Synopsis of My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Our love story is simple. I met a woman. We fell in love, got married, and had kids. We shared our dreams, and our secrets. And then – we got bored.

Every marriage has its secrets. 

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

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Book Review: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

My Thoughts 

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Solid 4-4.5 stars)

Average Goodreads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.87)

I’ve honestly seen a lot of mixed reviews about this book online in various book chat groups and the only question I have is, “WHY?!” I could not put this book down.

My Lovely Wife is the kind of story that grips you from page one and keeps you frantically turning those pages until you find out exactly how it ends.

We start out by meeting “Tobias,” a handsome, deaf man trying to pick up a woman in a bar. Only we quickly learn (and this is not a spoiler) that his name is not, in fact, Tobias (and one thing I’ve realized is we never really do learn his name, even though he’s the narrator and main character), and we also learn that he is not, in fact, deaf.

What we do quickly learn is that “Tobias” is out in search of the perfect woman, while his seemingly already-perfect wife Millicent is at home anxiously waiting for a report. Yep, she’s in on it. Only this search is far beyond what anyone could ever imagine. This, my friends, is a story of a couple who kills together, stays together. Or do they?

What we soon realize is this idyllic suburban family is anything other than what meets the eye. Growing up as the victim of an abusive sister, Millicent has found healing and coping in taking out her grief and anger on innocent women. And, surprising to both Milicent and this mystery-named man, it’s done wonders for their relationship as well.

When plans of their latest victim go awry and Millicent goes off script, Mystery Narrator will have to think quickly, scheming up a copy-cat killer plot from a serial killer who lived in their town decades ago.

But nothing ever quite goes according to plan, and now, our narrator is starting to question everything he thought he once knew to be true about Millicent and her motives. 

Note: giving any other details away would be doing just that – giving too much information away. This is truly a book you need to read for yourself!!

For me this was a solid four star book – maybe even 4.5 just because it kept me gripped the entire time. Little predictable? Yes. High creep alert on the ending? Yes. Did it leave me thinking about it for days? But, it probably won’t stay with me that long – hence the reason it’s not a 5 star review.

But I honestly could not get enough. 

Who Would Play the Main Characters in the Movie Adaptation?

(Photo Credits: People Online, Hula, and Agecalcuator.me)

Millicent: Jessica Chastain

Mystery Husband’s Name: Brad Pitt or Bradley Cooper (although I imagined Brad Pitt the entire time- he’s probably a little too old, but his rugged good looks fit the character well).