This book is insanity.

You don’t know if you should trust Jessica or Evan.
The twists keep coming. Once, you’ve gotten it figured out. There’s something new happening. I felt it was a little slow at times but overall, a good read.

This was the first time I have ever read a book by Emily Shiner. I really enjoyed it! It was a binge worthy book that I was immediately drawn into.

The characters and the story worked for me- I liked the pace and the premise of the book. The ending had a nice twist that I didn’t predict. I would recommend this book to other thriller readers. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

*thank you to netgalley and bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to the release date, all reviews are 100% honest and my own opinion*

⚠️ trigger warnings ⚠️

infidelity
violence
murder

🧹🏠🔪

if you’re looking for a past paced thriller with some plot twists along the way, then this book is for you. it’s a book you don’t want to put down, and makes you question every single person and their connection.

two things though:

firstly, the ending felt rushed. it went from 0-100 so quick and so many things happened, it didn’t seem right. i think the ending was too dramatic for me, too much went on in too short of a time.

secondly, i’m so confused why the title is what it is, it has no real connection to the plot?

both these points seem to be in almost every review so far, so it’s not just me!

overall though i’d still recommend giving this a read, as everything is subjective. it’s still a fun, quick paced read.

❔are there any books titles that confused you?

The Wife in the Photo by Emily Shiner was a slow peace thriller with some good twists. This will be a book for readers who likes detailed descriptions of everything starting with characters and ending with any situation. I am losing my attention when there is too much description.
One more confusion - I didn't understand why the book is called The Wife in the Photo.
liked the idea of twists but I guessed it already halfway through. Even though it didn't spoil the ending, I still enjoyed how Emily Shiner twisted things together.
Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy. Even though it's just 3 stars from me this time, I still enjoyed this book!
#TheWifeinthePhoto #NetGalley #Bookouture

This was such a great read!

I absolutely loved this book & did not see the plot twist and it actually had me gasping.

Everything was written great, I had no character confusion and it all flowed well.

The cover is perfect representation of the house mentioned in the book aswell.

I will definitely be recommending this to all my thriller lovers and I can’t wait to read more of this author!

Well done!

While I enjoyed reading this book, I wish there was more backstory to each character. The “twist” was easy to guess early on, and a lot of the chapters felt repetitive.

Really enjoyed this one. A good pace, with a gradual reveal and surprises that kept you guessing. Thank you Netgalley for this book.

This is a psychological thriller by Emily Shiner. This story is told from multiple viewpoints with several twists and turns throughout. Evan has recently lost his wife to a tragic fall. Realizing that he is unable to maintain the household like his wife had, he hires someone to help him and his 14 year old daughter out with the household chores, cooking and grocery shopping. He is introduced to Ariel by his secretary at work, who says she met Ariel at church.
Evan, the chief of police, and his daughter have a secret, but little does he know his secretary and his new housekeeper also has have secrets of thier own. Also involved in the plot is his mistress Dakota.
There are several twists and turns. I was able to figure out a couple of the plot twists before they happened but at the end there was one additional mind blowing twist.

I loved this book. It was fast paced, kept your attention and keeps you guessing throughout. I was able to read this in a day. Short chapters - perfect!

WOW! This was a fast paced thriller that took me on a wild ride. Lola, a mother and wife, died in a suspicious accident, leaving behind her husband, Evan, and her 14-year-old daughter, Jessica. Evan decides to hire a housekeeper, Ariel, to help keep up with things now that his wife has passed but he doesn’t know that Ariel knew Lola and has secrets of her own.

There's a lot of twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in a day. I really liked the multiple POV's and the diary entries. It was so hard to tell who was telling the truth, from beginning to end. Every time I was sure I knew how it would conclude, I was wrong.

As someone who primarily reads thrillers, it was so refreshing to be so enthralled all the way to the very end. You definitely don't want to miss out on this one!

Thanks Netgalley & Bookoutoure for an Advanced Readers Copy!

This was a wild ride, you think you have it figured out and then you don’t. I absolutely loved the fast paced chapters and the multi POV’s. The depth with the characters made the reader feel like we actually know them and have everything figured out.

Thank you Netgally for the advanced reader copy!

WHAT A FUN RIDE!

I was super excited to read this and it is probably one of my favorites from this year so far!

This story is about Lola, who is the wife of a police chief and they have a teenage daughter. Filled with grief Evan decides to hire a housekeeper to keep up with the house and help out while this family of three gets used to being a family of two but little does Evan know the housekeeper, Ariel, has a few secrets of her own.

There's a lot of who done it, and twits and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. I really liked the multiple POV's from Evan, Ariel, Jessica and even the diary entries... that was a fun touch and I really enjoyed reading this story.

This is a very fast paced thriller, and satisfied all my wants from this book! I was yelling WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON multiple times.

You definitely don't want to miss out on this one!

Thanks Netgalley & Bookoutoure for an Advanced Readers Copy!

When Evan Warner loses his wife Lola prematurely, he decides that he and his daughter Jessica need help around their home.

Jessica is a teenager, and Evan is finding it hard to meet her need for an adult woman's guidance. So, on the advice of his secretary Miriam, he hires a housekeeper, Ariel.

What Evan doesn't know is that Ariel knew Lola, and has her own agenda. Convinced that police officer Evan murdered his wife, Ariel uses every opportunity to snoop, attempting to bond with Jessica as well.

The story is told from 3 points of view - those of Evan, Ariel, and Lola. The latter through her diary excerpts. Unsurprisingly, their stories are inconsistent. The question, of course, is who is the unliable narrator here? The answer may surprise you...

I loved how this book was written. It was very easy to digest. The characters were so well created and I enjoyed flipping through each page. I haven't ready any of this authors other works so now I'm very excited to see what else they've done.

Lola, wife to police chief Evan and mother to teenager Jessica, has recently died in a freak accident. Evan and Jessica are having trouble coping, and bring in Ariel, a housekeeper and cook, hoping she can bring order to their lives. But Ariel is convinced there was nothing accidental about Lola’s death, and she vows to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This novel started out well, with short, fast-moving chapters told through various points of view: Evan, Jessica, Ariel, and diary entries from Lola leading up to her death. I felt the character development was more developed in the first half of the novel, but it felt a bit flat to me by the middle, and by the end, I felt a lot of the story was sacrificed to plot twists.

Even though the character development fell a bit flat for me, fans of twisty suspense should enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

After being lucky enough to be sent this by NetGalley, I couldn’t wait to go on holiday and cosy up with a cheeky cocktail and put my headphones in to tube out the world.

This book provided me with all the twists and turns of a thriller and really left me questioning who was telling the truth. I loved the multiple POV’s and diary entries that kept the reader on their toes.

The writing style was super easy to read and the chapters flowed flawlessly.

I would recommend this book to any crime, mystery and thriller lovers out there like myself. A perfect in one sitting read 🥂

Overall The Wife in the Photo is a good, fast paced thriller! It took me a couple chapters to get into it but once I did I enjoyed it.

The novel alternates between the husbands POV, daughters, the housekeeper and the deceased wife's diary. Short chapters. Easy read.
Theres a few twists in the end I didnt see coming!

Things I didn't like:
I dont think the title of the book makes sense.
<Spoiler> I dont understand how you can be married to someone for so long and not know their siblings. Or if you took in their child, not know where the child came from. That was a bit unrealistic for me. My husband would be asking questions. </spoiler>

Definitely enjoyed overall and would recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I just want to say thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. This is my first time reading a novel written by Emily Shiner. I found the novel to be a very easy read, with short chapters, multiple points of view, diary entries and a suspenseful plot throughout.. I was actively trying to figure out “who did it”. The last few chapters were twisted, unexpected and tied the ending of the novel up well in my opinion. I was not able to successfully guess the ending. I enjoyed her writing and the character development throughout the story. The only thing I was a little confused about was the title of the book and the relevance. At the beginning of the novel Shiner’s main character Ariel quickly describes a photo she finds in the home but other than that it was not discussed again in the story. I rate this novel 3 stars out of 5. I would be interested in reading more from her. Well done!

3.5 ⭐️
I enjoyed the book overall. The plot kept me interested, although it did feel a bit hurried at all of the wrong times. It’s a fairly easy read. I didn’t fully buy into the characters (Dakota and Miriam) and the character development could have been more robust.

😱 OMG. Hooked from the first page to the last. Deliciously disturbing. Didn't see the end coming. One of my top thrillers ever. Goosebump-inducing. 😱 😱 ❤️❤️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!