The Perfect Life - Valerie Keogh

Reading Challenge Category: Free from Kindle Unlimited

Official Blurb:

A London woman’s weekend getaway sets in motion a disorienting series of events that will unravel her perfect life in this suspenseful domestic noir.
Molly Chatwell has a good job, a beautiful family, and a charming house in London. It all seems so perfect. But when her two children leave for university, Molly is overcome by a sense of emptiness. Determined to get out of her rut, she decides to go on a weekend trip with a few friends—even if her husband is too busy to join her.
When Molly returns home, she is certainly a changed woman. The trip was a nightmare that she desperately wants to forget. But when the police arrive at her door and tell her that a body has been found with connections to her, Molly realises that her all-too-perfect life is about to come apart at the seams.

My Thoughts:

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. Mainly as it really captured my attention, and I just couldn’t put it down to go to sleep. That hasn’t happened in quite some time.
I’d seen a couple of Valerie Keogh’s books on NetGalley but never gotten around to requesting them to give her a try, so when I was trawling through Kindle Unlimited, I saw many of her books on there, so I decided to give her a go. The premise of this one stood out from all the rest as something a little bit different, and it certainly was.
There is plenty of intrigue, suspicion and twists throughout this book, and it really keeps you gripped to the story. I didn’t see any of the reasons for what was happening coming, and it all took me by surprise. I was pleasantly shocked by all of the outcomes and the ending.
Molly was a bit annoying in that she outwardly appeared like a together person with a high flying job, but she made some very questionable decisions. She often acted like a little girl lost, which I found hard to pair with the successful woman she was. I just wanted to handcuff her to the sofa, so she stopped wandering all over flipping London by Tube and putting her life at risk.
I was swept away by the story, but when I looked back and reflected on it as a whole, a few minor plot holes didn’t add up when everything was revealed. Such as why did Scott have to meet her in person, why couldn’t he tell her over the phone or even go to her house? What he had to say wasn’t all that clandestine that it couldn’t have been said over the phone. It was a ruse by the author to give her character a reason to leave the house, and it was a little weak and frustrating.
So, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it while reading, but when I started to break down all the why’s, and how’s, it did drop a little bit to a still solid four-star read. I will definitely still be trying some more of this author’s books, and next time I see her on NetGalley, I’ll be hitting that request button!

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