The Stranger's Wife: A totally gripping psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist (Detective Dan Riley Book 3)

Every once in awhile, I get a book and start to read it and then find out it is part of a series. I want to stop this madness but it somehow still creeps in on me and boy I was glad it did for this book. I was on a long haul of so so mystery books and something sparked me on to this one. I loved it as it wasn't your typical crime novel with scenes inside a police station etc. Maybe I needed that change and I got it with this third book in this series. I didn't feel left out at all since the primary focus was on two women, Beth and Cath.Beth and Cath are two very different women and yet share one thing in common. They are both in relationships with men that they wish to get out of. Beth is the wife of a very wealthy and influential man, but there is no love lost in their marriage and Beth has finally had enough and wants to leave. Cath has been with her boyfriend since they were teenagers, but he is extremely violent and a drug addict and she is too scared to leave. What happens on the 3:15 pm train from London to Bristol? changes the lives of both women.Yes, it's very quirky and a great plot. This book grabs you from the beginning and will hold your interest till the end. At first, you will wonder how the lives of these two women will come together but the author did a great job. I really enjoyed this and will go and check out the beginning of this series.

I am up to the fourth in the series now! Love this series ! Hope ms. Weatherly continues the series after number 6!

This is a well written book, but a little too much like ‘Strangers on a train’ - and even though I was really into it, I thought the characters were badly portrayed in some ways. ***Spoiler alert***I was disappointed especially that one protagonist seems to be very smart at first, seems to be such an underdog who will get what she deserves- what anyone deserves, which is to say, a life without abuse and a life without a murderer and depraved individual, yet she forgets about a few stupid details. Because of this she doesn’t seem to get what she deserves, she spends years paying for something done in self defense, not just that, but her husband who doesn’t have to rot in prison, who in a stark contrast got away with several murders and why is never tried in the eyes of the law, and to top it off,even though he killed/tried to kill her spirit, she simply resigns herself to more punishment. She is a little too selfless, a little too much of a pushover. She just caves. The end. How is that justice? And I don’t mean legal justice because that’s not always up to the real deal, more about how much money she has and what she can do to protect herself- if you want absolute justice, why did the judge (a part of a conspiracy and therefore technically not able to be impartial ) get to stay on his high horse? If there was truly a working justice system, wouldn’t these women not have been in this situation to begin with? It’s incongruous and unsatisfactory. If you want a story about justice in a perfect world it may seem that way at first- but then why does Beth have to suffer? More? And why does she have her child taken simply because she was too trusting? If you’re a mom, you understand how much is lost in years apart from your child. Who will pay for that theft??? A let-down, plot-wise. On the other hand, the author is very talented in making this incredible coincidence believable anew, even if it is a lot like ‘Strangers on a train’ and that’s no easy feat. It is a let-down though, even though in art things are constantly reinvented and serve as inspiration, I feel like the author does readers a disservice by taking an old story, and putting a minor new spin on it. With that in mind, the reveal was not unique enough to make up for the regurgitation. I was disappointed.

WOW.....Psychological thriller at its best. I couldn't put it down and was surprised at the twists and turns. Will definitely read this author again.

Two women, one emotionally and one physically, are abused by their husbands. When Beth announces she wants a divorce this set off a chain reaction of horrific events perpetrated by her sociopath husband. Cath’s husband beats her unmercifully and as a result murders the child she is carrying. Into the mix throw a dogged Detective Inspector Dan Reilly and will justice meted out and/or rad be recognized?Reminiscent of Hitchcock‘s Strangers on a Train, this story grabs your attention from the prologue.When Beth and Cath meet their fates are sealed.Up against a cabal of influential men who conspire to protect her husband, Beth fights to clear her lover’s name from a despicable accusation. Cath only wishes she could get free from her drug addicted and abusive husband.Completely obsessed with hearing the outcome, I partially read and partially listened to The Stranger’s Wife. The running theme throughout the story was, “How well do you really know someone”. The narrator did an exceptional job.I found this book to be intriguing and held my interest.

This book deals with domestic abuse, male to female abuse. Cath is suffering domestic violence while Beth is being emotionally abused. I have come across abuse in my professional and social life and know just how severe it can be so there were no surprises here for me. Nevertheless I found it grim reading. I guess it was my mistake to read a book about a subject I abhor.In the book the two women work together to take revenge on their abusers by the most extreme of methods. That they are able to do so hinges on a coincidence that is beyond ridiculous. It was so daft that I was tempted to discard the book but I continued reading because of the chapters that dealt with the police investigation. These were well-written with strong characterisation and provided welcome relief from the dark and/or silly parts. I did not find this book difficult to put down but I was sufficiently interested in the police investigation to motivate me to finish it. Hence three stars.

Just finished this riveting story, loved the characters of the leading ladies, Beth and Cath,while in many ways very different both had embraced their dark sides due to living with cruel, evil partners. The types of domestic violence suffered whilst miles apart had a similar effect on both, knowing what they had lived through I could forgive them anything..loved the ending as it suggest a sequel which I will hungrily devour. Highly recomend.

For a few years now I have been reviewing every book I read even if it wasn't a good book at all! As a New Years resolution I decided to only review the best of the best!My favourite quote from The Stranger's Wife: ‘At the end of the day do any of us really know anyone?’I actually ended up reading 'The Stranger's Wife' in Anna Lou Weatherly's Detective Dan Riley series before realising it was part of a series. Recently I started reading the series from the begging and wanted to read this book again as I couldn't fully remember what happened Detective Dan Riley's story behind the scenes of the case he was working on and I just absolutely loved this book.When I first read 'The Stranger's Wife I had so many theories of what would happen and why but none of my theories came true! The Stranger's Wife is totally at the same level as 'The Girl On The Train' and possibly as 'Gone' some would say! I never really liked it as much as others! Unbelievable that Amazing Amy never was brought to justice! Anyway I was really hoping that Dan Riley would do anything to expose the ones in power and stop Beth from going down with them but she did kill her husband even if he destroyed her whole life!I still can't believe what happened! Unbelievable! Truly recommend Anna Lou Weatherly's Dan Riley crime series but I would still say 'The Stranger's Wife' has to be my favourite in the series.

Didn't really enjoy this. There were a few things that jarred with me. The worst one was Beth's mother's death in the kitchen. It was the most contrived over-the-top piece of ham acting I've ever been asked to believe. Then there was the joint bank account that was pedictably emptied when Beth went off with another man . Surely, the first thing anyone would have done in her position is open a new bank account at the outset.Her inner thoughts, and conversations with different people, were belaboured and tedious, going over the same ground over and over again. However, I stuck with it, partly because I wanted to know how the 2 women from entirely different back-grounds finally met, and also because of the police detective's narrative which I found very good.It was actually like reading from 2 different authors; Dan Riley's version of events, in contrast to Beth's heavy doom and gloom, hand wringing one, was easier to read and at times quite humerous. He came across as a very sympathetic, intuititive character, and it's a pity the whole thing wasn't written in the same vein.The book redeemed itself in the last chapters, and for that I give it 3 stars, but I was glad to finish it and go on to read something less fraught.

How many times have we seen the words"I just couldn't put it down"? Not literally true in my case, but as I got nearer the end I found I just had to finish it, as I finally did at 22:25 am!It was true to life as well proving that it only takes one tiny unforeseen slip or oversight to lead a good detective to the answer.I could not recommend this book highly enough.