Lucy and Adam are best friends with Cora and Scott. Both families have two children similar in age and spend a lot of time together. Lucy sees a photograph of what looks to be Scott and another woman on the beach in the Maldives when he is supposedly on a work trip in Japan. Lucy is unsure what to do with the knowledge of the photo. The novel had a slower start in the beginning, but once it picked up I was hooked. I highly recommended reading this novel and seeing where it takes you.

Twisted in a way I didn't see coming! Thoroughly enjoyed this while laying in the sun. Definitely what I call brain candy and it allowed me to escape into someone else's world for a while.

Must-have for mystery lovers! The Couple in the Photo will take you on a rollercoaster of mystery and suspense. This book had me captivated from beginning to end and was very hard to put down with its rich storyline and evocative narrative.
Lucy and Adam are best friends with Cora and Scott and so are their kids. They are practically a family with them having dinners together and co-owning a beach Cottage. Adam, Cora and Scott were together in college and have been best friends ever since. Everything is going perfect until Lucy sees a photo from her colleague, Ruth, from her honeymoon in Maldives where she has posed with her new husband and another couple. It was Scott; with another woman. But Ruth remembers a different name for him. Lucy wants to protect her friend from Scott's infidelity while Adam suggests her to not mingle with it. It is their issue and they should resolve it on their own. Plus, is Lucy truly sure that it was Scott? She only took a glimpse of the picture. But Lucy can't let it go, she feels the guilt of hiding the truth from her friend. As she searches from answers to prove Adam wrong and to come clean to her best friends, secrets about her husband and best friends are revealed which bring upheaval to their simple lives. She suspects that the 3 of them know more than she does and worse, they are trying to hide it from her. Is it better for Lucy to not know the truth? Is everything as dark as it seems to be?
You will not guess how the plot unfolds and will be as intrigued to find out the truth as Lucy. It has an immersive writing style. The end is resolution is satisfying too, and there are no loose ends. The seeds of doubt and suspicion are carefully planted about multiple characters throughout the book, leading to a satisfying climax. Whether you are a seasoned mystery reader or new to the genre, this book will do justice to your time.
I am definitely picking up the previous works of Helen Cooper after reading this one.

This book started off a little slow for me but the ending was pretty good. Everything tired together nicely at the end. Cora, Scott, and Adam have known each other since university, Scott and Cora ended up getting together their last year of college and a little while later Adam met Lucy. Lucy always felt a little bit left out, but loved her friends and husband dearly. One day Lucy was at work and was watching Ruth show off her amazing wedding photos from the Maldives when she recognized a couple in one of the photographs, it was Scott with another woman! Lucy isnt sure how she wants to handle the situation and then she finds that the woman in the photo has gone missing. She decided to go to the police. This is where things continue to fall apart, Lucy is about to find out all the secrets that were holding Cora, Scott, and Adam together.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A whodunit with unexpected twists and turns. The ending is wonderfully satisfying.

Such a good book! The twist were great and I really loved the main character. I couldn't put it down! The writing was well executed and it was easy to see the scenes play out in your head. I would 10/10 recommend for anyone who loves a good mystery.

A domestic thriller that keeps you on your toes with the amount of twists and turns around every corner! Lucy has the idyllic life, complete with husband, two children and a loyal best friend with a family similar to their own. They even own a holiday cottage together, working to rehab it together. One day, she sees a couple in the background of her friends honeymoon photos, who looks shockingly like her best friend's husband. After that, it all seems to unravel. Lucy doesn't know what is real anymore.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Wow! this is a book that will keep you guessing until the last chapter. Many twist and turns but always just wondering? Does anyone have freinds like these people do?

The first 40% of this book was very slow, but once you get past that point it’s a much better read! I was invested in what was going on and I found myself turning the pages eagerly once we got to the halfway point. I will say this wasn’t the most original plot and I did guess the ending. If you’re not a frequent reader, maybe this one would surprise you. But if you’re like me and you do a lot of reading, this premise is nothing new. I’ve read other similar stories which are woven better. This is a good read, but it’s nothing spectacular.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC.

Net Galley!

A huge thank you to Net Galley for my Advanced Reader Copy of “The Couple in the Photo!”

I started this book at a super busy time and when I had to step away, and focus on other things, it stayed on my mind until I could get back to it! 45% of the way through the book, I had to google this awesome author, fingers crossed this wasn't her only book! She's amazing! Lucky for me! She has more books! I have added them to my "to read" and I will be anxiously awaiting her next release!

The characters! You love some and loathe the others.

The setting! I want a cottage to renovate! Yes please!

This story had so many twists and turns but somehow they all worked so well! The friendships that really weren't. The love triangle that really wasn't. The innocence of Lucy. The lies from the people you trusted most! The seemingly perfect life until you pulled the covers back and realized the dysfunction. This is a five star read no doubt about it! What a wild ride!

Check out all of Helen's books!
- The Downstairs Neighbor (February 2021)
- The Last Guest (July 2022)
- The Couple in the Photo (December 2023)

Check out my Review on Goodreads!

Oh, the tales we weave! We all have best couples that we hang with as adults especially when we have kids. Kids will bond as well as moms and dads. Life is perfect! Or so we think.... In this book we have 2 couples with kids and 3 of these have been friends since college. The secrets start to unfold throughout the book and the author did a fantastic job of keeping us readers on the edge of our seats. This was an excellent book! I am taking 1 star off for the nicknames of the main characters (Luce, Cor and Ad) I think this was unnecessary to the story. Overall a fantastic book! I am honored to have received a copy of this book through Netgalley and can't wait to read more from this author.
#thecoupleinthephoto
#Netgalley
#helencooper

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book -- this was a fun one.

Lucy finds herself in a web of lines created by her husband and two closest friends after she recognizes her best friend's husband in a coworker's picture from their honeymoon.

Soon, Lucy realizes that everything she's known might be built on lies and the lies may be even bigger than she originally thought.

This book had me hooked from the very first chapter as we are taken along for a ride with Lucy and she digs to uncover what is actually happening within her close circle (her husband and their best friends Cora and Scott, who are also married).

This book gave me anxiety in the absolute best way possible because at one point it had me guessing my own sanity and dying to know what was happening and exactly who was behind everything. While I thought I had some things figured out, there continued being twists and turns right up until the very end.

Such a fun and wild ride -- definitely recommend.

***Thank you to Helen Cooper, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the ARC copy ***
Release date: 12.05.2023

Summary: Lucy loves photographs, seeing those moments that can last forever. One day at work, a coworker is showing her photos from her honeymoon in Maldives and she sees a couple in the photo - the man looks an awful lot like her husbands best friend, Scott. As Lucy begins to question what she saw in the photo, the female in the pictures body is found in the Maldives. Lucy begins doing her own sleuthing and confiding in her husband, Adam. As Lucy thinks shes getting closer to what happened to the woman, the more she realizes the things in her life are not as they seem.

Review: It's always the damn husband.
This book took me on a journey and I finished it in one sitting (well as close to one sitting while being at work one can be). I started this thinking wow, Scott sucks, poor Cora, this is all going to end badly. Then it became pity Scott, Cora sucks but Adam reaaaallly sucks and Lucy is just stuck in all of it. I thought the writers take on a love affair with a murder was interesting. So often we see guilty cheater, jilted lovers who commit the crime but this ... there were more turns than I could see coming. It kept me on the edge of my seat without requiring a xanax so that's a plus.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it was PHENOMENAL!!! It grabs you from page one and doesn’t shake you loose until the very end!! You will read this book in day,! Thanks for the advanced copy!!

On a normal day at work, Lucy's colleague, Ruth is beaming from her recent honeymoon and sharing photos from her amazing trip to the Maldives. Lucy loves photos and all the happy times they convey, so she is more than happy to look at the pictures.

While flipping through, Lucy sees a snapshot of Ruth, her new husband and a couple at the resort and is floored to see the man is the husband of her best friend. When Lucy asks about it, Ruth says they are a great couple they met while there. Lucy feels sick. The man is Scott, her best friend Cora's husband, but the woman is NOT Cora. Furthermore, Scott is supposed to be in Tokyo on a business trip. He couldn't be in the Maldives, right?

What follows is a journey and discovery of secrets in a group of a very tight and close friends involving Lucy, her husband Adam and Scott and Cora. They couldn't be closer and their four kids are like siblings. Adam, Scott and Cora were all best friends at university before Lucy entered the picture. Lucy is torn about digging into the issue knowing it could implode all their lives as they know it.

Now, my two cents. I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it moved at a breakneck pace. The only thing is I was 49 percent finished and I had it figured out. I was right about the big part, but there was some small surprise at the end, so overall, it was a great read! Releases in December 2023 but you can preorder now! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher! No review was required.

This book was right up my alley! I loved the mystery and the characters. I flew through it in one day. I had to know what happened next!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

This book... had good potential? The first half of the book seemed to be setting it up to be so good, but it just fell apart a bit at the end.

I couldn't get over the incessant use of nicknames, only referring to each other as "Ad" and "Luce" and "Cor". The storyline was good, though. It followed an interesting idea that ended on a note I didn't see coming from the beginning of the book.

Definitely not a book that I'd read again, or necessarily recommend to someone, but it wasn't a waste!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good domestic suspense/thriller. I was hooked right off the bat.
This book follows two couples: Adam and Lucy, and Cora and Scott. Adam, Cora, and Scott were friends in school and they are bound by some secrets that Lucy is determined to uncover.
I enjoyed the writing in this book. The characters were well developed for this genre. What's keeping my rating at 4 stars is how the plot played out.
At the beginning of this book, we think it's going to be about Lucy trying to find out what happened to Juliet Noor-- a writer who went missing in the Maldives. But it's not about that at all... which I thought was odd considering it was a huge point for a good chunk of this book.
There were so many red herrings in this book, and I loved that. However it was a tad predictable around 60% who the bad guy was.
The ending had a solid resolution and I liked that we got to see the aftermath of the events in an epilogue.
Overall, great story! I look forward to this book's publish date!

While looking at her co-worker's honeymoon pics, Lucy recognizes her husband's best friend with another woman. She and her husband are renovating a house in Cornwall with him and his wife and she is not sure what to do with this information. Her husband tells her she must be mistaken, but then the co-worker disappears and the woman in the photo is found dead. Lucy is worried that she has been lied to and is not sure if she can trust her friends or even her husband now. Many twists and not everyone is who they seem to be.

The Couple in the Photo is a slow burn physiological thriller/mystery. We start with our main character Lucy is looking at her co-workers honeymoon pictures and notices her best friend’s husband coupled with a woman that is not his wife. Then while watching the news, the woman goes missing and is presumed dead. Lucy starts to ask around and starts to realize that her husband, best friend and best friends husband are all much closer than she realizes. Does she even really know the people she was closest to?

The middle of the book gets a little slow but the plot was interesting and kept me engaged. I wanted to know what happened to the mystery woman and the relationships between the husband/friends. The relationships are built out well with good backstory on how these friendships were formed.