Title: The New Couple
Author: Alison James
Publication: September 27, 2022
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery, Domestic Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 296
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
The perfect marriage. The perfect house. The perfect secret…
As I step through the cherry-red door of my new home, I know I should feel like the luckiest woman alive. I have a handsome husband, a beautiful daughter and now the house of my dreams. And to everyone else my life looks perfect…
When the neighbours stop by to welcome us, I tell them my name is Stephanie Hamlin and, under the watchful gaze of my husband Richard, I introduce him and our curly haired little girl Poppy. I smile as wide as I can and desperately hope I can fit in to this exclusive place with its pretty communal gardens. Because I’ve risked everything to be here.
Behind closed doors I try to relax, to unwind in the huge clawfoot bath and forget about my complicated past. It’s hard being the new couple on the street when you’ve got secrets.
Because the truth is, my charming husband isn’t really my husband.
And I’m not Stephanie Hamlin…
REVIEW:
This book was selected by one of my book clubs and description on the back of the book is really what hooked us. I was excited to read this domestic thriller, as those are usually some of the best.
The story follows 3 different people’s viewpoints. I really enjoyed this aspect, because it wasn’t moving through the story and different people took over telling it. It was the same story and those different parts overlap, which give you an interesting take on how different people are seeing the same thing play out and how looks can be deceiving and what you see is not always what you are going to get. The first part of the book follows Jane, who I liked, but found her a bit nosey. Now, her nosiness may have been helpful to her in the end, but honestly I wanted to tell her to go get a hobby more than once. I also found her homelife to be interesting to read because I felt I could see the things she may be missing in her relationship and was eager to see that play out. I love a good side story within a book. The next followed Keren and Liam who I found very interesting because there personalities are so very different. James wrote interesting characters that made me question a lot about how these people came to be a pair or just about there behavior. I really liked the complexities of their personalities.
I really enjoyed the overall story line and characters, but the believability seemed a bit farther fetched for me. Some of it I could understand, but there were instances where what was happening didn’t make sense. Like Jane reporting to her friend Tony different things. As an ex cop, I don’t think he would have, in reality, told her to just sit on it. There would have been more action if you ask me. Or at least more interest in the truth. I also think the parents of Stephanie would have caused a bigger scene sooner, especially if they were as close as assumed. While those tidbits bothered me, they weren’t detrimental to my enjoyment of the book.
Overall Alison James wrote a suspenseful, twisty domestic thriller that honestly did not end how I predicted. Way to keep me guessing! Definitely pick it up if you are a fan of domestic thrillers!
