I have to say, that I didn't read the prequel book, "Woman Last Seen," and I actually didn't have any idea of its existence until I finished this heart-pounding of a book. I read this as a stand-alone thriller, and I enjoyed every second of it. The multiple narrations, the structure of an imploding mystery that makes you guess from the beginning and always keeps you on your toes with building pressure and increasing tempo, mesmerized me.

The plotline is quite attention-grabbing! A bigamist woman is missing, and both of her husbands, including her sixteen-year-old stepson Oli, who is not taking betrayal well. DCI Clemens still digs into the mystery alongside his partner Tanner, who is so focused on putting the blame on Daan, the wealthy, influential husband who lived in the same apartment where his wife was captured and chained to the radiator. Clemens empathizes with Kylie, even though she lived a double life with two different men, creating two different lifestyles: once an upper-class wife of a rich husband, connecting with VIP personas and A-list stars. She was also a devoted mother to two teenage boys, pursuing her secluded life with recently divorced Mark.

The building pressure, the final revelations, and the climax are well-structured. The honest character development made me root for some of them, especially Oli and Seb. Overall, I truly enjoyed what I read.

I came into this not knowing it was a sequel and left desperately needing to read the first book! Two Dead Wives was a fast paced and tension driven story told through the dual POV of several characters. The story was very reminiscent of a great Lisa Jewell novel and did not disappoint with the twists and turns of a fast paced domestic thriller.

A shocking headline of a missing woman who lived a double life is made more scandalous when murder accusations start to fly. As the police try to find the killer, the people around the murder victim deal with secrets connected to her. Author Adele Parks does a remarkable job with a sequel that can also stand on its own in Two Dead Wives.

Everyone in England is talking about the bizarre case of Kylie Gillingham aka Kai Janssen aka Leigh Fletcher. Kylie is presumed dead, but her likely murder isn’t the reason why people are up in arms. Kylie was a bigamist—she lived two separate lives with two husbands in the same city. Now that she’s gone, the police are wondering if one of her husbands killed her.

The husbands in question are hurt, confused, and angry, but they’re both proclaiming their innocence. Mark Fletcher had been married to the woman he knew as Leigh for 12 years. She was the perfect stepmother to his two boys, and the boys adored her too. Leigh was the only mother they remember, but Mark is struggling to reconcile Leigh with the woman the media are calling Kylie.

In the Netherlands, Daan Janssen is equally stunned. He thought Kai, his wife of four years, was the perfect partner. She graced his arm at all the high-society affairs and made the perfect hostess. Why wasn’t he enough for her?

DCI Clements has been troubled about the case from the start, but she’s not going to let that stop her from finding justice for Kylie. The police decide to charge Daan with Kylie’s murder. The woman broke the law by being married to two men at the same time, but no one deserves to be killed.

Despite the start of the Covid pandemic, Clements is determined to solve her case. Never mind that Daan managed to escape to his home country just before lockdown. Clements will find a way to make sure he pays for his crimes.

Meanwhile, outside the small seaside town of Lyme Regis, Stacie Jones is fighting back after her devastating brain tumor. She has no memory of her treatments or anything leading up to the surgery that cured her. Her father has been caring for her since she came home from the hospital, and he’s been a godsend.

The longer Stacie spends recuperating, though, the more she gets the uncomfortable feeling that something isn’t right. She starts mining the few memories that have returned for more information about her life and herself. Stacie is impatient to get back to a normal routine, and she’s living with growing unease that she’s missing a big piece of a puzzle she didn’t know she was supposed to solve.

Author Adele Parks offers readers this sequel to her previous book Woman Last Seen with a plot that is slow to start. About a third of the way through, the book picks up and then continues to move at a steady pace. Readers will no doubt guess one or two of the major plot twists, but others will be completely unexpected.

The strength of the book lies in its ability to be read as a standalone. Parks offers enough back story so those meeting Kylie, DCI Clements, and everyone else for the first time will have all the information they need to understand the mystery of the missing bigamist wife. The book might feel a little light on Kylie’s motivation for her bigamy, but the focus on the narrative is the fallout from it.

Parks gives all the main characters time on the page. This splitting of narratives occasionally works against the book. The author lets seven narrators step forward throughout the novel, which often means examining a scene or memory from multiple points of view before moving on. The tactic also slows down the pacing; it may have been better served if readers got to hear from less characters who spoke more frequently.

Nevertheless, Parks does an admirable job of building a compelling story that connects to a previous one and yet has enough strength to stand on its own. Anyone brand new to Parks’s work or these characters will have absolutely no trouble picking up the main events from the previous book, a lesson writers would do well to study carefully. Those wanting a slow-build novel with lots of excitement toward the end will enjoy this one.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarlequinTradePublishing for the ARC #TwoDeadWives by #AdeleParks. This book was a whirlwind of emotions, drama and lies. With two husbands and two separate lives, Kylie disappears and presumed dead. Is she dead? Who murdered her? Is she related to Stacie?

Overall this was a good thriller! I had not read the first book but this one still made sense without it. I really enjoyed the premise of this book, although at times the characters could get a bit confusing so I had to go back and re-read some things to get clarification. Great twists and turns!
I will post about the book on my bookstagram which is instagram.com/thatbookishteach on the release date!

This book is a sequel, but like most books nowadays, it can also stand alone. The author does a good job setting up many different plot, twists, and turns which I did not see coming. I did find many of the characters confusing in the beginning. I had to continue flipping back and forth to remind myself who they were as the story continued it became more clear. I enjoyed this book, but it also felt a bit flat because of the way plot twists were more confusing than compelling. Additionally, I found a lot of the dialogue to be quite unrealistic, but mostly, I tried to look past that.

What a ride this book is - you start out knowing someone is missing and presumed dead and said person was living a double life with 2 husbands. The story is told from alternating viewpoints of main characters in the stories . One thing I didn't realize until the END of the book and read the authors notes was the fact that this was not a stand alone book - but rather a continuation/sequel of a previous book - BUT this book works very well to read if you haven't read the first book - in fact as I was reading the big thing that kept bugging me was - how did the main character wind up with 2 husbands to begin with...whelp, I would have known that if I had read the first one - but as I stated, absolutely do not need to to fully enjoy this book - a definite sign of a good story

Not sure this book was completely necessary, but it does give closure from Woman Last Seen.
I think you should definitely read that book first. I actually did a quick re-read to refresh myself about the events from that book, but this one does give a decent reminder, but it's also a complete spoiler for Woman Last Seen, so read it first. This review is going to assume you've read it.

This installment follows two storylines. One is of Stacie Jones, living with her father after brain surgery from cancer. She doesn't have much memory of her past. The other is of the families involved with the disappearance of Kylie Gillingham. Mark and the boys have Fiona living with them, and Seb does not accept the fact that his mum is dead, he believes she is still alive. Fiona knows she's dead because Fiona killed her. Daan Janssen, Kylie's other husband, is awaiting his trial for her murder and is trying to prove his innocence. How do these storylines intersect?

I called how this was playing out from the beginning. The book was a bit longer than necessary with the setup, but once the cat-and-mouse game got going it was exciting, especially in the end. There were quite a few things that were majorly over the top, but overall, the story progressed and concluded well and had a satisfying ending this time. The author's note did indicate that many people, even in the author's own family, were unhappy with the open ending of the last book and wanted closure, so they will be content now with this book.

I started reading Two Dead Wives by Adele Parks and would have sworn I had already read it- but this is the continuation of her novel, Woman Last Seen. Don’t worry, you can read this as a standalone and be completely fine, you won’t be confused.

I like Adele’s writing and thought this was a really good book, thanks to her excellent writing style. I’m not a huge fan of series, especially procedurals but I will probably read anything the author writes because every single book has been excellent.

The plot centers on a missing woman who has not one, but two husbands. Well, that is something we don’t see every day, is it?

Synopsis:

It’s a case that has gripped a nation: A woman with a shocking secret is missing, and presumed dead. And her two husbands are suspects in her murder.

DCI Clements knows the dark side of human nature and that love can make people do treacherous things. You can’t presume anything when it comes to crimes of the heart. Until a body is found, this scandalous and sad case remains wide open.

Stacie Jones lives a quiet life in a small village, nursed by her father as she recovers from illness, and shielded from any news of the outside world. But their reclusive life is about to be shattered.

How are these families linked, and can any of them ever rebuild their lives in the wake of tragedy?

This explosive thriller from international bestseller Adele Parks examines what it is to be a family and the dangerous lengths that people will go to for those they love.

Out on December 26.

WOMAN LAST SEEN Began My War On Books Featuring COVID. This Book Continues It. Having read literally 394 books between WOMAN LAST SEEN and this book, I did not *even* realize this book was a sequel to that one until the very end, when I read the Author's Note. Perils of reading so much? This isn't exactly the first time this has happened to me in my reading these last few years, though I think this is (so far) the most books between sequels. Long winded way of saying, if you read these books closer together than I did, or perhaps have better memory than I do, you'll likely pick up on the fact that this is a sequel within the first chapter or two, so despite me not finding out until the end... it isn't exactly a secret, either.

All of that noted, as with Woman Last Seen, here we get an excellent mystery/ thriller sequel, one that actually manages to work within the bounds given by the original book when a sequel was never actually intended - and thus showing just how strong of a storyteller Parks is (and perhaps how good of an editor she has). If you love fairly fast paced, character driven mysteries, you're likely going to enjoy this one.

And then... the COVID. Whereas the first book dealt with COVID more as an ominous foreshadowing, being set in the days immediately prior to the global lockdowns that destroyed far more lives than the virus ever will, this book dealt head on with said lockdowns and actually incorporated them - and the slow global re-opening - into the story. Thus, while I deducted a star from Woman Last Seen because I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID even though it was more tangential in that book, with it being far more central and ever present in this tale, the deduction remains because even nearly four years later, I STILL DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID. My war against such tales began with Woman Last Seen, and with Two Dead Wives it continues, along with my own real "weapon" at my disposal: the single star deduction in rating. Seriously, authors, PLEASE - just abandon that entire year or so of human history. Or at least ignore those parts of that year.

But again, other than the COVID aspects, this truly was a superb tale that truly shows how remarkable Parks is as a storyteller - I truly don't know of many that *could* have written such a book when it was never intended, and I perhaps know of even fewer who *would* write such a book when readers clamor for it.

Very much recommended.

I did not like this book. I found myself taking breaks and coming back to it. I didn’t know that this was the second book in the series. It felt like something was missing and it just didn’t hold my attention. I’m not sure if I would have felt different had I read the first book. Thank you, NetGalley, Adele and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow, I just finished this and I am honestly just speechless. My heart rate has finally settled down to normal, and coming to terms with one of the greatest thrillers I’ve ever read.

I am embarrassed to say I didn’t realize that this was the long awaited sequel to “Woman last seen” by Adele, but I finally put two and two together after the ending. So all that to say it can definitely be read as a stand alone.

During the beginning of COVID and lockdowns London is still completely engrossed in the scandal of missing woman Kylie, who was a wife to two men, and also a mother to two sons. She’s been missing for months now, her body still hasn’t been recovered, and one of her husbands Daan is being charged with her murder. But Daan protests his guilt, and believes he is being framed. He begins to search for answers himself by reaching out to his wife’s two sons, and sets in motion a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the person who is framing him for Kylie’s murder.

While all of this is going on Stacie is living in a quiet seaside village with her father Kenneth. She doesn’t mind the COVID restrictions because she needs to stay home and rest anyways as she recovers from her grueling battle with cancer. Her father nurses her back to health and helps fill in the gaps of her memories that seem to be missing since her brush with cancer. But soon memories start flooding back to her and she realizes she may not be Stacie; and she may actually be in grave danger.

Both of these storylines intersect and are tied together with alternate POV storytelling in each chapter. They are also weaved together through the investigation DC Clements is doing on this case. There were a couple chapters I had to really concentrate to make sure I was following the story correctly. But in the end my jaw was on the floor and I was absolutely shocked at well the author wove together this thrilling mystery. And I think it’s also worth mentioning there is a happy ending.

Don’t walk, run to grab this because you will devour it and be left thinking about it for hours. Also consider this my official petition for Lifetime to make this novel into a movie!

Two Dead Wives by Adele Parks is a gripping psychological thriller.
I enjoyed reading Woman Last Seen so this was another exciting novel I was thrilled to receive. The writing kept me in engaged. I really liked the plot and the book was exciting in a suspenseful way, The setting was perfect. I felt I was right there.
Scrupulously plotted and layered with multiple narratives that culminate in some explosive surprises.
Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked.

Thank You NetGalley and MIRA for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

*Thank you to Adele Parks and Harlequin Trade Publishers for the digital ARC!*
[SPOILER FREE]
I will preface this by saying that I was unaware this is a sequel to "Both of You", and did not read the first one, so I will be reviewing as a reader jumping straight in.
As someone that is brand new to the characters, there was some backstory/getting to know them but not too much (as is expected when they are in prior books), but enough that I got the idea of who they are, what they do, etc. I think it made enough sense as a standalone to not be jarring.
Storywise: it didn't overly catch my attention and have me gripping my Kindle wondering what's going on. There are some twists that I enjoyed and some leaning a bit to the far fetched realm, but not so much for me to be distracted or hate the book. It's a solidly written, slow burning mystery that I am rating 3.25 stars. I may have bumped it up if I'd read the first book (or maybe down??) depending. I would maybe not re-read this yearly but I don't feel I wasted my time at all. It was a good, solid read overall! It's worth a read if you are considering it.

I really enjoyed this one as I have with every other one of Adele Parks’ books I’ve read. I absolutely love her writing style. It was a fast and perfectly paced mystery/thriller that will grab your attention right from the start. I was so invested in the story from the beginning and found it so hard to put down. There were jaw dropping secrets and twists from early on in the book and all throughout that will keep you engaged and wanting to keep reading. I also loved the characters and their development throughout the book. I didn’t realize it was a sequel to Woman Last Seen and will be going back and reading that one ASAP (however it did work to read as a standalone)! Also worth noting is that this book does take place throughout the Covid pandemic which may be a trigger warning for some; however I don’t mind reading books about it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, HTP and MIRA books for my early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review! Definitely would recommend picking up a copy of this one when it releases on 12/26!

First of all thanks so much for the opportunity to read this book!

I loved the cover and the concept of this book! This was the first book I read by this author and will be looking into others!

I loved that it is written in so many perspectives and I kept guessing at the twists.

I didn't realize until the end of the book that this is the second of a series. I was able to follow along just fine not having read the first, but I think if I would have it would have added another layer to the book.

The storyline itself was very intriguing, however especially since it was the second, I felt there was a little too much backstory so it dragged on at points and could have wrapped up probably 50 pages sooner. I felt like parts were very repetitive. In the beginning of the book used the word "bigamist" too many times. I realize it was a huge part of the character but maybe find a different word or way to describe it. I also felt that some of the dialog was written very immaturely.

Overall I was very glad I had the chance to read it and did enjoy the book.

This book was really great! It had me enthralled and constantly wondering what was going to happen next! I would definitely recommend this book to all my thriller-loving friends!

Wish I would have known this was the second book in the series because there were a lot of unexplained parts that I found confusing. And I thought it was just the author being vague or something. But the story overall was alright, just felt like I needed more detail, and yet, at the same time was a little longer than I would have preferred. But not bad

This is the second book in a series.
I didn’t read the first book so I don’t know if that’s why I didn’t love this book. It just didn’t grab my attention.
Some parts were definitely over the top but I’m glad that I finished the book!

i liked this book but i felt it was dragged out a bit and wish it got to the point a little sooner. other than that i am glad i read it and found it quite interesting!!