A stunning read, very much a page turner and maybe not to be read alone in a remote location.
I was on edge from the opening pages and it failed to disappoint right to the end.

Falling for and marrying a man on death row is an interesting start but imagine if you have doubtsafter the wedding!

Truly chilling, I plan to buy for friends, they will love it as I did.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Random House for allowing to read and review, it’s a great read.

This book won The Daily Mail first novel prize and it’s easy to see why. Amy Lloyd will be on my watch list from now on

I did enjoy this story but felt that aspects of the book didn’t quite work/ ring true which made the whole a little unbelievable. I liked the writing but felt somewhat disappointed overall.

The innocent wife

Sam a British school teacher falls for an American convicted of the brutal murder of a young girl. Dennis Danson maintains that he is innocent despite being on death row for 20 Years. Sam starts writing to Dennis and soon falls in love, this part of be story intrigued me, I really struggle to understand how or why someone could fall in love with someone who has committed such an awful crime.
I’m sorry to say i struggled with this book, the subject was intriguing but I didn’t feel the story flowed well and I found it hard to Keep my interest. I didn’t particularly find the characters likeable or believable. I’ve given 3 stars as I did find the subject matter somewhat interesting.

Wow this book is a page turner. I thought I'd dissed everything out ,how wrong was I . Well written book highly recommended

How wrong I was! Started reading this book and thought it to be pedestrian and that it was going to turn into a formulaic plot - wrong.

After a couple of chapters the book started to develop real style, showed lots of imagination and just got better and better. By the time that I finished reading, I was sad to see it end but understood why this actual story could go no further. I'm really not damning with faint praise when I say that it was an every day story of every day people - just, hopefully, not the sort of people that live next door.

A very well written and descriptive book that I really did enjoy. More books of this quality please Amy.

This book kept me reading til the early hours - an original plot of death row prisoner Dennis and his relationship with Samantha keeps the reader gripped with lots of twists and turns. I can see this book as a movie I loved it and didnt want it to end. One of the best reads for a long time !!! High praise indeed

I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping storyline. I find it intriging that someone would want to risk everything to start a relationship with a convicted murderer, let alone marry them. The story is riveting, keeping you gripped and wanting to read on. Great conclusion at the end too.

Samantha first heard about Dennis she was in a relationship when quite by chance her boyfriend mentioned the case of the man who had been on death row for murder for twenty years, although there was a strong group who believed him innocent. After the relationship broke up she began to follow Dennis's story. She followed online forums & eventually started to write to him.

Before long this correspondence became the most important thing in her life- so much so that she left England to try & visit. After that her obsession grew even more & she gave up her job and along with a journalist and others convinced of his innocence fought for his release. Press interest grew when Samantha was to marry Dennis. Eventually her dream came true and Dennis was released- but why wasn't there a 'happy ever after'? Sam soon became afraid that she- & a lot of others-may have made a mistake.

This was a great idea for a book so why didn't I like it more? Maybe it was because I really didn't warm to Samantha. I could understand what had made her do what she did (although I thought she was crazy!) but I found I didn't really care enough about her and that's why I couldn't give this book more than three stars. Just my opinion- I'm sure many others will love it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read & review it.

This is such an interesting idea based on the women who fall in love with prisoners.

Samantha, an English school teacher, has been writing to Dennis, a convicted murdered on death row. When she visits him not only does she get involved with a group passionate about Dennis innocence, Sam also finds her relationship with Dennis becoming serious and they marry.

However, when Dennis is found to be innocent and released Sam finds herself increasingly drawn into a situation where she knows something is wrong... but what?

This is a real page turner and the storyline moves quickly keeping the reader hooked.

For me it lost one star simply because Sam came across as so pathetic at times it was hard to be behind her.

The Innocent Wife is an interesting debut from Amy Lloyd. Clearly inspired by the documentary series Making a Murderer, the book imagines what would happen if a man on death row was in fact shown to be innocent of murder and released after many years in prison. Here, timid UK school teacher Sam, has become obsessed with Dennis Danson's case and - over the first third of the book - writes to him, gets to know him, travels to the US to meet him and the TV crew who have documented his life and arrest and ultimately marries him, before new evidence comes to light and he is released. Now they must get to know each other 'in real life' but it isn't long before Sam starts to have doubts about her new husband...

The first part of the story is engaging as it shows how Sam ends up halfway around the world, married to a death row prisoner, as well as explaining the background to Dennis's life and supposed crime. However, I found the middle part of the story really slow, although it did manage to make you feel claustrophobic and as though something was 'not quite right'. As characters, I found Sam to be pretty unsympathetic and Dennis to be completely inaccessible. The story seems to jump around a bit, spending lots of time on things that didn't appear to be relevant before practically skipping over some more intriguing points or starting to develop what seems to be an interesting plot point, before just letting it fade away.

The pace does pick up again around the final quarter, and I did not guess the ending, but the conclusion felt chaotic and overall the story left me a little cold.

As always, I am grateful to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the ARC of The Innocent Wife.

You know you're reading a good book when it's grabbed you from the first page.. Well, that's what happened with this book.
After watching a documentary about a miscarraige of justice a British woman, Sam, becomes a pen-pal to the man it was about. Dennis Danson was found guilty of killing an eleven year old girl twenty years ago and has always been a suspect in the cases of several missing girls from the small town he grew up in. He has been on death row for two decades but after the success of the documentary it's beginning to look like he might be exonerated of the crime and released. The public and even a few celebrities are demanding an appeal. There was no real evidence at all, just the word of a cop that was holding a grudge against him. Sam and Dennis have fallen in love so she gives up her job and fly's out to America to visit him in prison and support him. He soon proposes and they get married in the prison., but is she doing the right thing? She whole-heatedly believes in his innocence, but what if he was guilty all along and she's in danger?
You'll have to read it to find out. I loved it.

Sam falls for an American man waiting on death row. She takes a holiday to visit him and gets involved with a group who believe he's innocent. Sam marrys Dennis and then before she knows it there's new evidence and he's set free. There is a media frenzy and Dennis is bewildered as a lot has changed in the 20 years he's been sat on death row. Sam starts to realise she's married to a man she doesn't really know and is he as innocent as she first thought. An interesting read

Winner of The Daily Mail Best Seller Competition, The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd was published by Cornerstone Digital on 6th October 2017. This psychological suspense/crime fiction novel is based upon obsession, lies and manipulation.

Two decades ago Dennis Danson was incarcerated for the brutal murder of a young girl, Holly Michaels, in Red River County, Florida. A true crime documentary coupled with a frenzy of online support/campaign to free a wrongly evicted man is successful. Across the Atlantic in the UK, Samantha is following Dennis's story. Believing his innocence she enters into correspondence with him, She leaves her life in the UK in order to move to the US to be part of his campaign and marries him. Once he is freed, however, little snippets emerge that suggest to Sam that he is not as innocent as he may profess.

Written from Sam's perspective, this novel gives an insight in to why someone gives up their life to support someone on death row. Sam had been mistreated and cheated upon by previous partners. Lonely, she was charmed/ sucked in by Dennis's letters. This is a book I couldn't put down and it has a twist at the end!

This one disappointed me a lot. There was not one character that was likeable. There was something off about Dennis right from the beginning and I couldn't bring myself to like Sam at all. It's bad enough that she marries a guy she hardly knows, who may or may not be a child murderer. But then she stays with him even though he treats her like a bad smell. Why just why??? I also didn't like the ending at all. The story was ok, not the best, but it was a semi-interesting concept that did make me want to read on. But that ending completely let it down. It was rushed, and completely all over the place. Didn't really make sense to be honest.
I'd give this one a miss if I were you.

The innocent wife by Amy Lloyd is a 4 star read.
I found myself really getting into this book and then it would start to drag for a bit before picking up again. The ending was a little disappointing to me but all in all the book was good.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

I was intrigued by the blurb for this book and knew I just had to read it.
The story starts with Sam, a UK teacher, learning about an American man who is on death row for the murder of a young girl. Something about his story grabs her attention and she finds herself drawn to him.
Sam joins groups that are fighting to get his case re-heard and then starts writing to him. Following the break up of her relationship, she goes to America to see him and things move very fast from there.
Dennis is a very complex individual and Sam soon starts to question whether she really knows him...
This story kept me gripped throughout and whilst the ending is quite abrupt, I did really like it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Century publishers for sending me a copy to read and review.

I could not put The Innocent Wife down and was gripped from beginning to end. A great plot and a well-executed thriller, I really enjoyed this crime drama and I found myself completely absorbed in the book. Such a compelling story that I couldn't read it fast enough. I am looking forward to more from Amy Lloyd in the near future. My thanks to Net Galley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dennis Danson is on death row, found guilty of killing a teenage girl. He's been incarcerated for twenty years while the outside world argues the validity of his conviction. Many are convinced that Dennis is also responsible for a number of other missing girl cases centered on Red River County, Florida. Countering that belief are film documentaries and a book which call into doubt the premise upon which Danson's original trial was based.
Across the Atlantic in England, Samantha has no doubt: Dennis Danson is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Fresh from a relationship that finished in unfortunate circumstances, Samantha is without a boyfriend, vulnerable, and looking for a cause to give her life meaning. So starts a correspondence between Sam and Dennis which quickly progresses from one of moral support to something much more personal. It's a letter exchange that prompts Sam to abandon her job and travel to America in order to visit Dennis. Soon an intimate friendship develops between the two. An intimate friendship that is conducted through the perspex barrier that separates visitor from inmate in the prison's visiting facility.
Women who become romantically involved with incarcerated murderers have featured in the media, their emotional attachments examined and dissected, but author Amy Lloyd throws a new perspective on the topic. The prejudices of small town America play out against the liberal bent of a California film crew. As the plot progresses the reader is filled with a sense of unease. And then there's Lindsay, a girl from Danson's past, mysterious and menacing, exercising an inexplicable hold over him. It's a mix that you'll feel is inevitably leading toward a tragic outcome — cue Sam and Danson's circumstances undergoing a dramatic transformation.
The novel is expertly crafted. Written with a narrative that flows with a pace that never slackens, all the while the tension inexorably accumulating. It will keep you tight within its grip, ever-expectant of a shattering twist. Only when the twist is delivered you'll find yourself totally unprepared.
Who is the real victim? And whose life is really under threat?
If you've overindulged on the amateur-sleuth-solves-crime genre then this novel is the perfect antidote. Read it — and if you want a sound night's sleep, make sure you've given yourself enough time to finish it before nightfall.

I read the description of The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd and was instantly intrigued to know more. I’ve seen documentaries of woman who fall in love with convicts and thought negatively about them; I wanted to be challenged with my opinion on them, so I thought I'd give this book a go.

Dennis Danson was incarcerated for Murder, Samantha; a teacher from the UK watched a series online about him and become obsessed with him and believed he was innocent. she wrote to him and they become firm friends that eventually leads to a marriage proposal. She finds herself involved with a film crew who making a true crime documentary about the case. As well as following Samanthas visits to Dennis in prison, there are extracts from a book that give more details of Dennis' past which are really useful.

After the campaign to free Dennis is successful, the married couple live together under constant media scrutiny. Eventually Samantha begins to realise that Dennis might not be who she thinks he is. There are some unexpected twists which keep the interest up.
It would have been good to have other perspectives throughout the story i.e. a flip flop between his thoughts and her thoughts to get more of a balance, but overall it kept my interest.


Samantha’s character was timid and meek, Dennis seemed to have traits of a psychopath; with one character for the cameras and another at home.

A schoolteacher falls for a man on death row who she believes is falsely accused. Twenty years ago Dennis Danson was arrested for the brutal murder of Holly Michaels in Florida's Red River County. Now he's the subject of Making a Murder - style documentary. Samantha is thousands of miles away in Britian, but she is as invested in Dennis's case as any of his lawyers.

The plot to this story is mainly based on did he or did he not do it. Samantha writes to Danson on death row, falls in love with him and then marries him. We have all heard of women who have done this. There is so much tension in this story. A gripping page turner and a good debut novel.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author Amy Llyod for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.