At the opening of this book Fran is awoken by Ben only to find Nathan gone from their bed. After searching the house she moves outside and discovers his body.
After reporting the situation to the police Fran finds herself under suspicion and we begin to see a side of Fran's past that she may be running away from. As well as a darker side to her husband Nathan's life that remains unrevealed.
Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. I read 54% before I just had to surrender.
I love a good psychological thriller and have read a few good thrillers this year, so when I saw the synopsis for the story of The Loving Husband, it looked like a compelling fast paced read.
Unfortunately I should have followed my gut after the first few chapters. Straight from the off I found it very hard to associate with either Nathan or Fran Hall.
I felt little sympathy for Fran or the situation she found herself in as it was apparent she was running away from her ex-boyfriend Nick very early on and settled for Nathan. Her infidelity also meant that I did not feel there was either a strong connection or love between them at all to be honest as the title implied, and was portrayed more a marriage of control and convenience.
At the point of terminating the book I felt that Fran was dry and lack-lustre. The police investigating the case, cold, crass and lacking in any kind of moral empathy and the Family Liaison Officer to be distracted with her own personal side story which I felt had little to no relevance to the plot.
The writing style jumped around unnecessarily and every time I thought that I was getting somewhere we would experience a flashback which both revealed very little and killed the pace of the plot.
There was clearly a lot to the back story (hidden secrets) to Nathan's life both with his family and friends that could have begun to be revealed and by the time I decided to walk away had not become to be apparent.
Why was he lying to his wife about going to the pub twice a week?
What happened in his family life to make him want to live in a run down property with two other guys?
What did Bez do which caused Nathan to leave to London?
Where does Rob fit in?
Why did Fran not know Nathan worked for Julian?
How did Fran not realise the man in her bed was not Nathan?
Why are the police not considering other suspects?
So far too many unanswered questions which I am uncertain would be concluded by the end of the book.
The pace and style of writing prevented any growth in tension to be deemed psychological in my opinion and unfortunately feels somewhat forced into a structure not in keeping with the content of the story.
For these reasons I did not finish the book and gave it 1 star.
**This book was generously given to me by NetGalley for a true and honest review**
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