My thanks to Sabah and Avon for the blog tour invite and for providing the copy for review.


New mum Louisa is exhausted so when she finds out that a surprise 40th birthday party has been arranged for her from her Facebook friends list it’s the last thing she wants. Especially when she discovers that an old boyfriend from her university days, Oliver, has been invited – and has accepted.

She hasn’t seen Oliver for over 20 years and they didn’t part on the best of terms but he is married now; Louisa is married with a family of her own, surely it can’t hurt to speak to him again just for one evening. However when Oliver’s wife then goes missing after the party, Louisa finds herself dragged into past events that she has tried her hardest to forget.

This was such a suspenseful read and I had no idea which way it was going. I don’t have children so I can’t relate to the exhaustion of a new baby but I certainly felt every minute of Louisa’s brain fogged days when she just closed her eyes for a moment and woke up several hours later. It became more worrying when she couldn’t remember if she had fed the baby and especially so when she felt that her husband and best friend were undermining her and casting doubt on her ability to care for herself and baby Noah.

Because of her memory lapses and sleep deprivation, Louisa is an extremely unreliable narrator. There was clearly some devastating event from her past that she couldn’t remember and Oliver’s reappearance in her life clearly had some connection to this, but what? The huge gaps in her memory from the past, together with the alcohol induced haze from the night of her party mean that Louisa has about as much idea as the reader of what is happening. This was one of those stories where I didn’t trust anyone – I felt that everyone had something to hide and were at various times acting very suspiciously – and if you add in the little areas of misdirection and being led up the wrong path a few times, it’s no wonder my poor brain was spinning.

With the exception of perhaps Louisa who I thought rather naïve and quite often unwise in some of her decisions, none of the characters were that likeable – Oliver had all the charm of a second hand car salesman (in my experience of course, I can’t speak for all!) – definitely a bit smarmy, verging on creepy, and someone who would score very low on my trust rating; and as for Louisa’s best friend Tiff, something wasn’t quite right there either. My suspicions as to what was really happening and who was responsible were constantly changing, right up until the end.

I have bought the author’s previous books, but this is the first that I’ve read. I really enjoyed it and shall be hunting out the others from the bookshelves.

I delved happily into this book looking for suspense and trouble at home and I found it!

Louisa and the tense relationships between her husband and alleged best friend kept me engaged and reading into the night. One wrong move after another propels the story into a direction that I found to be both complicated and satisfying. Carrington develops her characters convincingly, while not letting them stray very far from their respective lanes. I did want to strangle both the husband and the best friend early on--but also Louisa for her sleep-deprivation induced bad choices. Oliver is a character I'd have liked to see developed a little more subtly. A great beach read!

Tiff and Louisa has been best friends for years until Tiff began being judgy after Louisa had an unexpected child at 40. She started forgetting things and thought she might be losing it. So Tiff sweeps in to “help”. She also takes it upon herself to plan a surprise 40th bday party that takes a strange turn when Louisa’s ex shows up and his wife goes missing the next day. What happened at that party? It takes several chapters for all of the events to unravel and put the puzzle pieces together while Louisa doesn’t know who to trust, including her husband, her ex of 20 years ago, or her best friend. What a neat mystery! This was a quick read with lots of twists and turns to keep me guessing.

The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington is a mystery thriller, but unfortunately I didn't like it. Maybe it was the mother in me or the years I spent as a child protection worker. Everyone's past helps them choice what books they want to read. First of all I did not like Louisa in any way, she resents her baby, (poor her) , and forgets to feed him because she sleep deprived. I really wanted to like the book, it sounded so good, but I have to have someone to root for. Too many unlikable people. If you're not as sensitive as I am about children, give this book a shot, you might like it. I'm sorry but I can not recommend this book. I will try reading another book by this author.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

Sam Carrington’s dark, creepy and twisted psychological crime thrillers are in a class of their own and this phenomenally talented writer is back with a sinister spine-tingler that is jaw-droppingly brilliant: The Missing Wife.

Exhausted new mother Louisa cannot remember the last time she had a moment to herself or a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep. With a teenage daughter and a screaming baby to contend with – not to mention a husband who doesn’t exactly go out of his way to help around the house – Louisa feels as if she is lurching from one domestic crisis to another. With her fortieth birthday fast approaching, all Louisa wants is the opportunity to shut the world out for a couple of hours and go to sleep without constantly keeping one ear open for her son Noah’s frequent screams. Unfortunately for Louisa, her best friend Tiff and her husband Brian have got other ideas in store for her. Rather than leave her in a hotel room to sleep, Tiff and Brian organise a surprise party for her by inviting every single one of her Facebook friends – including the one person Louisa had hoped never to clap eyes on ever again: her ex college boyfriend, Oliver Dunmore.

Louisa has tried her hardest to put her teenage years at Exeter College behind her. Those dark and confusing days had caused Louisa and her family nothing but grief, pain and anguish and all Louisa has to do is have a cursory thought about her past to feel the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. Louisa had thought that all that was ancient history, but when she is brought face to face with Oliver at her surprise birthday party after all these years, all those barely suppressed fears come rushing back to the surface with a savage vengeance. Louisa thinks that she only has to bear this awful party for a couple of hours before she can scuttle back home and never see these people ever again. However, nobody could envisage the dark undercurrents that re-emerge again after Louisa’s birthday surprise…

Oliver’s wife Melissa had gone missing after the party and Louisa becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to her. Is Oliver behind Melissa’s disappearance? Did one of her ‘friends’ have something to do with Melissa vanishing off the face of the earth? As Louisa’s investigation deepens, she quickly realises that the truth could be closer than she initially thought – and that the guilty party could well end up being the last person she had ever suspected.

As shocking revelations and scandalous secrets come to light, is Louisa ready for what her quest for the truth will unleash?

A top-notch thriller that grips from the start and will leave readers on the edge of their seats, The Missing Wife is a book that redefines the word unputdownable as once you start reading it, you simply will not be able to stop. A scintillating thriller that chills and terrifies, The Missing Wife is a brilliantly written story about the ties that bind and shackle, the darker side of friendship and the sinister lengths people go to to protect their secrets that will force you to put your entire life on hold as you find yourself mesmerized by this book.

Sam Carrington’s has outdone herself with The Missing Wife, a first rate thriller that has got winner written all over it!

Imagine this. You're a new mum. You've already got a teenager and didn't expect to do it all again. You're hallucinating through lack of sleep and your husband and your friend think it's a good idea not only to throw you a surprise party for your 40th birthday, but to invite the whole of your Facebook friends list. Nightmare!

Even worse, the man who broke Louisa's heart over 20 years ago when they were at college together has found himself on the invite list. Oliver Dunmore is a man Louisa never expected to see again. Now he's back in her life, insinuating his way into her family and friends and just generally putting Louisa on edge. Not to mention the fact that his new wife has gone missing. Something just doesn't seem to ring true.

Louisa is very unreliable. She's blanking out and the things she can recall may or may not be true. This makes for a really intriguing read as it's impossible to know if her memories can be trusted. Added to that she has gaps in her memory from the time when she first knew Oliver, things that she has just never been able to remember. This is a really fascinating aspect to the story, that some things are so traumatic that the brain chooses to block them out, lock them away somewhere.

I really felt for Louisa. She's struggling with her baby, her relationship with her husband is suffering, and her friend, Tiff, is behaving strangely. All in all, not what she needs.

I wouldn't say this is a story that kept surprising me, more than it kept leading me off down a maze of tunnels, some with dead ends and some with new information to add to what I already had. I thought this quite accurately fitted with Louisa's foggy brain. I didn't find it a particularly fast paced read, but it was absorbing nonetheless.

The ending held a couple of unexpected twists that I hadn't seen coming and provided the perfect conclusion to the whole tale. I really enjoyed The Missing Wife and found it to be an excellent psychological thriller.

I know, another psychological thriller. But The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington is also just like any other “woman in danger” psychological thriller. It really didn’t go above and beyond.

Louisa is turning forty. While living with her husband, their teenage daughter and her newborn son, Louisa is feeling a wee bit burnt out. She is also suffering from dissociative amnesia. She has large sections of her past that she doesn’t remember. On top of that, she is struggling with her newborn son’s sleeplessness. As a means to make his wife feel better, Brian organises a surprise forty-birthday party for Louisa.

Tiff, Louisa’s best and only friend, does most of the organising. She invites everyone from Louisa’s Facebook friend’s list – many of which Louisa doesn’t know or hardly at all. That list also includes Louisa’s ex boyfriend, Oliver, who broke her heart when he moved to New York roughly twenty years ago.

The morning after Louisa’s party, she wakes to find that she doesn’t remember anything from it. Eventually Oliver turns up at Louisa’s house revealing that his wife, Melissa, is missing. Even though Louisa doesn’t remember anything from the party, she gets roped into helping Oliver try and find his wife.

Through flashbacks, Louisa starts to doubt whether Melissa was even at the party. Why is she also getting images of matted hair, bare feet on grass and even blood? With all this terror building, Louisa starts to forget to feed her newborn baby, she loses her phone and people start to look at her differently. It is now up to Louisa to work out why all this is happening and why everyone appears to be lying to her.

Let’s just say this is a decent thriller with an intriguing premise, but it isn’t anything new. My major flaw is the pacing of this book. There’s no high and low, it was the exact same pace throughout, even when the plot thickens, no difference. And even with that anti-climatic ending, it was poorly paced.

I don’t mean to kick a dog when its down, but even the characters were bad. They weren’t fleshed out as I thought they’d have been. Some characters, like Emily, seemed to be placeholders rather than meaningful to the development of the story. She is seriously used to continue the plot forward rather than interact with the other characters like Brian.

The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington is a modest enough read for a psychological thriller, but it is a very forgettable book. I feel like if you’re looking for a bingeable book for this summer, The Missing Wife can certainly do the trick! Just remember you’ve been forewarned about the clusterf**k of unbalanced aspects in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Sam Carrington for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Kept me guessing, dissociative amnesia, murder, mystery & suspense. Worth a read,some might say totally unbelievable, but... how would you behave?!

An okay read, which I found a little strange at time. I think the fact that Louisa was a older mother was a bit overstretched at times, and I found the book very slow and wished the plot would hurry up, I did find the book a bit unbelievable but not a horrendous read. Not sure if I’d rush to read another book by this author.

Review posted on Amazon stowv55

This is the first book I’ve read by Carrington, but I’m likely to check out prior and future books. I found this book to be engaging, with a variety of twists and turns. At times, the pacing lagged, but a few pages later, it was off and running again. I was anxious to learn Louisa’s backstory and find out how and why Oliver was able to wiggle his way into every part of her life.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a positive review.

My first read by the author and I am quite intrigued.
The story was good and I finished it in one sitting because I could relate with the heroine for what’s happening in her life with becoming a mother again and all the changes that takes place in a woman’s life.
There are things in life that you want to leave them in the past, want to block the memories but as always, the truth and the past will always catch up with you. An interesting story with a few twists and turns that I thought I knew where everything was going but apparently I was in for a surprise.
I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, probably I would’ve liked to read another one, but overall was a great story that I will recommend.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Louisa's biggest problem at the moment is trying to get enough sleep while dealing with a new baby. However, her fortieth birthday is approaching and her husband and best friend Tiff plan a huge surprise party. Louisa doesn't have any other close friends other than Tiff and is appalled when she arrives at the party only to discover that Tiff has invited everyone on Louisa's Facebook list of friends. One shocking guest is Oliver, Louisa's first love.

Not only did their relationship end very badly over twenty years earlier, Oliver's wife Melissa goes missing at the party. Louisa had far too much to drink the night of the party and cannot remember anything about Melissa. However, Oliver shows up at her door begging for her help. This is incredibly difficult for Louisa, and that is for several reasons. Yet, she reluctantly decides to help him.

As the weeks roll on, Louisa is plagued with fractured memories. This is something she dealt with her entire life. This is multi-layered story dealing with these emotional issues of Louisa go beyond being a harried mother. Furthermore, there are things about Oliver, and their shared past, that trouble her deeply and this leads to nerve-wracking moments for Louisa. Finding Melissa is not easy for Oliver, nor is it easy for the police. Other than Emily, Louisa's teen daughter, the only character I could trust in this story was Brian, Louisa's husband.

This story most definitely has several twists and turns. What is more is that the conclusion is something that I never saw coming. All while reading the story I was equally worried and frustrated for Louisa. Conversely, I never trusted Oliver from the moment he walked into Louisa's party.

Due to a conclusion that seemed a bit off, the rating on this book is a bit lower for a story that genuinely kept me quite interested. I was sold on looking for Melissa so I did find this to be a good book by Sam Carrington. I do look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Many thanks to Avon and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have read a previous book by Sam, so I couldn't wait to lay my hands on this one, and once again I was not disappointed! The book was well written, gripping from beginning to end, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Can't wait for the next one!

There’s so much I can relate to with Louisa. I had my third child in my late 30s and the sleep deprivation was unbelievable. I too had to write down feed times to keep an eye on them although my son was quite effective at letting me know when he was hungry! I can drive but I was afraid of doing so because I didn’t feel safe – I was that tired. So I also walked when I had to but mostly I stayed home with a screaming, puking baby. It was hell. So I connected with Louisa pretty quickly.

By setting The Missing Wife in a small village in Devon, the sense of being isolated and trapped is intensified. Apart from her husband and teenage daughter, Louisa only has one real friend – Tiff. But Tiff puts that friendship in jeopardy when she throws a surprise 40th birthday party for Louisa and includes an ex-boyfriend on the invite list. Has any good come from inviting exes to parties or any other events?

Right from the start it’s clear that something’s not quite right about Oliver. Louisa has enough problems with her mind playing tricks on her with the sleep deprivation. But Oliver’s reappearance has triggered old, buried memories. Sam Carrington skilfully takes us through Louisa’s growing paranoia until Louisa can’t trust anyone – not even herself.

One thing I did miss with this book is the police. Sam Carrington has a couple of wonderful detectives called DI Lindsey Wade and DS Mack who have appeared in her previous novels. Although they feature very briefly, I would have loved to have seen their take on the case of ‘the missing wife’. By keeping it to one point of view, the book is gloriously claustrophobic but I missed Lindsey’s very down-to-earth and direct approach.

Ultimately, I think this book is about trust. Not just who you can trust but whether you can trust yourself. Our memories of past events are often our own interpretation of what’s happened rather than a real factual account. So with more secrets and devious behaviour than a Cabinet Minister, can anyone be relied upon in The Missing Wife? You’ll have to read it to find out. A first rate psychological thriller.

This thriller seemed to be giving back bits and pieces of many stories I’ve read before. Sleep deprived mother of a newborn who is also taking pills and has periods of time she can’t remember. Yawn. Her high school boyfriend’s wife goes missing after her 40th birthday party - but no one can remember seeing her there.

Unfortunately, a thriller doesn’t work for me if I don’t care about the characters and don’t care how it ends. Since that’s how I’m feeling at more than halfway through this book, I’m going to stop here.

Thank you to Avon UK and Netgalley for the free copy in e change for my honest review.

I want to begin by saying that I received this book for free through Netgalley, but all thoughts are my own. This book is about a woman named Louisa who is soon to be turning 40, and she's also just had her second baby. Her husband and her best friend surprise her with a party and at this party she is reunited with her ex-boyfriend Oliver. The next day, Olivers wife Melissa is reported missing, but no one can recall seeing her at the party. Louisa is then determined to find out what happened to her. This book was very well written and gripping. It's honest about what it is like to be a new parent (and I assume it is accurate, as I don't have children) and how she is dealing with baby blues & sleeplessness which is emphasised within this book. I did feel as if the majority of this book was quite fast paced and I did feel quite hooked. I feel as if we were provided with small hints and clues as to how the book was going to end, and although I did guess one part correctly, I was completely shocked by another bit that happened! This definitely kept my attention and I did enjoy it! It definitely became quite a dark and sinister read and I actually liked that, as thrillers aren't a genre I've read too much about, I do enjoy reading these different varieties, so reading with a hint of darkness to it really interested me and has made me want to read even more of the genre. Overall, this is the first time I have read a book by Sam Carrington and I did enjoy it! If you like psychological thrillers then I would suggest giving this one a go!

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I've not read any of this authors work before but I certainly will search her out in future - I loved this from start to finish - couldn't put down - this is absolute belter !!!

Can't rate this highly enough - would recommend to everyone - a must-read!!!

Could you ever imagine a room full of your facebook friends? I mean how many of us have old acquanatnices, friends of exes or distance cousins we have never met as "friends" I'd be horrified! So the premise of this book really drew me in.

The last thing a new Mum wants to do is celebrate a 40th birthday with close friends, let alone a room full of strangers. When Louisa's ex-boyfriend Oliver who she thought at the time was the love of her life, turns up with his wife Melissa, all Louisa wants to do is get drunk!

Melissa disappears after the party and Louisa (drunk with no recollection of the night) starts to have visions of a woman bloodied and dead. The author does a clever job of conjuring a Lady Macbeth style vision and as Oliver becomes the prime suspect he enlists the help of Louisa. On top of the visions, it is clear as the story progresses that Louisa is also suffering from post natal depression. As her family try and help her, Oliver starts to reference events from their past that Louisa must face in order to work out what has happened to Melissa’\. disappearance.

Loved the "who dunnit" style and raced through this ook - Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of The Missing Wife in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first but certainly not my last read by this author.

Louisa is about to turn forty. She’s a new mum to Noah and has a teenage daughter Emily. Louisa’s friend Tiff decides to throw a 40th birthday party for her.

Louisa has all the struggles of being a mum to a newborn. With Louisa’s ex turning up at the party and Louisa drinking too much her nightmare is just about to begin as her ex’s wife disappears.

Great read from start to finish.

A brilliant, twisted ending!

Louisa is married to Brian. They have a teenage daughter Emily and a three-month-old son, Noah. Noah is a restless colicky baby and Louisa, almost forty is struggling with sleepless nights and a baby who never stops crying. She seems to have blackouts. Whole chunks of her day are lost and it worries her that she might once again, be suffering from dissociative amnesia. This had first occurred in her late teens. She knew something bad had happened, but the memory of the trauma remained buried. Could Noah’s birth and the sleepless nights be causing it to return?

Brian and her best friend, Tiffany organise a surprise 40th birthday party. Louisa is shocked to find her ex-boyfriend, Oliver, is one of the guests. It’s while she’s taking a quick break, in the outside garden of the pub where the party is being held, that the memories of the trauma of her teenage life start surfacing once again and these memories seem to be linked to Oliver. Louisa finds her life disintegrates as Oliver worms his way back into not only her life but her family’s life.

Sam Carrington certainly has a knack of writing a brilliant plot that leaves the reader hanging on to each word, trying to work out whether Louisa is genuine or a complete fraud. Could her memory be so badly affected by her lack of sleep and looking after the baby? And, more importantly, what happened when she was a teenager?

Strong characters make this an enjoyable read.

The ending is totally brilliant. It wasn’t what I was expecting.

Dietes

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.