The Guilty Couple - C.L. Taylor

Reading Challenge Category: Free ARC from NetGalley

Official Blurb:

What would you do if your husband framed you for murder?
Five years ago, Olivia Sutherland was convicted of plotting to murder her husband.
Now she’s finally free, Olivia has three goals. Repair her relationship with her daughter. Clear her name. And bring down her husband – the man who framed her.
Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her?
Because his lies run deeper than Olivia could ever have imagined – and this time it’s not her freedom that’s in jeopardy, but her life…

My Thoughts:

I’ve read a few books lately where a criminal has been released from prison and is trying to clear their name. This is probably the best of the bunch in terms of reintroducing the ex-con to the world again. However, it didn’t quite grip me, and I found the reason for Olivia being framed and Dominic’s actions quite weak.
The book is relatively fast-paced, and there is some heart in the mouth moments. Taylor’s high standard of writing certainly prevailed for the majority of the book. I liked how strong Olivia was; she wasn’t backing down; she took risks and wasn’t portrayed as a woman no one believed. She had people supporting her, and this was a refreshing change.
Dani was a strange character; how on earth did she manage to be a police officer and a personal trainer? It was like the author wanted this person to be two different people but stuck them into one body. I understood she needed to have a profession that would make it possible to entrap Olivia. She also needed to be on the force for inside information and access to databases. However, it just didn’t make sense. Whenever I’ve read crime novels following a detective, they don’t have time to sleep, never-mind have a full-blown second job! Also, her lack of funds made no sense with having two jobs. Surely she had the second job in the first place to make herself better off, but she couldn’t rub two pennies together; she was so broke!
My main gripe with the story was Dominic; why did he wait five years for Olivia to be released for him to carry out the plan he’d had before Olivia was imprisoned? He would have gotten away with much more had she not been running around trying to prove her innocence. She scuppered his plans, but she wouldn’t have had he executed them while she was still inside.
The story was very unbelievable, and the ending left me exasperated. We aren’t really told how Olivia ended up being framed for trying to kill her husband. We don’t even know how the attempted murder took place. Was she caught in some act, or had she hired someone, and was there a paper trail? We are left with a lot of questions and not enough answers.
So even though the book had some good moments and was relatively fast-paced, and I got through it quickly, it was a disappointing read from this author. She only brings one book out a year, and I always highly anticipate them. So, for this to be such a let-down was a double whammy as I’d gone into it thinking it would be a sure thing in terms of good reading.
This certainly wasn’t the best Cally Taylor book I’ve read, I’ve loved all of her other books, but this was mediocre. So just three stars from me.