This is the sequel to Woman Last Seen, but I think ultimately its issue is that it's a sequel that wasn't intended, so it never quite gels. According to the author's note, it's written in a way that could be a standalone, however that means if you have read the first book, you know the first big twist already, so the buildup and reveal are just more confusing than anything. 
*
The second big twist was so obvious, I'm not actually sure if it was meant to be a twist. Maybe it was just supposed to be suspenseful while the reader waits for the character to figure out what everyone else knows? And while the last 25% or so was exciting, I didn't like how one main character's personality did a complete 180 in the span of a paragraph.
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All in all, it was a quick read, and had some exciting moments, but it's sadly not a book I would recommend.

I enjoyed this picking up where Last Woman Seen left off. I love Adele Parks and her writing is phenomenal. She includes many characters and plot lines and keeps you really hooked.

I enjoyed the first book, but this book dragged a bit for me. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen, but nothing really did. Fell a bit flat for me.

This was my first book from this author and I'll definitely read more. I didn't realize this had the same characters from her other book, "Woman Last Seen," but that did not stop me from understanding what was going on. I will go back and read that one. This book kept my attention and wasn't a struggle to finish. It was interesting at the end once the plot twist was revealed.

I was so surprised to see this sequel! But the authors note explained how we got here. I’m glad we finally got all of the answers we were looking for! This one did drag out a bit in the middle, but it was still good!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I actually didn't know this was a sequel and read it as a stand alone thriller. It was fast paced and made me want to continue reading. But I did feel like it was missing something.

Two Dead Wives by Adele Parks is a highly recommended mystery.

Set during the covid lockdowns in London, DCI Clements and partner Tanner is investigating the case of missing bigamist Kylie Gillingham. She went by Leigh in her marriage to Mark Fletcher and was the mother to the couple’s two sons, Oli and Seb. In her marriage to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan Janssen, she went by the name Kai. Both husbands are suspects, although more attention is on Daan as a case could be made for his guilt. A body hasn't been found so the investigation is ongoing.

During the same time Stacie Jones is recovering from a brain tumor at her father’s house by the sea. She has severe memory loss and few memories from her life. She does have brief flashes of memories of two different men, but has no current context to understand what she is recalling. Her father is a bit of a Luddite, so she has no access to the internet and no cell phone. She does find her environment peaceful and healing even while she wants to remember more.

After what feels like a rather slow start, things begin to pick up later in the narrative. The flow of the novel would have benefited with some editing and tightening up. The lockdown is actually well used in the plot as characters look forward to Freedom Saturday so it didn't immediately elicit my ire while reading, which is a plus. It is pretty elemental to figure out Stacie's connection to the rest of the mystery, so the really compelling part of the story doesn't begin until later in the novel.

The main characters are all portrayed as multifaceted individuals and easily to distinguish from each other. They are all in a precarious situation and are dealing with varying levels of uncertainty, mourning the loss of something, and trying to figure things out and move on.

This is a sequel to the previous novel titled Woman Last Seen, alternately titled Both of You. Two Dead Wives was originally published 8/17/23 first with the title You're the One and then Just Between Us. It appears part of the mystery may be readers having to figure out the title and if they have already read the novel. Personally, I'm not a fan of changing the original title of a novel, especially multiple times for different markets.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

This book is a sequel to Both of Us. The book is a good read and was interesting. I lost interest slightly throughout reading but it was a good book overall. It was 2.5 stars for me.

Two Dead Wives is a standalone book, but I recommend reading Woman Last Seen first to fully appreciate the characters in this book. I have read most of Adele Parks books and thoroughly enjoy them. Two Dead Wives started off a little slow for me, but eventually the book started flowing for me. I’m glad I stuck with it!

When I first read Woman Last Seen, I thought it was a standalone novel, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Two Dead Wives. Overall, I loved that we were finally able to see more of Leigh/Kai in this book. Adele Parks does such an exceptional job of character development -- even when you're supposed to loathe Leigh/Kai for what she's done, you truly cannot help but root for her. Two Dead Wives was a great follow up to Woman Last Seen!

I wasn't aware this was suppose to be kind of like a sequel. I think this can be read as a standalone though. I would've liked to read the first book before this one just to see if it would make more sense to me. Overall I thought this story was something a little different. Would I say I loved this book? No. Will I pick up more from this author absolutely.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this early release copy!

This book was a WILD ride, but in the best way. I was absolutely shocked at the end in the author's note to discover this is actually a sequel to Woman Last Seen. I was half way through the book already making a mental note that I needed to pick up some more of Adele's books, only to discover that piece of information afterwards. This was a fantastic standalone, you can 100% read this and fully enjoy it without reading the first one. I did have a couple questions throughout the book that may have been briefly touched upon in this book that I forgot as I went along. Like how did the main character pull off her double life without either husband knowing? Which I now know I'm sure the answer to that is in the first book!

I did find the mystery itself fairly predictable, but it did not at all take away from the story. In fact, I'm sure a lot of the plotline was revealed in the first book anyway. I just loved how multiple crimes were intertwined, yet still unrelated. The storytelling was great! I can't wait to go back in time in the story and read that first book!

This had a great premise and started fairly creepy and eerie. I just felt like I kept waiting for something to happen that never did. I liked it, it was a solid read, but I do wish that it had a bit more intrigue and mystery!

I really enjoyed Lies, Lies, Lies back when I read it in 2020, and I've been meaning to try more of this author ever since. There was something about the blurb of Two Dead Wives (published as Just Between Us in the UK) that had me fully intrigued, and I couldn't resist adding it to my shelves. I've been looking forward to pick it up, but sadly it didn't turn out to be the reading experience I hoped it was going to be. In fact, I came close to DNFing more than once... I'll try to explain briefly why.

I can't deny that the premise itself is still intriguing, but what I wasn't aware of is that this book is actually a sequel of Woman Last Seen (which I didn't read). The blurb of that book sounds pretty similar, so I'm just wondering how different the two books are... Although Stacie's POV seems to be missing there. Two Dead Wives can quite easily be read as a stand-alone though; at least I didn't feel like I was missing any important background or information. That said, I'm starting to wonder if I would have enjoyed the first book better than this one.

What I didn't realize is just how front and center both the pandemic and the amnesia angle were going to be. I'm not a big fan of the whole COVID element in stories (although I understand why authors might add it), but I can tolerate it as long as it's not too present. In this case, I think the pandemic actually overshadows the rest of the plot, and it really put a damper on things for me. The amnesia angle can go both ways for me, and there was just something about the way it was incorporated in Two Dead Wives that really started to irritate me.

I also struggled considerably with the multiple POV structure and the characters themselves. I was never able to warm up to any of them, and as a result I wasn't invested at all in what happened to them. To make things worse, I guessed the truth about Kylie and Stacie almost straight away, which made it even harder to keep slogging through all those minor thoughts and drama. I confess that I started skimreading long before the halfway mark, and I only made it to the end because I kept hoping I was wrong and something interesting would happen. Sure, the last part is slightly more eventful, but it was all a bit too little, too late for me.

Between the spotlight on the pandemic, amnesia angle, unlikeable characters and slow pace, sadly I can't say that I enjoyed my time with Two Dead Wives. I seem to be in the minority though, so it might just have been my fickle reading mood acting up again... The fact remains that I came really close to DNFing more than once though.

I loved the premise of this book and it was a little eerie (in a good way) reading something set during the pandemic shut downs. The book felt like there was no mystery though. I kept waiting for a big reveal or twist, but just didn’t feel the plot develop that way. I liked the read but just wish it had been a bit harder to predict.

This was an intriguing novel, with a complex and twisty plot. Until I finished the book, I wasn't aware that this was actually a sequel. It worked very well as a stand-alone novel, and in some ways, I am glad I didn't know much about the characters before I started.

Kylie has gone missing, after being revealed as a bigamist. Her husband Daan is immediately a suspect, especially as he lives in the apartment block where she was kept chained to a radiator for a period of time. Everyone assumes she is dead, but as of yet, no body has been found. Her other husband Mark, and his kids (Oli and Seb) are reeling from the betrayal that she had a second family.

At the same time, Stacie has returned to a seaside resort to live with her father Kenneth, after spending several years away in Paris. She is suffering from the affects of cancer treatment and is struggling amnesia. She has flashbacks and dreams of two men but has no idea of their identity. Her father is looking after her and given that the novel takes place during the covid lockdown in the U.K, he is desperately trying to keep her safe.

DCI Clemens is investigating along with partner Tanner, who is convinced of Daan's guilt - especially as he is currently abroad and in no hurry to return. Seb and Oli meantime are firmly convinced that Kylie is not dead, despite the amount of time she has now been gone. They decide to go and try and find her, putting themselves in great danger.

This was a fast paced and interesting read. Great twists!

I wish I had known this was a sequel before requesting. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had read the first book. It was a good story but I felt like parts were missing and I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous book.

Two Dead Wives picks up where Adele Parks' earlier novel, Woman Last Seen, leaves off, although you definitely don't have to read the first book in order to enjoy the second. In Two Dead Wives, Kylie Gillingham's murder reveals a shocking secret--she's been leading a double life and is a bigamist. Her second husband is the prime suspect, but he tries to get off the hook by persuading Kylie's sons to investigate her best friend, who moved in with the family to "help out" after Kylie's death.

The boys' investigation leads them to a small seaside town, where they run into danger and discover a shocking secret.

This book did a great job of keeping my interest and of telling the story from the viewpoints of a variety of different characters. It seems that everyone has something to hide, and there's plenty of suspense, especially when the boys unknowingly connect with a potential murderer online. A climactic scene in the seaside village had me on the edge of my seat.

Looking forward to reading more Adele Parks!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

First things first, this is a sequel! I had no idea until I finished the book and saw the author’s note. Had I read the first book I probably would have enjoyed this one more as I would have come in with some background to the main character, her two husbands and why she does what she does. I felt that just reading this book with no background left me with a ton of questions, which is part of the reason why this was only a three star read for me.

Overlooking the background of the story, this was a page turner and I sped through it. Very suspenseful with a dual narrator tone, if you like that then you will enjoy this book, 3⭐️

Thank you for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this title via NetGalley.

Even though this is a sequel I did not have any problems following the storyline and saw that it was fine to read as a standalone. I really enjoyed the plot, it was much different than books I’ve read lately and I loved the ending! I will be purchasing the first book just because I enjoyed this one so much. Exceptional writing that kept me looking forward to being able to sit back down with it. Wasn’t sure at first if it was my kindle or the format but I did have some issues with having to zoom in/out to read/turn the page.