This book is a sequel to a previous novel called "Woman Last Seen" which I haven't read. This can be read as a stand alone but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous book. Kylie is a woman in her early 40's and is missing and feared murdered. She was living a double life as a wife to two men: Mark, a landscaper who was a widower with two young boys when he married Kylie and Daan, a wealthy Dutch businessman. I didn't quite understand how Kylie who also went by the names Kia and Leigh could maintain two marriages and yet be a wonderful stepmother, but perhaps this is further explained in the first novel. The novel begins when the police detective DCI Collier finds evidence suggesting Daan is the killer.

The book follows several perspectives including those of s Mark's two boys, Oli age 16 and Seb 11 as they try to deal with the loss of their mother and to adjust to their mother's best friend Fiona who has moved into the house and is sleeping with their father. We also see the perspective of a woman named Stacie who is staying with her father during the COVID lockdown and recovering from brain surgery. I liked the viewpoint of this woman, Stacie and felt her sense of fear and isolation as she struggled to recover her memories. How the stories link up is interesting if expected. As DCI Clemens continues to investigate the case, we find out more about the actions of the characters around Kylie and what lead to her disappearance. I thought the ending was a bit over he top but certainly heart pounding! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

DCI Clements #2. I did not read #1, but this book reads more like a stand-alone. Clements and the police seemed like secondary characters and I did not feel like I missed anything. One woman recovering from brain cancer, two woman missing, a shocking discovery (or 2), add a helpful friend, a husband charged with murder, two heartbroken kids and you have one crazy ride!

Story is totally far fetched and absolutely fun. At first I found it hard to follow all the characters and scenarios then quickly got into the flow and couldn’t wait to see how things came together. This is like reading a puzzle trying to see how the pieces fit. Some characters are more likable, more deserving of our empathy than others. Ending had a few surprises that weren’t as I expected but totally made sense. Overall, this was a fun escape!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

This book is a sequel to “Woman Last Seen”, which I did not read. It took me a few pages to understand that this was the case, and though I did feel like I did not have all the details understood, I was able to quickly jump right into the plot. Therefore, I would recommend reading the prequel to understand the characters and backstory better, but I don’t think that it is absolutely necessary to.

I enjoyed the first half part of the book, where we learn that Kylie is a bigamist, married to two men, living two separate lives, without their knowledge. In one life she is a step mother to two boys, and wife of Mark whom Kylie paints as someone who sits back and watches from the sidelines, with no real expectations of life. In her other life, she is married to an extremely wealthy, attractive, and influential Daan, who spoils her with lavish gifts, but cheats on her with other women in her absence.

Right from the start of the book, we know that Kylie is missing, presumed to be dead, though no body has been discovered. She was held captive in the apartment complex where Daan lives, so for this reason, he is presumed to be guilty.

Skip to the second half of the book, we find out that Kylie is actually alive and living with a man who coincidentally finds her the night of her attempted murder by her best friend (who happens to have slept with both of her husbands, and currently playing the role of the new stepmother to Mark’s boys), and takes her in to his house, saves her life, but also keeps her hostage because she looks too much like the daughter that he accidentally killed. 🤯

This, unfortunately is where I find the plot just gets too confusing and utterly unrealistic. It almost feels like there are two storylines just going against each other, with too much going on.

Towards the end of the book, I felt confused and ultimately think that there were still loose ends to both storylines, alongside a somewhat unrealistic conclusion to it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although I liked the premise of this book, I found that the story just drug on for far too long. To me the characters were unlikable and I personally did not connect to any of them. The chapters were slow moving and the plot twists were predictable and easily guessed. I hate giving a negative review and usually love Adele Parks' novels. I do understand that this is a sequel and have not read the first book, so possibly this one would have made more sense for me. I will not be posting this to my social media as it is a negative review and I really like the author. I know that my opinion does not speak for everyone. Thank you for allowing my input in exchange for this arc.

This one really had my guessing through the first half. A woman home again for medical treatment and a dead bigamist wife. How could these two tales possibly be related. I did figure about a good bit of the ending, but still enjoyed the journey. It’s been long enough that the COVID setting didn’t touch on any nerves. While this is listed as book 2 in the DCI Clements series, I read the first book and didn’t make the connection until I read the author’s note at the end. So this can easily be read as a stand alone book.

While I am not sure I liked any of the characters (nor did I dislike them), I was immediately drawn into the story. Seeing both husbands and the boys reeling from the revelation their wife was a bigamist and also murdered. I was pleased I did get some insight into why the wife would choose a second husband.

I like how the two stories came together and that the author took such care at the start. No loose strings were left dangling and while I had to suspend reality a little in this one, I enjoyed the read.

📚Book Review📚

Title: Two Dead Wives
Author: Adele Parks
Pub Date: December 26, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5 Rounded Up)

When bigamist, Kylie Gillingham, goes missing and is presumed dead after being held captive, her husband Daan is the prime suspect in her murder investigation. He claims he is innocent and is being set up. He is desperate to prove his innocence, while her other husband, Mark, and her two step-sons are left wondering what happened. Meanwhile, we also learn the story of Stacie Jones. She has been living with her elderly father who has been taking care of her while she recovers from a brain tumor. But how are Stacie and her father connected to Kylie’s disappearance?

This story is told from multiple points of view and as each character’s story is told, truths start to come out and the suspense builds up. This book was a little slow for me to get into as I learned about each character, but once I did, it turned out to be a very suspenseful read. I figured out some of what was going on but it kept me wanting to read on to find out how everything came together and how it all ended.

I received this as an advanced reader copy and did not realize that this was a sequel to the book, Woman Last Seen. Although it can definitely be read as a standalone, if had I read the first book, it probably wouldn’t have had as slow of a start since I would have already been familiar with the characters. However, overall this was an entertaining fast paced read and now I definitely want to go back and read the first book to see how the story began!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for this ARC.

When I first started reading Two Dead Wives, I couldn't get over the feeling that I'd read it before. But of course, the book didn't come out until December 2023. But it turns out, that it's a sequel to Woman Last Seen, which I had read. Ah, it all makes more sense now.

It's not necessary to read Woman Last Seen first, but it does help clear up some of the confusion because there is a lot going on relationship-wise in the story. See, Leigh was a polygamist - married to two men with two stepsons. And so while her family and best friend Fiona grieve her death, they're also extremely angry at her.

Like I said, there is a lot going on. It's also one of those stories where as a reviewer, I can't say much, because I don't want to spoil the ride for you, the reader. But I will say—definitely check this one out. Parks writes characters with depth and dimension and has spun an intriguing and complex tale.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now.

When Kylie Gillingham is disappears, it is discovered that she is a bigamist with two husbands. DC Clements is put on the case to find out what happened to Kylie and untangle all the lies and deceit surrounding these two families. This book is the sequel to Both of Us, I have not read it and didn't realize that Just Between Us was a sequel. As a stand-alone, it works very well, and I did not feel I was missing out or confused.



Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC.

Two Dead Wives is the second book in the DCI Clements series. I didn't read the first book, but I think I would have liked this one better if I had.

There are multiple characters in this story. Kylie Gillingham is reported missing and presumed dead. Mark is her husband with two boys. His first wife dies and now the second one is missing. He is worried that this doesn't look good for him, since they always suspect the husband first.

Kylie has been living two separate lives. She is legally married to Mark but is illegally married to Daan, making her a bigamist. The truth has come out about Kylie's lies. Daan is also a suspect, due to the fact that he believes someone is setting him up to look guilty. As a result, he has fled the country in order to fight possible extradition and for the truth to come out.

Daan was also seeing Fiona while Kylie was taking care of a sick relative. Fiona is Kylie's best friend but has her sights on Mark and has moved in to help take care of the boys, and Mark of course. It's all a little too close for comfort.

Stacie Jones is living with her father after having brain surgery from cancer. She doesn't have any memory of the past, but she does have feelings of the past that don't match up to what she is being told.

Mark's boys are struggling with what is happening. They are angry about the truths revealed about Kylie, but Seb doesn't believe she is dead. All these people intersect into one crazy story.

The story is a little drawn out with the continuous droning on by each of the characters. If I had read the first one, I would have for the most part found it exciting. But the constant complaining or retelling of the story was a bit much. There wasn't a lot of conversation between the characters since most of it was relayed through their thoughts. My other issue was that DCI Clements was a minor character in the story. I didn't care for her partner Tanner. He felt like a complete dud and added nothing to the story other than being a foil for her. I had high hopes for this story as it sounded really interesting, but I was left wanting more meat to the story than the complaining.

I have to admit that I did not read the first book in this series after receiving "Two Dead Wives" as an ARC. So I had to go back and get a synopsis of the first book before heading back into this follow up.

I figured out the amnesia plot line pretty quickly. Stacie's POV was so out of place and jarring, connecting those pieces was pretty easy.

Everyone else just moves so slowly and talks exactly the same way. These characters have ZERO personality.

The twists work pretty well though, and I think Parks is *almost* there in terms of a good thriller.

Over all, I just didn't connect with these characters entirely based on how they were written. Not sure it was worth writing a whole sequel. You definitely need to read the first book before diving into this one. But I would definitely give Adele Parks another chance.

Wow! I was pretty much sucked into this thriller from the get go. Gripping, intriguing, compelling and at the climax supremely satisfying. I didn’t realize that this was a sequel because it read really well as a stand alone. Great character development. The author does a good job of showing different perspectives and making each voice unique. I loved the plot line and how the story unfurls from different angles. It is well written and very entertaining. Keeps you guessing to the very end. I was fortunate to receive this novel from Netgalley as an advance reader copy in exchange for an objective review.

This didn't grab my attention quite like the first book. I think it is because I didn't realize it all revolved around COVID times and I just don't feel the need to read about it.

The story starts with a woman missjng, following her disappearance is revealed to be a bigamist, one husband a widower with two children who she has loved as her own for 12 years and another a sophisticated rich man that sets her pulse on fire and has been married to for 4 years.
I went into it thinking it would be a whodunnit bit that’s not the case. The perpetrator is revealed pretty early, the motive also revealed pretty early, But there are some unexpected surprises.
I flew through the first half. But the second half was really slow for me, many of the twists didn’t make sense and seemed a little far fetched. I usually like closure in the books I read and I still didn’t understand why Kylie married two people or how. It felt like I started reading in the middle, my bad since I didn’t realize this was a sequel. But I don’t think this can be read as a standalone.
3.5 stars rounded up.

I had so much fun reading this book and trying to figure out what the conclusion was going to be. I was surprised a few times throughout and enjoyed the tension. I really love seeing the police procedural aspect and DC Clements stood out as multi-layered and a great person to have on your team. This was such a strong book and I’m grateful to @htpbooks @_mira_books_ for sending it!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review Two Dead Wives. This is my first book by Adele Parks and it did not disappoint! The story starts off with 43 year old named Kylie Gillingham missing for approximately 2 weeks. DC Clements and junior partner, Constable Tanner, are investigating the case. There is something different about Kylie Gillingham from their usual suspects- she has 2 husbands. Her first husband is Mark Fletcher and second husband is Daan Janssen. Mark Fletcher has 2 boys from his previous marriage- Seb and Oli. Daan is being considered as suspect #1 by Fiona Phillipson (Kylie’s best friend before the disappearance, who is also staying with Mark and the boys).

As the story goes on, a woman named Stacie comes in to the picture. She resides with her father in his tiny cottage where they are under strict lockdown orders after COVID surfaces in the country. Stacie has no recollection of her past life and was told she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment. A side effect to the treatment was memory loss. Stacie slows starts to regain her memory once the lockdown is lifted. The events that are unraveled after Stacie starts to regain her memory are unexpected- to say the least. I think I would classify this novel as a slow burn. It started off strong, was a little slow to build the plot and then about midway through really picked up. I gave Two Dead Wives 4 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was my first Adele Parks book. I am sure it won’t be my last! I do wish I had known this was a sequel - but it worked as a stand alone. I do want to read Woman Last Seen.

This book was enjoyable - it kept me entertained. There some parts that were confusing and I found myself skipping parts of chapters - but overall it is a good read.






#TwoDeadWives #NetGalley

I didn’t realize this book was part of a series.

It didn't capture my interest. The beginning was slow, and I struggled to establish a connection with the characters. It was also hard to make a connection between them without additional context.

Two dead wives by Adele parks is the sequel to the earlier novel, woman last seen, I had forgotten the plot to woman last seen, so the sequel continuation of the characters didn’t necessarily work for me here. However, while i think this would be more enjoyable going into having read woman last seen more recently, it can still be enjoyed as a standalone as well. The plot is told form multiple povs as the detective inspector tries to piece together who is responsible for the presumed murder of a missing bigamist. This is overall an enjoyable read, but it will add nothing new to the genre and feels a bit stale at times. It felt like it ran a little too long before wrapping up, but still an enjoyable read for anyone who likes a domestic thriller and believable characters.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those sequels that doesn't work too well as a standalone novel. I didn't even realize there was a first book in the series at first, and it was only as I felt like we were supposed to know the detectives that I realized this. I constantly felt like something was missing.

As for the story itself, though, it's a good and quick read. One storyline seemed a little far-fetched and overused in the world of mystery, but I'll roll with it.

I've seen great reviews for Two Dead Wives, and I normally love Adele Parks' writing style, but I wasn't able to connect with Two Dead Wives. This might be a case of it's not the book, it's me, and I think I will give it another shot at a future date.