particularly well resolved. The "mystery" man reappearing after such a long time; the house fire, the ease with which Alex makes contacts with villains from 10-15 years ago ... I don't know, everything seemed a little implausible and contrived ... and yet it held my attention throughout even though in my mind there was never any doubt as to who was who and how the plot would be resolved.

I think that on balance I preferred Rebecca Fleet's first novel "the House Swap" but on reflection that too seemed to be rather awash with implausibilities.

Nevertheless I would recommend "The Second Wife" and want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

As soon as I had read the first page I knew I wouldn’t be getting any sleep until till I had finished this great gripping book!!

Natalie is Alex’s second wife, when Alex is out Natalie and his daughter Jade are at home when a fire breaks out, he comes home to find that Natalie has escaped but his daughter is still in the house, Jade is found and rushed to hospital. She says that before the fire started there was a man in the house but Natalie is adamant that it didn’t happen.

Alex wants to find out who the mystery man is and he soon discovers that Natalie is not who she says she is and has her own secrets.

This is such a great book full of twists, at one point I reread a sentence three times to make sure what I was reading was real. OMG I did not see that coming!! And there’s me thinking I’ve read so many books I’m not easily shocked!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This is a fantastic read with a massive twist in the middle, once you pick it up you won't want to put it down. It is well written and a great follow up to The House Swap.

A great psychological thriller to keep you guessing. Just when you think you’ve got it, then you haven’t. Well constructed plot. Well worth a read.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This book was a slow burner and did take quite a while to get into especially with it changing from different perspectives and different time periods. I’m glad I persevered with this book as it was interesting and it did have a few unexpected twists and turns.

It was the most exciting thriller I’ve ever read but it was a good read nonetheless.