“She feels like something dangerous. What she knows about me, about us. What she could destroy. I’ve been careless, taken my eye off what’s important, and things have gone too far.”

“My family, my kids. They can never, never know what I’ve done.”


When the first thing that happens in the book is the main character, Lucy, sees a coworker’s photo of a couple they met in the Maldives that appears to be her husband’s best friend with a woman who was not his wife, I worried that we found out too much too fast and it was going to be long and boring.

But luckily, I was wrong. There were many more knots and secrets to untangle as the story goes on.

I also appreciated that this wasn’t just a paranoid character trope. Lucy is more just curious and obsessed with finding the truth by actually looking and finding answers, not just sitting at home and speculating in her mind and wondering if she’s crazy.

That helped move the story along because Lucy kept discovering things and actually made some tough decisions to communicate with the police which I found surprising considering a lot of books I read.



The premise is this:

Adam & Lucy and Scott & Cora are two couples who are best friends. Adam, Scott, and Cora went to Leeds University together and have a history. That history comes to haunt them when Lucy finds out the woman in the photo with Scott— Juliet— was a girl who also went to school with them.

Then Juliet turns up dead in the Maldives- murdered. And Scott was supposedly just with her.

And then the coworker who showed her the photo finds herself in the hospital.

Lucy’s world comes crashing down when more and more secrets are revealed as she searches for the truth.

She might not like what she finds and whoever is hiding from her will do anything to keep those secrets hidden!



I will warn that the end of the book isn’t really a happy ending. It’s not necessarily unsatisfying but the characters are pretty dysfunctional and if you’re a ‘happy ending’ kind of book reader, you may not want to do this one.

I figured out the primary mystery at 30% (i.e. who was narrating the mystery POV sections and who the killer was) but there were other things that I wasn’t sure about throughout the book.

It’s not a high-octane thriller, but more of a suspicion-driven domestic thriller.

There was a decent amount of swearing, but most of the f-words were grouped together during times the characters found out bad news or got hurt and not in constant daily use like an adjective. Not great, but could have been worse.

Overall, a decent book that I would recommend.



Learning Corner

Cooper is a British author so of course here is my little learning corner. These are all food-related words I learned while reading this book:

- Ribena: blackcurrant-based soft drink (carbonated and non); and comes in concentrate to be mixed with water

- cheesy mash: cheesy mashed potatoes

- Quavers: UK equivalent to a Cheeto; a cheesy airy chip named after the musical note- quaver (which is an eighth note); you can buy them on Amazon

- malt loaf: a sweet bread served with butter

- poppadoms: thin round Indian bread


[Content Advisory: 48 f-words, 15 s-words; an affair occurs but no sex scenes]


**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

If not for having to go to work, I could have read The Couple in the Photo in one sitting. The writing holds your attention and keeps you turning pages. Lucy is one hell of a character. I'd love a sequel just about her life after this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! The short excerpts of the first person POV brought suspense to the story. It was a twisty with one lots of secrets. I enjoyed these characters with all their secrets. I love couple stories who share and hid secrets from each other!! Definitely want to check out Helen Cooper's other books!

I love messy, domestic thrillers! In The Couple in the Photo, our protagonist, Lucy loves her life with her husband, Adam, two girls, and the relationship she and Adam have with Cora and Scott (Adam's two best friends from college) and their children. Everything is perfect until Lucy by chance is looking at her coworker's honeymoon photos and sees a photo of Scott and another woman, taken at the time that Scott was supposed to be on a business trip. Things only get worse when it comes out that the woman is now missing. From there on, secrets and lies get more twisted as Lucy tries to figure out who she can trust and whether she really knows the people she loves the way she thought she did.

This was SO MESSY (in a good way!) The book did take a little while to really pique my interest, but the more secrets that came out, the more determined I was to get to the end. I did guess the resolve pretty early in the story, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I'd rather a twist/resolve be a little more predictable than extremely hard to guess because it being unrealistic. A couple of the plot points were a little convoluted and I think could've been left out, but that's my only issue with it. Overall, I had a fun time! 3.5/5 stars.

Who could imagine an innocent vacation photo could lead to deadly secrets being exposed, murder and lives being changed forever? Well, in this new thriller, The Couple In The Photo that is exactly what occurs! And be warned! Once you begin the book, you will not be able to stop until you find out the truth!

Lucy and Adam, Cora and Scott have been best friends for years. Adam, Cora and Scott were besties in college. They and their children do everything together. They have even bought a cottage which they are fixing up so they can spend even more time together. 

But something changes this friendship when Lucy sees a picture taken by a co-worker during her Maldives honeymoon on her phone. It seems to be a couple they met and it’s her friend Scott and the woman beside him is not his wife Cora! She asks her friend their names and even though she is absolutely sure this is Scott; the name is not his. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to be on a work trip in Japan when the picture was taken.

With her interest piqued, of course she goes home and tells her husband, Adam. But he thinks she perhaps made a mistake because of course Scott would never cheat on Cora and he was in Japan.

But that all changes when she confronts Scott and discovers some suspicious clues. Then, her co-worker ghosts her as she once again tries to see the photo. Why on earth would she avoid her? But once the Pandora’s Box is opened, it cannot be closed and when the mysterious woman ends up dead, murdered in the Maldives, well Lucy knows she must go to the police.

She begins to suspect not only Scott of nefarious behavior, but Adam and Cora as well. Lucy must make some very hard choices which could not only ruin all their lives, but could possibly put her in danger as well.

Perhaps she has unknowingly become the next victim in a pact made years before which she never knew existed. But what happened back then which could possibly affect what is happening today?

The Couple In The Photo is a jaw dropping read which will continually shock you and the ending? Well, picture perfect!

Thank you #NetGalley #G.P.Putnam’sSons #TheCoupleInThePhoto #HelenCooper for the advanced copy.

Couples Lucy and Adam, and Cora and Scott have been best friends for a long time, sharing their lives with each other. That is why Lucy is shocked when she seemingly sees Scott on vacation with another woman when viewing her coworkers honeymoon pictures. To make matters worse, the woman in the picture is soon reported missing, which leads Lucy on an unpredictable chase to find the truth about her friends. Nothing is as it seems in this fast read. I loved how the details slowly revealed themselves in each chapter, making the suspenseful ending even more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this book!

I immediately disliked Lucy and being in her head. There was a lot of ridiculous things coming together and I was not in for it at all, This is a summer beach read to waste a vacation away at its best

The Couple in the Photo was a fantastic domestic suspense read, based on four friends/two couples...and the secrets we keep from those we love the most. One day Lucy is browsing her co-worker's honeymoon photos. The next, she's questioning everything she knows about those she loves the most. As much as I enjoyed this book, I had a hard time believing the amazing coincidences, as well as the insane obsession Lucy has with this missing woman. But overall, this was a fast fun read, despite how predictable and unrealistic some parts were.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This novel requires that you suspend belief - A LOT.

Right off the bat, you have to overlook the one in a million odds that not only would Lucy's friend be on the same vacation island as her co-worker, but that he would allow himself to be photographed with the woman he was having an affair with. The author does a good job of trying to explain how the photograph came to be about, but as smart as Scott was, there is no doubt in my mind he would have found a way to get out of it (and should have even if he too didn't think there was a chance it would ever be seen by anyone else). And then the mystery woman goes missing. And Lucy becomes.... obsessed.

Seriously, I don't know what else to call her constant need to refresh her phone looking for updates, or the way she starts trying to sleuth around trying to catch her husbands and best friends out in lies (which if she was even partially as good as reading people as she claimed to be she would have seen certain truths long before she did).

That was another big issue that kept me from enjoying this novel. None of the characters were likable at all. It was obvious that the "friend group" (which again, included her own husband) were keeping things from Lucy. In fact, the more truths that came out, the more I started hating the entire lot of them. Yes, they were united in something that happened in the past. Which yes, was horrible, and tragic, but that doesn't make anything that they did before or after that event acceptable. Especially the way Adam gaslit his own wife repeatedly knowing there was every chance she would at least piece together that they all knew the missing woman. It would have been easier from the start if Adam had admitted to knowing her at university, and Scott would have admitted to the affair. Yes, she would have been upset with Scott, and yes she would have told Cora, but she would have stopped snooping into the missing woman's life. But then I suppose that would have made for a really short story.

Still there was a chance this book might have been redeemed until .... the ending. The moment where everything comes together and all secrets are revealed. Once again, you REALLY have to just suspend your disbelief and go with it. To be honest I found it not only extremely farfetched (for example, how did Lucy fall down the stairs in the manner that she did and one minute be experiencing pain and near black outs then the next she's not only perfectly fine, but able to piece things together that hadn't even been said). Also the way that Adam treated his own wife, putting Cora's wants and needs before his injured wife... I've said it once and I'll say it again. Horrid people. The entire lot of them.

Overall, I can see where people enjoyed this one, it just wasn't for me. I would however give the author another chance down the road.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

ooh this is so good.

Lucy and Adam are BFFs with Cora and Scott. The four are so close that they bought a cottage together that they are renovating.

At work one day Lucy’s co-worker shares pictures of her vacation and one of the men in the picture is Scott. But, it’s not Cora. Who is that woman? Lucy is sure it’s Juliet. The woman who has gone missing on the island. Adam doesn’t believe Lucy. Lucy can’t confide and Cora. Scott is denying it.

I could not turn the pages fast enough! Oh, and the twist. So good. Read in one sitting!

RECOMMEND

Thank you NetGalley for the free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This thriller is full of unexpected twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Just when you think you've got it figured out, the author throws you another curveball. I was particularly drawn to Lucy's determination to uncover the truth about the woman in the photo. It was also a bit heart wrenching when Lucy discovered those closest to her had been lying to her for years

The Couple in the Photo started with a really interesting premise, but it fell a little flat for me. Ultimately, there wasn't enough there there for this one - the motivations of the villain/villains were extremely tenuous. I kept waiting for the lightbulb moment of why this all went down the way it did, and it just never came. Needless to say, I'm sure I will recommend this to my patrons who are ravenous for any Thriller/Suspense they can get their hands on - it's serviceable, but ultimately a little forgettable. Recommend for fans of Ruth Ware.

This is a fast paced thriller with enough clues to keep my mind busy trying to solve the puzzle, and plenty of twists to make me second guess. I also enjoyed the fixer upper shared beach house as a unique connecting point in the story.

Not sure what it was, but something was missing in this one for me. I stuck it out and didn't hate it, but the storyline just fell a little flat and wasn't a favorite for me.

DNF...
Did not finish. Writing was poor & did not find the characters to be likable at all. I tried to push through, but had no interest in continuing.

Lucy Taylor and her husband, Adam, enjoy hanging out with their best friends, Adam's college buddies Cora and Scott Waugh, until Lucy coincidently sees a photo of Scott romantically posed with another woman on the Maldives. So starts a chain of increasingly alarming discoveries Lucy makes about the past lives of Adam, Cora and Scott, filled with dark secrets, unexpected twists and turns, and life changing betrayals
Helen Cooper's writing style is unique and engaging. I found the ending to be a surprise, but with clues sprinkled throughout.
The Couple In the Photo was a very fast read that I found enjoyable and entertaining, with gripping suspense. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one was a wild ride! It was an interesting premise on how one photo can change the trajectory of life. I rounded down since the pacing was a little slow, but overall it was an interesting story and I would like to read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wrote about this on The Storygraph and Goodreads. I posted about this on at least one social media site (bluesky, Threads, Instagram, Mastodon, X, Facebook, Raverly)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6068134689

This was a solid thriller. It was a little slow at first and there was so much emphasis on photos, and there were so many photos being uncovered that it got a little redundant, but the final twists within the friend group pulled it all together.

This is definitely a great thriller for someone who isn't sure if they can handle the genre too because despite the murders, it was very light on violence and graphic details.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪs ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ:
📷 domestic thrillers
📷 tight-knit college friends
📷 finding out your spouse is not who you married

I struggled to finish this one. Started off slow, so I put this book down to read something else, was not very anxious to get back to it. I think that speaks for itself.