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THE INNOCENT WIFE 

Amy Lloyd 

I loved this book. It's hard not to after all, it's about a serial killer, it has twists, plenty of suspense and tension and great characters. But what I really loved was how immensely psychologically thrilling this novel was. The chills, the shivers, the unnerving atmosphere and the sinister threats are all conveyed effortlessly and effectively but what makes this novel stand out within the genre is that it also explores and examines themes of obsession, love, power and self esteem. As soon as I had finished the last page I was desperate to talk to someone about this book. I loved how stunned, breathless and impressed I was by the end and all of this had been established through masterful characterisation.

The premise feels like a authentic true crime documentary or something we could easily read about in the Sunday papers. Dennis Danson is on Death Row for the murder of a young girl in Florida's Red River County. He's the subject of a true-crime documentary that is trying to prove he has been wrongly convicted. In England, Sam becomes obsessed with Dennis's case and after a short period of exchanging letters, she leaves her own life behind to marry him and campaign for his release. But the more she investigates, the more she begins to wonder if he is in fact as innocent as she once believed.

Although this is a story about solving a murder, it's also a story about motivation and character. What makes this story so appealing is that the reader is intrigued by Sam's behaviour, immediately concerned for her recklessness in giving everything up, moving across the Atlantic to meet a man who awaits death for committing a terrible crime. The reader is also desperate to meet this Dennis and make their own mind up about whether we agree with Sam's judgement and belief he is innocent. What is so gripping is the interaction between Dennis and Sam, the way their situation escalates and how quickly Sam finds herself caught up within something that is too big, too much and more overwhelming than she anticipated. 

Sam is a fantastic character. At the beginning she is so plain, normal, seemingly forgettable, a bit sad and someone who makes misguided choices. Gradually as the novel continues to develop, this preconception is challenged as more and more is implied and suggested until the reader is unsure which character is the most unhinged or dangerous. From the outset there are clues that Sam is vulnerable, susceptible and with a tendency to obsess. She finds out about Dennis from watching a TV show and before long he is occupying her 'waking thoughts and lingering on the edge of her dreams'. She joins online groups and devours every detail about his case that she can, desperate to uncover something that will prove his innocence. She has been won over by the image of troubled eighteen year old boy and the man he has become after twenty years in prison. 

Lloyd's writing is clever. The repetition of 'understand', 'understood' and 'different' when Sam and Dennis exchange letters reveals how vulnerable Sam is and how she aligns herself with Dennis by identifying with his isolation and loneliness. Her letters refer to 'them' and 'us' which highlights how excluded she is and how she has somehow imagined a connection between them which Dennis wastes no time in grabbing and developing. Sam is fed up with being the 'consolation prize', the 'black sheep', and having been recently badly treated in a relationship she identifies with something of the 'unfairness' in Dennis's case, despite they are such different contexts and such different situations, it's clever the way Lloyd shows that it is this sense of 'injustice' and being treated unfairly that pushes Sam and Dennis closer together. It's this psychology behind the relationship and the motivation of each character which I found so intriguing - as well as so engaging with a growing sense of foreboding.

 Sam and Dennis are introduced to the reader quickly and the story moves at a good pace. Lloyd's skill is in revealing the characters quickly, yet using a few key details of key words to imply much more. We learn more about Dennis from the police reports, online forums and the journalist Sam meets which is really effective, it is only when we see a few of his handwritten letters to Sam that we can begin to put together any of our thoughts about whether we believe in his innocence or not. I was totally intrigued by the motivations of Sam and Dennis at this stage; who really needs who, who is exploiting who and who is more in control. There's such a psychological complexity hidden beneath this exchange of letters that goes beyond just a good storyline of a woman marrying a man she's never met who is on Death Row. 

I liked how the real facts of the case - or at least the reported facts of the case - were drip fed to the reader through extracts from a book about the murder and the conversations between the journalists involved in making a new documentary. Lloyd is allowing the reader to put the pieces together and make their own minds up. We are at the mercy of unreliable reporters, biased friends and unreliable narrators and this makes it an even more exciting and captivating read. 

I loved the part of the novel when Sam is in America, able to only to visit Dennis for such a short period each week and so most of her day she remains alone; drifting, purposeless and pitiable. There are some great questions about what happens when you achieve the dream you were chasing, when you meet the man you've fallen in love with just from reading about him and the odd letter and what whether that connection you were so convinced about really exists. I was completely convinced by the interaction between Dennis and Sam the entire time and found that I just could not turn away from Sam's situation. 

On Dennis's release the novel steps up in pace, drama, tension and suspense. Things start to change and the sense of threat, confusion, fear and intensity increase. I literally did not look up from the pages until I had finished the last sentence. I loved the exploration of power, control, obsession and also I was fascinated by the behaviour of a man released back into society and the effect this has on his reintegration. Lloyd also captures the adjustment of a man who has slept in a cell for twenty years adapts to suddenly sharing his space with his new wife - who is essentially a stranger. I thought all these added details were insightful and really added depth, authenticity and interest to the novel. 

I really enjoyed Lloyd's use of repetition of key words and also of key images. The reference to lacing fingers, holidng hands, fingers slipping from each other was very effective. Lloyd is a skilful writer who can employ literary techniques to enhance her storytelling and characterisation. I enjoyed her use of glimpses and inferred comments which help to create tension and atmosphere. The use of dialogue is powerful, the inclusion of 'extracts' is effective and adds to the illusion that this could be a true crime documentary. It all made the story more vivid and alive. 

Amy Lloyd has written an original and utterly compelling story about a woman whose obsession with a man on death row who she believes to be innocent, takes her on a psychologically terrifying ride. This book is the perfect psychological thriller. With each page the reliability of the narrator becomes more questionable and the warning signs, the unsettling truth, the sense of danger comes more heightened. I honestly feel bereft now that I've finished it and can't wait to spend 2018 talking about this fantastic novel. 

The Innocent Wife was published by Random House on the 28th December 2017. 

*My thanks to the publisher for an advance copy via NetGalley and also to Anne Cater for letting me join in the Blog Tour!* 

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