> Skip to content
Read an extract
Play sample
  • Published: 3 September 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784757106
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $19.99

The Innocent Wife

A Richard and Judy Book Club pick




HOW DO YOU CONFRONT YOUR HUSBAND WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH? Gripping psychological suspense from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction

NOW A TOP TEN BESTSELLER!

THE TOP TEN BESTSELLER
__________________________
You were obsessed with his case. You fought for his freedom. He was acquitted.
You married him.
But now you’re wondering if he’s so innocent after all.
__________________________
As recommended by MY FAVOURITE MURDER: 'It is so really ****ing good!'
'This book had me hooked from the first page to the last.’ LISA JEWELL
__________________________
Twenty years ago, Dennis Danson was sentenced to death for a brutal murder in Florida.

But there were flaws in the case, questions hanging over the prosecution, suspicions of a miscarriage of justice. Sam, an English schoolteacher, finds herself drawn into an online community obsessed with the case, and with the eighteen-year-old who tearfully protested his innocence. Who was the ‘Short Man’ that police never found? Why did they fixate on Dennis so early? What happened to the missing evidence?

Sam writes to Dennis, and Dennis writes back. They become friends. She visits him. They fall in love. They marry. And, at long last, a confession from the real killer seems to prove Dennis’s innocence. He’s acquitted; declared a free man.

Sam is overjoyed, but part of her starts to doubt Dennis, and the ways he seems to change once released. She pushes it aside. After all, they’re husband and wife.

Till death do them part.
__________________________
Amy's readers are raving about the book they 'just couldn't put down':
"I picked up The Innocent Wife this morning on my subway commute to work and couldn't put it down! I read it during my lunch break, commute home, on the stair master… It was just that addicting!"

"Absolutely fantastic book… couldn’t put it down"

"a superb rendering of sustained storytelling that grips you from the off"

"I read the book in two days, couldn't wait to find out what happened next"

"Fantastic, gripping, page turning… Drew you in and kept you there until the very end"

"A fantastic debut! … It gets you hooked from the very beginning, and yet it's never predictable, you're in for some surprises until the very last page"

"The Innocent Wife was gripping. I read with heart racing"

"I literally couldn't wait to steal five minutes with it during the day and loved my evenings completely immersed in the tension"

"I couldn't put this down… thriller fans, you're in for a treat"

"complex and fascinating… very clever and very well executed"

"original and utterly compelling … I honestly feel bereft now that I've finished it and can't wait to spend 2018 talking about this fantastic novel"

  • Published: 3 September 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784757106
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

Amy Lloyd

Amy Lloyd studied English and Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University. In 2016 she won the Daily Mail Bestseller Competition for her debut novel The Innocent Wife which, when it was published, became a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Amy lives in Cardiff with her partner, who is also a published novelist.

Also by Amy Lloyd

See all

Praise for The Innocent Wife

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

Lee Child

Gripping psychological suspense from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction, and one of 2018's must-reads!

from the publisher's description

If you're an addict of true crime documentaries, you will binge all night on The Innocent Wife. 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

The Innocent Wife is a stunner that leads the reader down 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

I devoured The Innocent Wife in one sitting! 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

Excellent book - Great characters and plot. I would highly recommend this book.

reader review

Good, fast paced and well written.

reader review

Absolutely brilliantly written, characters are well-drawn and believable and I cannot recommend it enough.

reader review

This book completely gripped me from the very start. I love books that make me think. I also love finding out about what makes people do the things that they do. So for me I was hooked from the very first line of the synopsis. What makes a woman fall in love with a death row inmate? What makes them believe that they are innocent? And what makes someone do that bad things they do which result in them ending up on death row? This is a really good fast passed psychology thriller. Which I raced through to find out what actually happened on that brutal night.

reader review

The Innocent Wife is a brilliant read. I was hooked from the start and read in within a couple of days. I loved how much depth there was to each character making you are the reader feel you really knew them. I cannot wait to read more from Amy Lloyd, I believe she will be an author to watch.

reader review

Ever since I learned about women who write to, fall in love with and marry men on Death Row, I've been fascinated by this phenomenon, so this book was a must-read. Lloyd keeps the first three-quarters or so beautifully on track as Samantha obsesses about a handsome killer, gets involved in the campaign to free him and marries him, despite him being effectively a stranger. Alongside this main story is a sub-strand which calls into question Samantha's own past behaviour and quite how balanced she herself is. This keeps the tension high and I changed my mind a couple of times as to where I thought the book was going, and ended up staying up late to find out whether I was right (sort of!)

reader review

The Innocent Wife was a brilliantly immersive read - if you watched Making A Murderer you'll probably like this - taking that type of premise as a starting point then taking the reader on a kind of ‘behind the scenes’ journey - focusing on Sam, obsessed with the subject to the point that she drops everything, moves to the States and ultimately marries him. Then, however, the campaign is successful and she's faced with living with a man she barely knows and who may not be as innocent as he seems. Through her we meet the television crew, the people from the hometown of the dead girl, various other involved parties and start to slowly uncover the genuine truth of the matter. What I loved about it was the way the author obfuscates her characters, making it hard to see realities but done in a very realistic manner.Dennis is a mass of contradictions, one moment you are full of sympathy for his plight, others you think "ooh this guy is dangerous" but until you reach the final pages you are never quite sure. Overall a really great, gripping, page turner of a read. You just want to know - I also thought the ending was cleverly thought provoking. Recommended.

reader review

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

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

Written with panache, the book skilfully captures the nature of obsession and its consequences, and culminates in a climax Patricia Highsmith would have admired.

Daily Mail

Deliciously tense and twisty.

The Sunday Times

Slick, smart and very timely, this confident debut will hook you in.

Sunday Mirror

Exquisitely subtle

Fully Booked

What a gripping, chilling book!

Words from a Reader blog

Deeply unsettling

The i

A talent for nail-biting fiction

Irish Independent

A grim and unbearably tense debut chiller with an unexpected and utterly fitting finale.

Kirkus Reviews

A compulsively readable thriller.

Booklist (Starred review)

I’m gripped

YOU Magazine online

Fans of Gone Girl, Serial and Making a Murderer will not be able to put this book down. I promise you all that!

Let's Start With This One Blog

Looking for a brand new author? Brit @amylloydwrites won the Daily Mail’s first novel contest with The Innocent Wife. Woman marries a man on death row. Then things get scary. Ending a total shock. Superb psychological suspense.

Lisa Gardner, author of Find Her and Right Behind You

A must read

I Love Reading This blog

Discover more

Video
The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd

Twenty years ago, Dennis Danson was imprisoned for the murder of a young girl. 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. Samantha is obsessed with Dennis's case. She exchanges letters with him, and is quickly won over by his apparent charm. Soon she has left her old life behind to marry him and campaign for his release. But when the campaign is successful and Dennis is freed, Sam begins to discover new details that suggest he may not be quite so innocent after all... Learn more - https://www.penguin.com.au/…/the-innocent-wife-9781780898438