My first David Putnam novel but definitely not my last. This was absolutely packed with secrets, lies and family ties. And the characters were fantastic! Great storytelling.
Thank you NetGalley, David Putnam and Level Best Books for the opportunity to read and review this book

I always hate to start a review with, “I struggled with this book.” But there’s no other way to state it. The writing, plot, dialogue, and characters left me wanting to close the book and move on.

I liked seeing an older character in the book, but Harvey wasn’t strong enough to carry, in my eyes, an impossible story.

Not many books fall into my DNF category, but I only made it halfway through this one.

I'm rating it 3 stars because I think it's one of those stories you like or don't like. You may like it.

David Putnam's latest novel follows a familiar pattern: an accessible narrative that begins unassumingly, progresses steadily, and intensifies in the latter half. The central figure is Harvey, an eighty-year-old widower who is unexpectedly confronted by a woman claiming to be his wife of the past two years, coinciding with the death of his first wife. The narrative structure employs alternating chapters that reveal details of Harvey's life in both the past and present. As a bookkeeper for the mob, Harvey engages in creative accounting to legitimise illicit funds. His early love, Sylvia, is compelled to marry the son of the Mafia boss for whom Harvey manages accounts. The ensuing plot involves numerous complications as Harvey orchestrates an act of revenge and ultimately reunites with Sylvia. While the inclination of authors to resolve all plot threads and conclude with a positive outcome is sometimes perplexing, this novel proves to be a captivating read, rendering it difficult to set aside once commenced.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed herein are my own.

Well written story with interesting characters. Excellent use of dual timelines. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Mr. Putnam always has a way of surprising me with his characters and the plot. I’ve read many of his books and his range keeps growing far more than police procedural. I wasn’t expecting the direction this plot took. Harvey turned out to be protagonist with a lifetime full of secrets. He’s an active eighty year old who thinks his wits are still intact. However, the very young, voluptuous woman claiming to be his wife has him baffled. Who is she? The strange events unfold with unpredictable revelations at every turn. I liked Harvey, I didn’t want to like Harvey. I had very mixed emotions about the ‘wife’, sometimes despising her, other times she earned my sympathy and understanding. Many other people are integral to the plot and all kept me engaged. You’ll wonder if Harvey is becoming senile, you’ll be fooled by the charming temptress. The plot is an original one with lots of heartfelt emotion, consequences, life and love lessons.
Thanks so much to Level Best Books (via NetGalley) for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of “The Obsessions of Harvey Usher” by David Putnam, publication expected 05/08/2025. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

When Harvey, a widower who lives alone, wakes up one morning to a woman in his home saying she’s his wife, he knows he’s not crazy. Rather, someone is up to no good. When his past collides with his future, poor Harvey must decide if he’s ready to face the truth.

Interesting plot with a great ending. I enjoyed Harvey’s character immensely. Thank you, NetGalley and Level Best Books for the advanced reader copy.

It always bothers me to have to make less than positive observations about a book when a publisher has very kindly provided me an advance copy, but this is one of the strangest novels I've ever tried to read. The narrative was weirdly disconnected and required a lot of effort to follow and keep the progress of the story straight. Unfortunately, the writing style was even more off-putting, and it did absolutely nothing to make it easier to get a handle on the narrative.

Maybe it's just me, but I struggled through about half of this peculiar concoction and then finally gave up. I simply couldn't connect well enough with it to make finishing it worthwhile.

I liked the dual timeframes but it sometimes made it a bit confusing. I loved the secrets and the mystery both the reader and Harvey had to uncover

Harvey Usher, is an 80-year-old widower who has spent the last years of his life in quiet seclusion, still mourning the loss of his beloved wife Sylvia.

Harvey's world is turned upside down when a stunning young woman, Rita, appears at his doorstep, claiming to be his wife of two years. This shocking revelation forces Harvey to question the boundaries between reality and illusion, pushing him to confront secrets he has kept hidden for half a century.

Rita's mysterious arrival adds layers of intrigue and suspense to the narrative. Her presence is both alluring and unsettling, and her motives remain ambiguous, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The interactions between Harvey and Rita are charged with humour and tension, each conversation peeling back more layers of the past and revealing new secrets. I loved both characters.

The novel's pacing is impeccable, with twists and turns that are both unexpected and deeply satisfying.

Harvey's grief and longing for his lost wife are portrayed with such depth and sensitivity that readers cannot help but empathize with him.

This is a great book. The chemistry between Harvey and Rita jumps off the page. More Harvey and Rita please.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

My students like books that are fast and easy to read and this one is that. they also like books that they can visualize as movies and this would work for that as well. I like the fact that there are older characters as main characters to help expand their horizons of life stops at 22

The style of this book was not a favorite of mine, i guess it is called noir, so i struggled with it, first i thought he was being patronizing to his older main character but then it continued in that style towards everyone. So I skimmed it to get to the secrets from the past part and the mystery of Delores and Sylvia both referred to by other names, Rita and Lois. I think some people will love this book but not for me

It took me a while to connect with Harv, who at first appears to be a doddering eighty-something being targeted for a house title scam. As the chapters move back and forth between young Harvey and the current situation, readers will gain a better understanding of exactly who inhabits the broken down body named Harv. He certainly isn't who we thought he was! "Rita" appears to be a scammer in a Jessica Rabbit body who knows how to distract any male within her orbit, meanwhile making off with whatever she can. But this time, she's mixed up with the wrong scam partner and now she finds herself siding with the targeted victim instead of her accomplice.
With a cast of off-beat characters, a love interest, a gold heist, the mob and 50-year-old secrets, "the Obsessions of Harvey Usher" will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Harvey Usher is 80 and forgetful, but not so forgetful that he would forget marring “Rita.” He wakes up one morning to find her in his house making him his favorite breakfast. How did she know? She tells him her name is Dolores and they married two years ago. Harvey calls her Rita as she reminds him of Rita Hayward. As he struggles to figure out what con she is playing, he flashes back to his past, when he met the love of his life, Lois (Sylvia) and did some things he is not proud of.

Told in two time frames, The Obsessions is part mystery and part love story.

Thank you NetGalley the publisher and the author for this arc.

For the last two years, Harvey Usher has been quietly mourning the loss of his wife of fifty years. But when he wakes up to a much-younger woman, who he calls Rita, claiming to be his new wife, Harvey knows something is terribly wrong. He starts looking for ways to expose her with the help of his neighbor Esther and a PI Eddy Gurski. The more they work to figure out Rita's motives, the more Harvey's hidden past comes to the forefront. As more people begin to die, Harvey must decide if he can finally tell the truth about who he is and what he did for love. A well-crafted novel about the secrets we keep and the redemptive quality of telling those secrets.

Harvey Usher is 80 and forgetful, but not so forgetful that he would forget marring “Rita.” He wakes up one morning to find her in his house making him his favorite breakfast. How did she know? She tells him her name is Dolores and they married two years ago. Harvey calls her Rita as she reminds him of Rita Hayward. As he struggles to figure out what con she is playing, he flashes back to his past, when he met the love of his life, Lois (Sylvia) and did some things he is not proud of.
Told in two time frames, The Obsessions is part mystery and part love story.

I was drawn to the cover and the blurb of this one, it sounded like a fast-paced quick read that would be noir-ish. I loved that there was an older protagonist - I'm enjoying the trend of seeing lead characters be other than 30 somethings... Unfortunately from the opening pages I could not connect to this author's writing style. I found the writing stilted and a weird mix of overly simplistic and purple in its prose. This one was not for me...

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I was so excited when I received the email for this one. It sounded so original and different. Unfortunately, it really didn't hold my attention and didn't intrigue me enough to continue. I had to DNF.

This book , in my opinion, was not up to the authors usual good writing. It also was easy to predict. I found myself skipping some parts. Enough said.

OH what a read!

There is drama, secrets, confusion and a whole lot of story.

This is a book I have been waiting for this year. It is brilliantly written, thoughtfully told and I knew I would love it from the first page.

Harvey Usher is 80 years old and pretty young red head is telling him things he doesn;t quite remember or understand.

This book is unique in its plot and I really was kept guessing about how it would unfold..

Definitely my book of the year so far..