I really enjoyed this one. A really good suspense story about two couples, told from the wife of one of the 3 college friends that comprise the two couples - the outsider who knows a selective history of their past. Now grown with 2 children each, some mysterious things start happening when the husband in the friends group shows up in a picture with another woman on vacation when he’s supposed to be on a work trip.
Gaslighting, additional crimes, unreliable narrator tones - the book has a quick pace so I finished it in one travel day. Don’t want to post any big spoilers but would recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an overall enjoyable read. There were a few twists that I didn’t see coming, but I had a few issues with the story itself.

Have you ever seen a picture that you can’t let go of? It drives you crazy. You go down all the rabbit holes of what it could mean and if you saw it correctly, That is how this book starts.

Lucy is talking with her coworker who just got back from her honeymoon. She shows Lucy a picture and Luck knows her whole life is about to change. In the picture is her best friends husband Scott but not with his wife Cora. He is with another woman. Lucy cannot let this go. She tries to talk herself down and rationalize what she see, but then the woman in the picture is reported missing on the news. Things go from bad to much worse.

Lucy’s life gets unraveled. There is distance between her and her husband and then their best friends and their kids best friends. They have purchased a cottage together. They have built a life around each other. Was any of it true?

I can’t pinpoint what it is yet that made me not give this book 4 stars, but as I said it was an overall easy read once I got into it. I can say there was something about it that didn’t make me want to sit and read it all in one setting like I have done with other thrillers. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Couple in the Photo is a domestic thriller by author Helen Cooper. This is the first novel I have read by the author. I was immediately drawn to the premise of the book. Lucy and her husband Adam are best friends with couple Cora and Scott. Their families do everything together. One day Lucy is looking at photos from a colleagues honeymoon in the Maldives. Lucy is shocked to see Scott with another woman in one of the photos. Soon after, the woman in the photo turns up missing. Lucy starts her own investigation into the missing woman and Scott. She is quite relentless and finds things that were meant to be kept hidden.

I enjoyed the fast pace of the novel. Each chapter had me wanting more of the story. There are a lot of twists in the book and a surprising ending. I will definitely be looking for more books by Helen Cooper. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me this ARC to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam & Sons for an e-ARC of <i>The Couple in the Photo</i>, available everywhere in December 2023.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Never is this more true than what's meant to be an innocuous photo. For Ruth, Lucy's co-worker, the people in the photo are a couple that she met while honeymooning in the Maldives. For Lucy, the man in the photo is Scott, a close friend of hers for over a decade now. What, exactly, is Scott doing in the Maldives with a woman who's not his wife? Torn between telling Cora, his wife, and starting her own investigation, Lucy opts for the latter. After learning the woman has gone missing, she has to wonder: is Scott not only an adulterer but a murderer too?

This book wasn't for me. Filled with too many storylines and implausible scenarios, I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief about how things were unfolding.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Couple In The Photo. Helen Cooper's book is expertly plotted, extremely well-written, and her characters are well drawn and believable. The twists and turns bring readers to another unexpected plot layer as the story deepens.

Lucy, the protagonist, tells the tale in a clear, reader-friendly voice that evokes empathy on every page. Though it's hard to imagine the crisis she faces in the real world, this reviewer was able to suspend disbelief and appreciate the ride. An entertaining novel and highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for providing an ARC for review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

Great read. I stayed up late reading this book. This has several twists and turns and everyone is a suspect till the end. Highly recommend this book.

This gripping psychological thriller was absolutely heart pounding nail bitting good!! I was there for all the twists. I loved this so much!!
I just reviewed The Couple in the Photo by Helen Cooper. #TheCoupleinthePhoto #NetGalley
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The story of the friendship of two couples and their families takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through many twists and turns until the surprise ending. Lucy and Adam, Cora and Scott were always together at each other's houses, or working on renovating a vacation cottage they owned together. Their four children were inseparable. Lucy was obsessed with recording all of their gatherings on her phone camera--until her new obsession turned to a photo of Scott with another woman. What did it mean? When Lucy sets out to discover what is going on in the marriage of her two best friends, she also sets events in motion that lead to an inconceivable, and devastating, outcome for both families. A very interesting, and unpredictable read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the advance copy for me to read and review.

Like any good thriller, this book had me guessing the whole time. I really enjoyed the short chapters and the fact that the language wasn’t too complicated. It was straightforward and direct and I appreciated that. It was action filled and I recommend this to anyone who loves a good thriller.

This book captures your attention right away and keeps you guessing almost all the way through.

It was definitely a good "who done it" type of book.

Pros:
Action Filled
Not too wordy
Keeps you guessing
Short chapters

Cons:
Not completely realistic. Some events made me question how realistic it would be in the real world
All the main characters are short names and it is confusing at first (Lucy, Cora, Scott, Adam)
Main character has a bad case of hero syndrome

The Couple in the Photo by Helen Cooper is a novel set in England where there are two couples who are very close. They spend all of their spare time together and are even working on updating a shared vacation home. They both have two kids who are close in age and get along so well it makes being together so easy.

Then one day, Lucy sees a photo on a colleague’s phone from her honeymoon that she just can’t forget. It looked like her best friend’s husband, but he had his arm around a woman who was not her best friend. The colleague said the two were also on a honeymoon and they gave different names. Lucy is just so sure the names are not their real names and she cannot drop it, she can’t unsee it.

Her husband becomes frustrated with Lucy and asks here just to drop it, obviously it wasn’t their friend. But Lucy’s mind keeps going back to it.

The Couple in the Photo is expertly timed as far as how and when details are revealed. Was Lucy imagining things or was her friend being unfaithful? There are twists and turns in unexpected places which go way beyond what it appears to be. This book is a good read and well worth reading.

This is a great, albeit slow to start, mystery thriller. As the story unfolds, you discover more lies, secrets and jealousy among, what were we to believe, tight group of friends.
I wasn't sure if I liked Lucy's need to find the truth brave or disloyal at first, but it all was perfectly revealed. The beginning felt a bit repetitive so I was slow to start reading it but the second half rolled fast and deliciously satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an early access to this book and thank you to Helen Cooper for a great thriller. I will definitely read more books from her.

This seemed like a super slow read. I found I wasn't rushing to read it. The story is good, not entirely predictable, but not fast-paced. Overall, this is a good book if you need something to fill your time.

I *looovved* The Couple in the Photo. I admit that I was a little apprehensive to read it when I saw several three-star reviews and even some two-star ones. Well, guess what. They are wrong. It is a five-star for sure. And no, I have no affiliation with the author.
This story is about two couples, Adam and Lucy along with Scott and Cora, whose lives intertwine. The photo shows up early in the story, and one of the people in the photo is Scott, but the other person is not Cora. Who she is, is a mystery. There just happens to be a murder or two as well. The story winds every which way with subtleties that suggest he did it. No, she did it. Maybe he did it. The author does an expert job at keeping the reader guessing. It’s a really good whodunit.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Couple in the Photo. I enjoyed it immensely.

Unfortunately, this book was not entertaining for me. I was disappointed and upset because the title and cover drew me so quickly and I couldn’t wait to read it. I didn’t enjoy it. I appreciate the arc from netgalley.

Lucy and Adam, Cora and Scott have been best friends for years and spend a lot of time together. Lucy loves photos and hones in on a work colleague showing honeymoon pictures in the Maldives she sees one that makes her sit up straight in shock and disbelief and she asks Ruth to show it her again. Why is Scott in a holiday picture with another woman and why does Ruth say their names are Jason and Anna? Is she imagining this is Scott? Lucy is determined to protect her friend Cora as much as she can but furtively try to establish if Scott has indeed been on business in Japan as he claims. The mystery deepens when Lucy sees a news item about a missing British woman on the island resort as to her shock it’s THAT woman from the photo, not Anna but Juliet Noor. The more Lucy digs the mystery hole expands and it all seems to link to the past.

The Couple in the Photo
Helen Cooper
Many couples develop relationships with other couples, best friends that vacation together, so it is with Lucy and Adam, Cora and Scott. They have been best friends for years and spend a lot of time together. When Lucy saw a photo of Scott on vacation with another woman, she was shocked and determined to get to the bottom of it and to protect Cora. She talked to her husband who insisted there was a mistake and told her she should drop it; she couldn’t drop it she had to get to the bottom of the situation. She discovered Scott and the other woman were going by fake names: Jason and Anna. Bad turns to worse when she discovers the other woman is actually Juliet Noor and she was murdered.
This book had great potential but fell a bit short of my expectations. Lucy went beyond rational reaction, she was obsessive. The pace was a bit uneven. It was very slow at the beginning of the story; it did gain some momentum but seemed a bit erratic in pacing. There were several twists and turns that kept me interested. However, it Is an interesting read with a unique plot.

I almost DNFd this because the main character however I pushed through and ended up enjoying the book. The twist at the end was totally unexpected!

Reading this book was like stepping into the lives of a perfect couple, in the perfect friend group. Until you read on to discover everything is not as perfect as it seems. The Couple in the Photo dug its nails into me and kept me reading on and on from page one. This title makes you yearn to find out what is going to happen next. My only suggestion and discontent was with some of the wording. For example if the main character is in with detectives, the detectives wouldn't use the word murder over and over. They would use the term homicide, unless that is how they speak across the pond in that case disregard. I highly recommend diving into this thriller and mystery book for yourself to find out who the couple in the photo is.

How well do you know your closest friends and spouse? This book will have you questioning your relationships from the start. Unreliable narrator? Maybe. I won't spill the secrets.

This book was a wild ride. Kept me entertained and wanting to read more. I'd give it a solid 4 stars. Thank you to #netgalley for the advance copy to review.