I’ve never read a Detective Dan Riley book before but I thought this was easy to follow and did not require you to have read the previous ones. I liked the clues along the way. It made it easy to follow along and you can focus on the “who” but the “why” is still kept as a thrilling twist.

The Housewife's Secret by Anna-Lou Weatherley continues the highly addictive Detective Dan Riley series, one that just keeps getting better and better.

Dan is on the case once again when housewife Darcie Bonneville fails to return home following a stroll with her dog. Interestingly, an anonymous note dropped through the letterbox the previous evening had left Darcie on edge. Could her recent notoriety, thanks to saving a child's life on the street, have led someone from her past to her doorstep? And just what secrets from her complex history have brought danger to her very contented present?

Told in alternating chapters of now and then, Darcie's story gradually unfolds in a way that will have you questioning everything you think you know about the missing woman. As always, Dan Riley is an empathetic character who always manages to keep us firmly onside and rooting for him all the way. I can't wait to see what comes next for this most affable detective.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

The Housewife’s Secret
By: Anna- Lou Weatherley
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Darcie is happily married to Ben. Her life has not been easy and she feels incredibly lucky to escaped her past and have the love she has always wanted.

One morning she goes up missing as she walks her dog. Ben is beside himself and soon Detective Dan Riley is on the case.

Could she have walked out of her life or was she kidnapped? She recently inherited a lot of money so is a possibility!

This novel had me in the edge of my seat to see if Darcie is found alive and the reason behind her disappearance.

Thank you Bookouture for this advanced copy. This novel is due out January 12, 2024.

#thehousewifessecret, #annalpuweatherley, #bookstagram, #bookouture, #booksconnectus, #stamperlady50

Detective Dan Riley #7

Ever since I met my handsome husband, Dr Gabe Bonneville, I started playing the role of the perfect housewife. He works hard as a surgeon, so I look after our home, and throw elaborate dinner parties with champagne cocktails for his best friends Hugh and Anita. He's my safe place and the change to have the family I've always wanted. I haven't told Gabe the truth about the woman who raised me, or the therapy I've been getting. My secrets stay hidden in the dark. Until the letter arrives at the front door. Someone knows I'm not just a housewife. And the lies I've told will be all that's left when I disappear.

Darcie, a housewife, mostly keeps herself to herself. She has secrets from her past. Even her husband Gabe doesn't know her secrets. But when Darcie receives a letter, someone knows the lies that she's told, and Darcie knows she has to disappear. Detective Dan Riley is given the case to find Darcie. We get flashbacks telling us what had happened in Darcie's past/ There are some clues along the way, so look out for them. Another great addition to the series, but it could be read as a standalone.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #Anna-LouWeatherly for my ARC of #TheHousewifesSecret in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book! It constantly had me guessing, trying to figure out what would happen next. It's one of those books that gets your adrenaline going towards the end, needing to know how it will all play out. The ending was surprising, and fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Darcie is a housewife, albeit a wealthy one. She keeps to herself, not wanting to bring any attention to herself. She has secrets in her past, and bears mental scars from her upbringing, she has had therapy to come to terms with what happened to her, with a celebrity therapist.
Darcie has kept herself out of the limelight until she saves a child from being hit by a car.
A letter is dropped into her mailbox, which totally floors her. Was she found because of her good deed?
The following day, Darcie takes the dog for a walk and disappears. Only her phone is found, covered with blood.

Detective Dan Riley is called in to oversee the investigation into Darcie's abduction.

This is the second book by this author that I have read, and I am so impressed. I was kept on the edge of my seat, reading late into the night.
I love Dan Riley's methods and gut feelings during his investigations.
I did have a suspicion as to who was behind Darcie's kidnapping, but not the reason why.

I recommend. 5/5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I was a little hesitant to read this book, knowing I hadn’t read any other of the detective Dan Riley books, but it sounded so good that I just had to. This book instantly draws you in and out of no where grabs your attention with a missing person. Every direction this book took was a surprise. I didn’t want to put it down. I wanted to know about Darcie’s past. I was dying to know where she was and what happened to her. Dan Riley is instantly a likable character and brings even more intrigue into the story. Sometimes detective books can get a bit boring or repetitive but this is psychological thriller first, detective mystery second. I can’t wait to go and read the rest of the Dan Riley books. I hope they are as good as this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy!

Dan Riley how I have missed you. You truly are one of my favourite policeman because you're such a kind soul and you really do care about the victims and won’t stop before you have found the baddie. You put your work before everything else and in fact that's not a bad thing, but sometimes you have to think about the other people who are counting on you and you really should not let them down.  

 Sometimes when you go through a bad thing, all that is going through your mind is trying to escape as soon as possible and maybe, even as important, trying to forget about it.  In hindsight, you should have talked about it more but I think it’s only human you put yourself first after such an ordeal. Unfortunately, you cannot turn back the clock even if you regret it deeply.

Some people though are not so forgiving and yes I do understand how they feel and why they might act without thinking it fully through.  Sometimes people have blinkers on and they focus only on themselves not really seeing the whole picture, but only their role in it and how they were treated.  

 I like detectives who think outside the box and sometimes when they feel it's the only thing left to do ignore rules and orders.  It puts them in very dangerous situations but they feel they have to act now because waiting would turn this very dangerous situation into a disaster.  It's a good thing when, in the end, they achieve their goal but it could have turned the tables against them. 

 I realised that lately a lot of crime thrillers feature female detectives and that's superb but it's also nice to read a story where a male ddaetective is in the driver’s seat. 

 Another great story in this Dan Riley series and I hope from the bottom of my heart I can see him again soon chasing the next culprit. 

 Five stars for this great story with super likeable detective.

Thank you

A great addition to the wonderful Detective Dan Riley series! Anna-Lou Weatherley is such a talented writer. Her books always draw you in and they are hard to put down. The way the chapters end, you always want to read just one more. Maybe it's just me, but I do find that there aren't a lot of twists in this series. I think you usually know who the culprit is and more or less what's going on, but they don't need shocking twists because they are just excellent stories told very well. I really liked Darcie and her backstory as well as Gabe. I have to admit to being angry with Dan for bailing on his family vacation, but it's a good thing he was there. Delaney certainly wouldn't have been any help! This book could be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend reading the whole series if you haven't. You won't regret it!

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. I read this as a standalone book and wow what a book I was instantly hooked from the prologue dying to know what would happen next. The publication date is the 12th Jan 2024.

This book kept me on my toes and reading well into the night as I turned the pages as fast as I could! My favourite character was Darcie as I got deeper into the book I wonder what was next for her, and wow what an ending I didn’t see it coming the suspense was so good! Overall, a fantastic and intriguing book with lots of suspense thrown in which is a perfect thriller!

WOW! What a great book! The plot was definitely intriguing and kept me turning pages as fast as I could.

I came to really like most of the characters, and I think that is important to most of the people who read books. If I don't care what happens to them, I often feel like walking away from the story. I loved that the book had a strong female lead who made some bad choices, but she overcame them. I also really appreciated Dan Riley, a caring detective who couldn't give up looking for her.

The story was neatly wrapped up by the end of the book, but what an ending!

5 Stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an early copy of The Housewife’s Secret. Loved the cover!!! Very fast reading thriller but it was a bit too much with Dan Riley, it might be time to retire him. He's been a Great character but he’s got too much bravado after this book. The plot was good, I figured out the who did it but Never knew why and that was mind boggling. All in All just like her other books, you will Enjoy it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for the copy of The Housewife’s Secret by Anna-Lou Weatherley. Wow, this book drew me right into the story and I was mesmerized. It seemed like your standard thriller from the description so I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I was intrigued by Darcie’s story and I loved learning how she grew up. This is a detective series, but the detective’s life was incidental to the story. Even so, I’ll be checking out the other books in the series because I enjoyed this one so much.

Although I’ve missed a couple of books in this series, I had no issues reading this as a stand-alone. Dar is Bonneville has it all: the gorgeous husband, the luxury home and more money than she could dream of. Yet she also has many secrets in her past that she’d like to forget. She’s managed to keep them hidden for so long until a letter is hand delivered to her home, someone knows she is more than just a housewife. An unputdownable thriller that will keep you gripped to the end. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Great series. This story is non stop and i could barely put it down. What Darcie had been through was horrific, not for the faint hearted. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

I do enjoy the Detective Dan Riley books and this was another great addition to the series, this can absolutely be read as a stand alone but you will then want to go back and read the others.

This time we have a missing woman, a woman who is rich and has a dark and secretive past. I loved that nothing was as it seemed, and at just under 300 pages, I red this in an afternoon. I did pick the who but not the why, not completely, but that did not take away my enjoyment of the story. Each chapter left me needing more so I had to keep reading.

Thank you so much to Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on January 12th.

The Detective Dan Riley series never disappoints, and this one sure didn't! I just wish I hadn't figured out who was who and who did what at the 50% mark. It became kind of obvious but I still kept reading because these books are just so immersive!

Definitely a 5 star read!

This series is SO GOOD. I always feel excited when I see that a new instalment is coming. This one was absolutely brilliant and I loved reading it.

The characters all felt really genuine, I had a particular soft spot for John Evergreen! I enjoyed following the investigation into Darcie's disappearance, the clues were there all along, and it was fun to follow them. I liked the flashbacks to Darcie's past, and the conclusion was exciting.

I would absolutely recommend this book, and all others in the Dan Riley series.