My Rating ~ Four Stars

4-gold-stars copy

RELEASE DATE: 28 June 2022

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Hachette

Blurb

Is it worse to lie to your husband or the police?

Rikke is deceiving them both. When their upstairs neighbour Jorgen is found dead, she’s questioned alongside her husband Asmund.

How can Rikke admit in front of Asmund that Jorgen and she were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings for Jorgen? The hint of relief that he’s dead. And, as the investigation closes in on the neighbourhood, how long can she conceal the affair from her neighbours, her husband and her teenage daughter?

Rikke knows she can’t hide the phone calls, emails and messages from the police. So she cuts herself a deal. In return for a few days’ grace to tell Asmund before anyone else does, she’ll share everything about the affair.

But before she can summon the courage to confess, Rikke is struck by a chilling revelation. Jorgen can only have been killed by someone living in their small apartment building.

Review

Thank you so much to Hachette Books for providing me with a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review!

Rikke has been having an affair with her neighbour Jørgen. She loves her husband and has sworn she’ll end it many times, but she just can’t seem to stay away. Until Jørgen is discovered murdered. Unable to publicly share her grief, for fear of their affair being discovered by her husband and daughter, Rikke has to endure the speculation from her other neighbours about who is responsible.

As the police continue their investigation, Rikke fears more than ever that she’ll need to come clean to her family, because it seems like someone in the shared house is responsible.

The Lover was an engaging story, told in alternating parts – the current timeline and looking back at parts of Rikke and Jørgen’s affair. There were plenty of twists and tons of unreliable characters to keep you guessing. Rikke was a flawed but interesting character, experiencing common issues within her marriage and with her teenage daughter.

With a slow burn thrill and creepy undertones, The Lover is almost a ‘locked room’ style book, with most of the story taking place within the one big house the neighbours all live in. I’d recommend putting The Lover on your TBR if you’re a domestic thriller fan!