Raise your hand if you loved Samantha Downingβs inventive, clever, personality-filled debut novel My Lovely Wife - I know I sure did, and Iβm so honored to team up with her US publisher, Berkley, to reveal the cover for her sophomore novel: HE STARTED IT, releasing April 28, 2020. Thereβs nothing I love more than discovering an author with a voice and style uniquely her own, and thatβs exactly how I would define Samantha Downingβs work. In My Lovely Wife, Downing centered a story of suspense around a married couple whose date nights involved serial murder; now, in HE STARTED IT, she turns her eye towards sibling relationships and a cross-country road trip fueled by secrets and revenge. I couldnβt be more excited to give CBTB readers this sneak peek into Samantha Downingβs newest release! In todayβs blog post, you can check out the bookβs gorgeous cover, learn more about its plot, catch a mini Q&A with the author herself, and pre-order the book, should you wish to do so!
Read MoreBook Review: MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing
Appropriately billed as βMr. And Mrs. Smith meets Dexter,β Samantha Downingβs deliciously dark debut crime novel MY LOVELY WIFE follows a married couple with a unique way of keeping the spark aliveβ¦ serial murder. Thatβs right, this book centers around a pair of ordinary suburban spouses whose date nights involve death. Sound over the top? It is, but in the best possible way. In MY LOVELY WIFE, Downing pushes the domestic suspense novel to its limitsβand the result is a hugely entertaining, seriously sinister suspense read. Letβs be clear: this book has a wild, larger-than-life premise - and itβs one that, frankly, could go wrong in less capable hands. But rest assured, Downing gets it very right. MY LOVELY WIFE is wicked fun to read; readers looking for a suspense novel with plenty of entertainment value that doesnβt take itself too seriously will be hooked on Downingβs razor-sharp debut. As for me, it had been a long time since I read a book that was this fun to devour, and Iβm already eagerly anticipating what Downing will do next.
Read MoreCBTB's Most-Anticipated Crime Books of Early 2019
Dear crime readers: we have so much to look forward to in 2019. Whether youβre a reader of psychological thrillers, Nordic Noir, Gothic suspense, police procedurals, or anything (and everything!) in between, 2019 has some amazing reads in store for you. My biggest problem at the moment is just that I have no idea how Iβm going to make time to read all of them! But, to that end, and to hopefully help all of us (myself included!) pace ourselves and not overlook any promising books along the way, Iβve decided to keep todayβs Most-Anticipated list focused on new crime fiction from January 2019 through March 2019. But not to worry: I will be sharing additional βmost anticipatedβ lists throughout the year, too! Without further ado, letβs dive on in to my picks for Most-Anticipated Crime Books of Early 2019!
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