The Couple in the Photo kept me guessing for most of the book. Lucy has her life turned upside down- just by glancing at a coworkers honeymoon pictures. Who knew what lies the people closest to her had been keeping. While I enjoyed the twists and turns, I could have used more character development. I couldn’t seem to care about who ended up guilty or dead. But I still raced to get to the conclusion. So, a mixed bag for me.

Cover Image: The Couple in the Photo
The Couple in the Photo
by Helen Cooper
Pub Date: 05 Dec 2023

Loved, Loved. Loved this book. It had me guessing from the beginning until the very end.

It's a mystery/thriller with lots of drama and chaos. A very enjoyable read.

Thank you #NetGalley, #PenguinGroupPutman and #TheCoupleinthePhoto for and E-ARC of this book.

When Lucy married Adam, she married into a framily with his two best friends since university, Cora and Scott, who are now married to each other. Both couples have young kids and the two families hang out together all the time. Cora and Scott seem to have a picture perfect marriage, so imagine Lucy's shock when she sees Scott with another woman in a colleague's photos from her honeymoon in the Maldives. After talking about it with her husband, When the news breaks a story that the woman in the photo has been found dead in the Maldives, Lucy decides she needs to see the photo to be sure before she confronts Steve or tells Cora, but now the colleague who took the picture is avoiding Lucy and her husband tells her she must have been mistaken, leave it be. Lucy is caught between wanting to do the right thing and go to the police, and potentially ruining her friends' marriage and their friendship. I liked the book and found it hard to put down as things escalated closer to the end, but I didn't particularly like Lucy (or maybe I just found knowing her every thought and worry to be annoying) and, for me, the blurbs written from the perspective of a character who was not identified but was obviously intimately involved in the events detracted from the mystery. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is so good!
This novel takes place in England. It is the story about two married couples, Lucy and Adam Taylor and Cora and Scott Waugh. The two couples have been friends for fifteen years. Adam, Cora, and Scott have known each other longer. They met while in college. The two couples do everything together. They go on vacation together. They have bought and are renovating a cottage together. Their four children play together. Everything changes one day when Lucy’s coworker shows her pictures of her honeymoon in the Maldives. There is a picture of another couple also on their honeymoon. The man in the picture is Scott.
Lucy is not sure what to do with this information. Does she tell her best friend, Cora, that Scott is having an affair? Does she tell her husband, Adam? She then learns that the other woman in the picture is missing, and then she turns up dead. Lucy does confide in her husband who does not believe her. As Lucy uncovers more details, she starts looking at Adam, Cora, and Scott differently.
This book was full of suspense. Many secrets are revealed. There was one part of this mystery that I was able to figure out. The rest of the plot was surprising as the story unfolded.
“…lies cause damage.”

3.5 stars

Lucy and her husband Adam are best friends with Cora and Scott, whom Adam attended college with. When Lucy spots Scott with another woman in the her colleague’s honeymoon photos, she is determined to find out what is going on…until the woman he’s with in the photo turns up missing. As she works to uncover what happened and to prove Scott was involved, she finds out more than she could ever imagine.

The book started out a bit slow for me and I was having trouble getting into it. I wasn’t vibing with Lucy and I think that’s what was holding me back also. Then it picked up the pace and I became invested. I thought the characters were very well developed. The plot was slightly predictable—I figured out who the killer was about halfway through the novel—but there was a twist that I didn’t pick up on until Lucy started to figure it out herself. Overall, a fun read if you’re looking for a thriller!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book!!! The best one I have had the pleasure of reading from NetGalley. This book keeps you guessing all the way to the end. I will be recommending this one to my friends and looking for more books from Helen Cooper. Thank you so much NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

This was a slow burn mystery/thriller for me. There was convoluted relationships, drama, affairs, the whole array of chaos. I would have liked more resolution at the end and wish that Lucy made a few different decisions, but overall found this to be an enjoyable read!

Hm...Not even sure what to say. I liked The Other Guest, and The Downstairs Neighbor was about the same as this one for me. My main problem with this book is that for the majority of the book I just could not stand Lucy. And then in the end I liked her but couldn't stand anyone else.

The book starts off with Lucy looking at a colleague Ruth's honeymoon photos from the Maldives. She sees a photo that Ruth claims is another honeymoon couple they met, but Lucy knows better--that is Scott, one of she and her husband Adam's best friends. And he isn't with his wife Cora in the photo, that woman is a stranger. The four of them have been friends for years, spending time with each other daily and they even own a beach cottage together. Who is this strange woman? The more Lucy looks into it, the more secrets she seemingly uncovers. How deep are the lies?

The first third of this book is all about Lucy and her obsession with endlessly googling this mystery woman and questioning everything and snooping on everyone, ad nauseum. It got so old. Once the secrets begin to be revealed, the pacing picks up, but then it gets so convoluted and so many eye rolls because I just couldn't actually believe some of the things could happen the way they did.

I think if the story had been tightened up a little and the revelations happen without Lucy getting so obsessed and hysterical. Once the story got going, it was actually decent. This author is very creative, I will definitely read another book of hers.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...or is it?

I thought the premise was interesting, but the pacing seemed a bit inconsistent at times. It was a quick and easy read with enough suspense, twists and turns to keep me engaged. I thought the characters were well developed. I will read more from this author in the future!

pretty generic domestic thriller - it's initially pretty slow moving which made it hard to get into, but there were some pretty well-timed twists which picked the pace up along the way. it got a little too repetitive for me, i think it would've benefited from a little more editing (easily could've shaved off 70 pages to tighten it up)

2.5 rounded up to 3. This one sadly fell flat for me. The premise was right up my alley and I would have loved to feel more invested in the characters. Their so-called best friendship seemed rather forced and fake from the beginning. Everyone had some skeletons in their closet and there were a couple of twists that kept my attention. Overall it was just an okay read.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It had a great plot with a few surprises and twists, but at the same time was somewhat predictable. The story gets in your head and you can’t stop thinking about it. The chapters were a little long for me and there was only one method of knocking off people that felt too repetitive. Maybe it was because each incident was spontaneous with similar circumstances.
If you enjoy reading thrillers, this is a good one to read!
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Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book is a decent read that weaves together mystery and romance in an intriguing way. While the plot had its engaging moments, the pacing felt uneven at times, leaving me wanting more consistency. The characters were well-developed and certainly relatable, drawing me into their world. While it was a little slow to start, it did have some really good twists. We learn in the first chapter that Lucy sees her friend Scott with another woman in a photo that had been taken in the Maldives. The storyline was a bit predictable and sorta easy to figure out. A series of events has Lucy asking herself if she was imagining things. This is a quick and easy book to read. #netgalley #thecoupleinthephoto

Helen Cooper returns following The Downstairs Neighbor and The Other Guest with her latest gripping domestic suspense, THE COUPLE IN THE PHOTO.

When a woman sees her best friend's husband in a photo with another woman, she has to decide how far she will go to keep this secret; however, she has no clue how far this web of deceit and lies will go that may impact her own family.

Lucy is married to Adam and has two daughters, Tilly and Fran. They are best friends with Cora and Scott. They (Taylors and the Waughs) co-own a beach Norfolk cottage, and their children are friends. Scott, Adam, and Cora went to the same university.

Lucy is at work and sees honeymoon photos from Ruth, her co-worker, and in one of the photos, she spots their friend Scott with another woman. She questioned her friend, and Ruth said they were a lovely couple, Jason and Anne, and they spent time together.

What was Scott doing in Maldives with another woman?

She comes home and tells her husband, Adam, but Adam says it cannot be him since he is in Japan. Cora and their children, Ivy and Joe, would be devastated. The Waughs were like family to her. They had been best friends for fifteen years.

She is determined to protect her best friend from possible infidelity, but when she learns that the woman in the photo has gone missing, she fears Scott was involved.

A chill washes over her when she sees the news of a British woman missing from an island resort in Maldives. Her name was Juliet Noor (not Anna), and she failed to return home. She apparently was staying alone and working on a novel. She was later found murdered.

Lucy is obsessed with searching for answers while it escalates, pouring over social media and this woman's past. Who is keeping secrets? She suspects Adam, Cora, and Scott know more than they are saying. Is she the only one in the dark? How deep does this go?

There is also a mysterious POV in italics that adds mystery and intrigue.

The plot thickens between the three regarding a cover-up from the past. What appears as a close friendship is anything but when the secrets and lies are unraveled.

When the truth comes out, how far this web of lies goes is explosive, starting from the past and its aftermath. There is something more sinister than an affair, and someone else winds up dead.

Wow! THE COUPLE IN THE PHOTO is my first book by Helen Cooper, and I look forward to reading more! Lucy was a great character and highly relatable. This story was realistic and could be ripped from today's headlines. What happens when you learn the truth? Two picture-perfect families with cracks that run deep below the surface.

The author cleverly builds suspense and tension as we follow Lucy, trying to make sense of everything and unravel the secrets. Lucy does not know the level of deception, lies, and manipulation from her husband and friends. No one is as they appear, except for Lucy—many pieces of the puzzle make for a great mystery with adults misbehaving.

Thought-provoking, an exploration of marriages, friendships, and secret pasts. A page-turning domestic suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

How well do you know those closest to you? From well-developed characters to a clever plot with unreliable narrators, for a twisty, engrossing domestic suspense of lies, deceit, manipulation, betrayal, and secrets—how many people and its aftermath ultimately affects marriages, friendship, and motherhood.

THE COUPLE IN THE PHOTO is for fans of Kimberly Belle, Robin Harding, Sally Hepworth, B.A. Paris, and Mary Kubica. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for a digital advanced reading copy for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars, rounded to 5
Pub Date: Dec 5, 2023
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A great thriller that kept me guessing. I really enjoyed this. An intriguing domestic thriller with an exotic element. Recommended for fans of thrillers.

This book is exactly what I look for in a good thriller! From the first chapter, the mystery begins and it keeps you hooked until the very end! Lucy and her husband, Adam, are best friends with another couple, Scott and Cora. Adam, Scott, and Cora went to school together and have been friends ever since. Adam later introduced Lucy to Scott and Cora and they have all become like family to eachother. One day, Lucy is looking at her co-worker, Ruth’s, photos of her honeymoon in the Maldives and she sees Scott in one of the pictures with a woman who is not Cora. Lucy is already upset thinking that Scott is cheating on her best friend, when she finds out that the woman in the photo has gone missing. She decides to investigate and won’t stop until she gets answers. However, the more she digs, the more she starts questioning whether everything is as it seems and if she really knows the people she is closest to. Even Ruth doesn’t seem to want to help.

This is a fast paced thriller that you won’t want to put down! I am definitely looking forward to reading more by this author!

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this advanced reader copy.

The author did a great job holding my attention with this story! It started off with a bang, and kept the pace. There was so much gaslighting going on in this book, it was cray! We have two couples who are best friends. Lucy married Adam, and he has been friends with Cora and Scott since Uni. The college friends have a secret they need to stay buried that Lucy has no idea about. When Lucy’s coworker gets back from her honeymoon, she shows Lucy her photos. What Lucy spots startles her….Scott is in the Maldives with a woman who is NOT his wife. Lucy becomes obsessed with this, trying to figure out for certain if her eyes played a trick on her, or it really was Scott. Then the woman he was pictured with winds up dead. Lucy finds herself in a terrible predicament and SO MANY secrets start to unravel.

Read if you like:
🏘️ Couple Best Friends
📸 Catching Cheaters
🚗 Two Potentially Connected Deaths
💻 Mysterious Emails
2️⃣ Two-ish POV
🔍 Domestic Thrillers

This book did something really unique for me in that it was a single pov but then you get a pov talking and sharing but you don’t know who it is and the pov is always just brief enough that it keeps you guessing throughout the book until towards the end you get the details needed to know who the pov is from.

This a twisty and pretty fast paced read as you read along with Lucy as she is trying to figure out what is going on, all sparked from a photo of a couple that a coworker showed her that happens to have one of their best friends in the pick the, but it isn’t his wife he was with coupled up in the photo, and then things go dark fast when the woman in the picture is reported as deceased and her coworker suddenly isn’t around and won’t talk to her when she does find her.

It all gets more and more twisty as Lucy starts to feel like the odd man out and like there are secrets being kept from her from husband and their couple best friend Scott and Cora especially as Lucy isn’t letting go of the photo and the implications that Scott might have had something to do with her death.

I loved the layers of the unraveling of secrets that you get and whether or not you can piece together all the parts of the picture with or faster than Lucy to see the whole picture of what really happened and what is the really truth not another lie meant to continue to bury the truth.

Thank you so much Putnam for my ARC of this thriller in exchange for my honest review! It was definitely a thrill to read!

Lucy and her husband Adam have a great marriage and two adorable kids! They spend all of their free time with their best friends (Adam's former roommates from college) Nora and Scott and their kids. It seems like the perfect dynamic and one big happy family. Until one day Lucy's coworker Ruth is showing her pictures from her honeymoon and Lucy thinks she spots Scott with someone other than Cora but that isn't possible! For some reason Lucy cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong and she cannot keep herself from digging into the past. Things go from picture perfect to an absolute nightmare when it all comes unraveled.

Thank you netgalley, the author and the publisher for my ARC!

I liked this book. It definitely pulled me in and I kept reading because I needed to see the resolution. I was able to predict some of the ending pretty accurately, but I still enjoyed the book. I enjoyed that there was one narrator, but then there would be occasional passages from an unknown perspective to add to the suspense. It felt like an enjoyable thriller, even though it was a bit predictable.