WOW! An excellent thriller that gives you all the clues, then asks.....just who did what and when? Two couples living their "perfect" lives side by side when Lucy finds the first clue.....a picture.....that may prove their lives not so perfect. When she learns that she doesn't know the people in her life as well as she thought.......shades of Liane Moriarty's best works. This was definitely a book that turned out to be much better than I thought it would be.

Decent little thriller.
Two couples/best friends relationship implodes due to all the secrets of their past. Broken marriages, affairs, and murder.....all stemming from a photograph.
While it started out a little slow, the pace picked up! And even when I thought I had it figured out, there was more to it!
Solid 3.5, not a 4 because I couldn't stand Lucy the main character. To turn on your best friends because you think you saw a photo of one of them....and go to the police...too much.
Thank you, Netgalley, publisher, and author for the ARC (super late!!!)

So, you know how you think you really know your friends? That’s exactly what Lucy believed, but everything changes when one unexpected photo sends her on a journey to uncover some shocking truths. This just might shake the foundations of her relationships with the people she cares about the most. Get ready for an intense ride filled with twists, turns, and surprises that’ll keep you on your toes right up to the last page!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to dive into this thrilling read!

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
Lucy is devastated when, while looking at a school colleague's photos of a trip to the Malives, she spots a picture of Scott (her and her husband's best friend and someone they share a lake cottage with), apparently on a luxurious holiday with another woman, not his wife!. Extremely conflicted, she goes down a complete rabbit hole trying to find clues to prove it is indeed Scott, while her own husband denies the photo is his friend.

These two couples each have children and the families co-mingle in all of life, and when Lucy hears that the woman in the photo dies, she's even more determined to find out the truth for the safety of her family! Her co-worker also winds up first silent then missing and SNAP, a rabbit hole turns into an obsession for answers.

This was a bonkers book - sinister feelings throughout. I knew the answers almost immediately, but the author gives you a whammy at the end as well that leaves your jaw on the floor. This is a great, unhinged psychological thriller

Lucy and her husband, Adam, have been best friends with another couple, Cora and Scott, for years. The four are practically family—they vacation together, co-own a beach cottage, and their children are inseparable. So Lucy is devastated when, while looking at a colleague’s photos of a trip to the Maldives, she spots a picture of Scott, apparently on vacation with another woman.
Then she learns that the woman in the photo has gone missing. Lucy can’t help but fear that Scott was involved. But searching for answers might uncover secrets about Scott, Cora, and even her own husband that could destroy the picture-perfect lives they have built together. Or maybe she was never part of the picture at all.

Review:
From the very first chapter this book had me on the edge of my seat with tension. Lucy is obsessed with finding out why their friend Scott was with another woman in the Maldives and what happened to her. She tries to get help from the coworker who showed her the photo of Scott and the other woman in the first place, but she doesn’t want to get involved. When her coworker turns up severely injured, Lucy starts wondering who she can trust. The further she digs, the more questions she has instead of answers. The twist at the end was pure perfection!

I’m always excited when I find a new-to-me author who writes great thrillers and Ms. Coopers writing is so good you feel as if you’re part of the story. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read this book for a review. All thoughts are my own.

After being shown a picture of her friend Scott with another women in the Maldives, Lucy makes it her mission to find out why. When trying to get answers from the women who showed her the picture, she discovers that she is severely injured. lucy soon finds out that the further she digs, the more questions she has and far less answers. The couple in the photo is an edge of your seat thriller that will have you guessing till the end!

This was such a fun, twisty summer read!

I guessed the twist early in the book, but had a great time reading to see how it all came together. The setting was perfect—bouncing between a crime on a remote island and England—and I loved that I happened to pick this up while I was vacationing in the UK!

The amount of gaslighting throughout this book was out of control. Every direction the MC turned, she was hit with it. But somehow she was able to keep a clear head and keep digging. Love that for her!

Overall, a fun, twisty read!

From the very first chapter this book had me on the edge of my seat with tension. Lucy is obsessed with finding out why their friend Scott was with another woman in the Maldives. She tries to get help from the person who showed her the photo in the first place, but when that woman turns up severely injured Lucy starts wondering who can she really trust. The further she digs, the more questions she has instead of answers. The twist at the end was pure perfection!

I’m always excited when I find a new-to-me author who writes great thrillers and Ms. Coopers writing is so good you feel as if you’re part of the story. Highly recommended!

#TheCoupleInThePhoto #NetGalley
Wow!!! What a ride.
Lucy and her husband, Adam, have been best friends with another couple, Cora and Scott, for years. The four are practically family—they vacation together, co-own a beach cottage, and their children are inseparable. So Lucy is devastated when, while looking at a colleague’s photos of a trip to the Maldives, she spots a picture of Scott, apparently on vacation with another woman. Then she learns that the woman in the photo has gone missing. Lucy can’t help but fear that Scott was involved. But searching for answers might uncover secrets about Scott, Cora, and even her own husband that could destroy the picture-perfect lives they have built together. Or maybe she was never part of the picture at all. Is it possible everyone knows more than they are letting on? If so, what are the consequences of exposing the truth?
I loved it very much. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for giving me an advance copy.

A real winner in the suburban suspense genre. Cooper does a great job of throwing the reader right into the plot. The photo motif comes up again and again. Terrific work.

Wow, what an insane, wonderfully twisted read! I enjoyed the entire mess. Lies, compounded on lies, make up the lives of the people in this book. The lengths they willingly take to protect their secrets just goes to show how these intricate webs are weaved. This is a great book that I couldn’t put down. Highly recommend!

Special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was very suspenseful! It started out slowly, but once you get about halfway through it becomes a page turner. Nothing original, but a good read.

This book would have been five stars if it weren’t for the excessive ugly language.

The plot was superb, the characters well developed, and the dynamics spectacular. This was a solid (minus the language) psychological thriller.

Content: alcohol, excessive profanity, excessive expletives, tattoos, crude sexual acronyms, crude sexual terms

This was a solid mystery with lots of twists. It kept me on my toes.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I couldn't get into this book because it had too many characters. I do think this would be a good pool book. The narrative consisted of "he said" "she said"
The plot seemed juicy, unfortunately I couldn't get into the book.

Too many characters to keep track of with a lot of he said she said narrative that is hard to follow. The plot drags on and very repetitive. Would have been a DNF if it wouldnt have been an ARC. Thank you netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fun, suspicion driven mystery. Lucy sees a coworker’s photo of a couple they met in the Maldives that appears to be her husband’s best friend with a woman who was not her friend. The twists and turns, along with the friend dynamic, keep the plot moving at a fast pace. This is a great, quick read and would be a perfect beach read!

Lucy loves photos and the stories they tell. Eagerly looking through a work colleague's honeymoon photos one day, the a couple in the background catch her eye. Shocked to see who she thinks is her husband's best friend with another woman. Unable to accept it is coincidence or a doppelgänger, Lucy begins to ask questions of her husband, her husband's best friend Scott, and his wife Cora, all three of who were close friends from college days. As Lucy starts connecting more events to Scott, her husband and Cora begin acting rattled and secretive. Finally, Lucy finds evidence that the couple in the photo is connected to a much bigger picture and much uglier past than she could ever imagine.

This one has been on my TBR stack for awhile, and after finishing, I wish I had read it sooner! I mostly figured out where the story was heading early on, but Helen Cooper is a master at "...but wait! There's more!" that somehow fits without it being overdone or overdramatic. Great beach read!

Fairly generic for the genre, which is fine, but it didn’t stand out. Also, a bit too heavy with the romantic elements.

Thank you to Putnam Books & NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Couple in the Photo. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I sadly did not have time to read this book before its pub date (Dec. 5, 2023), and I’m sad that I just now got to it! Because WOW!

The beginning started off slow for me, but I’m happy I pushed through because it picked up quickly & kept me glued to my Kindle as much as possible. So many working parts to this mystery that leave you theorizing what could have happened, but with enough balance and details that the characters & events are easy to keep separated in your head.

Even though I had a suspicion, the answer to the (multiple) mysteries in the book will leave your mind reeling! I don’t want to reveal too much, so just know if you enjoy domestic thrillers with a “whodunit” trope, you’ll enjoy this one!

My first time reading this author but definitely won’t be my last. 4/5 ⭐️