The Innocent Wife: A Novel

by Amy Lloyd

Overview

A woman falls in love with a celebrity convict, only to discover a truth more sinister than she could imagine in this “compulsively readable thriller” (Booklist, starred review).

Twenty years ago, Dennis Danson was arrested and imprisoned for the brutal murder of a young girl in Florida’s Red River County. Now he’s the subject of a true-crime documentary that’s whipping up a frenzy online to uncover the truth and free a man who has been wrongly convicted.

A thousand miles away in England, Samantha is obsessed with Dennis’s case. She exchanges letters with him, and is quickly won over by his charm and kindness to her. Soon she has left her old life behind to marry him and campaign for his release. When the campaign is successful and Dennis is freed, however, Sam begins to discover new details that suggest he may not be quite so innocent after all.

But how do you confront your husband when you don’t want to know the truth?

Winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781488080500
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	01/18/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	212
Sales rank:	389,313
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Amy Lloyd studied English and Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She won the Daily Mail First Novel competition for The Innocent Wife in 2016. She lives in Cardiff, Wales, with her partner and two cats.

Editorial Reviews

01/08/2018
In British author Lloyd’s labored debut, Samantha, an English schoolteacher, becomes obsessed with the case of Dennis Danson, who has been on death row since 1993 for the gruesome murder of a high school girl in Florida’s Red River County. He was suspected of killing four other girls, but their bodies were never found, and Sam is convinced he’s innocent. Sam starts to correspond with Dennis, and they develop a bond that prompts her to fly to the U.S. to visit him in Altoona Prison. Their initially awkward romance eventually results in their marrying; an unexpected confession leads to Dennis’s release from Altoona. Sam, naive and unconfident, and Dennis, secretive and withdrawn, move into the remote Danson family home in Red River, where they must face the hostility of the locals. Dennis’s reconnecting with a sinister childhood friend, Lindsay Durst, complicates the couple’s uncomfortable life together. Dennis’s backstory—growing up poor with an abusive drunk of a father and a chronically depressed mother—follows familiar lines. The contrived and unexpected climax disappoints. Fans of serial killer fiction will find nothing new. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

You can hear the ominous music from the first line onward - this is a fantastic thriller.” —Lee Child

“Superb psychological suspense.” —Lisa Gardner

“Amy Lloyd's debut thriller The Innocent Wife is a stunner. A smooth and confident new voice in the world of crime fiction, Lloyd leads the readown a twisty path to a surprising, yet satisfying conclusion. You won't be able to stop turning the pages!’ —Karen Dionne, author of The Marsh King's Daughter

“If you're an addict of true crime documentaries, you will binge all night on The Innocent Wife. It's a terrific, believable thriller that answers a seemingly unanswerable question: What kind of woman falls in love with a stranger an ocean away? In this breathless, pounding ride, Amy Lloyd keeps us guessing about a convicted killer thrust into the world as innocent online hero and the woman who begins to reluctantly dig into his murky past.” —Julia Heaberlin, author of Black Eyed Susans

“I devoured Amy Lloyd's novel The Innocent Wife in one sitting, ignoring everyone I knew until it was done! A unique setting, deeply flawed characters, a crackling mystery, and an unexpected ending make this one of 2018's must-reads!” —Hollie Overton, author of Baby Doll

“This is an original, assured and compelling tale of obsession. Amy Lloyd is a startling new talent, destined to become a big name." —Peter James, internationally bestselling author

“Loved The Innocent Wife! Dark, twisted and compelling. Kept me guessing and totally gripped!” —C.J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man

“I devoured Amy Lloyd's novel The Innocent Wife in one sitting, ignoring everyone I knew until it was done! A unique setting, deeply flawed characters, a crackling mystery, and an unexpected ending make this one of 2018's must-reads!” —Hollie Overton, author of Baby Doll

“I read The Innocent Wife in one sitting — a deliciously wry and dark exploration of fascinating subject matter that will keep you guessing until the last page. Amy Lloyd is a fresh and original new voice in thriller writing who deserves to go straight to the top.” —Sarah Pinborough author of Behind Her Eyes

“A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A compulsively readable thriller.” —Booklist (Starred review)

“Written with panache, the book skillfully captures the nature of obsession and its consequences, and culminates in a climax Patricia Highsmith would have admired.” —Daily Mail (UK)

“Slick, smart and very timely, this confident debut will hook you in” —Sunday Mirror (UK)

“Deliciously tense and twisty.” —The Sunday Times Crime Club (UK)

“Lloyd keeps the reader guessing until the very last page. Make sure you have an excuse for being sleepy at work the next day because The Innocent Wife is unputdownable.” —Criminal Element

From the Publisher

09/15/2017
Winner of 2016's Daily Mail First Novel competition, this bone chiller features a young British school teacher who falls in love with a death row inmate in America she believes is innocent. She marries him, works for his release, then, as events suggest that he knows more than he's revealed, wonders if he really was guilty after all. With a 30,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2017-12-24
A lonely British schoolteacher falls for an American man incarcerated for the murder of a young woman. What could possibly go wrong?Samantha, 31, is still reeling from a bad breakup when she discovers Framing the Truth: The Murder of Holly Michaels, an 18-year-old true-crime documentary about the killing of a young girl by then-18-year-old Dennis Danson, aka the suspected Red River Killer, who's still on death row in Florida's Altoona Prison. Sam writes to Dennis, and soon they're declaring their love for each other. Sam flies to the U.S. to meet him, and although they're separated by plexiglass, she knows that she's found the love of her life. The chirpy Carrie, who co-produced and directed the first documentary, is Sam's guide while she's there, and Sam accompanies her while they film a new series about Dennis, A Boy from Red River. Sam and Dennis quickly marry when new evidence comes to light and Dennis is exonerated and released. Amid a whirlwind of talk shows, celebrity attention, and the new series premiere, married life isn't quite what Sam had hoped for: intimacy is nonexistent, the already self-loathing Sam feels unloved and unwanted, and the appearance of Dennis' clingy childhood friend Lindsay Durst sends Sam into a jealous fit. After Dennis' father dies, they move into Dennis' childhood home, and Sam begins to suspect he may be hiding something. After all, what actually happened to all those other missing girls? Refreshingly, Lloyd seems absolutely unconcerned with whether or not her characters are likable, and although a few British sayings ("round," "in hospital") make their way into the dialogue of the American characters, her research into the aftereffects of long incarceration is obvious, and her portrait of an emotionally damaged woman feels spot-on.A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.

Kirkus Review