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The Optician's Wife

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The Optician's Wife

By: Betsy Reavley
Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
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About this listen

Can you ever really know someone? When Deborah, an unpopular 17-year-old, meets the charming and handsome Larry, he sweeps her off her feet. The trouble is, Larry has a secret. Then a series of grisly murders casts a shadow over everything. As Deborah's world starts to fall apart, she begins to suspect the man she loves of a terrible betrayal. And to keep their marriage alive, sacrifices must be made. The Optician's Wife is a compelling psychological thriller that unpacks what goes on behind closed doors and reminds us that sometimes the worst crimes can take place closer to home than you think.

©2016 Betsy Reavley (P)2016 Tantor Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Psychological Thriller Thriller & Suspense Marriage Suspense Scary

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Critic reviews

"The Optician's Wife is a stylish, brilliantly crafted thriller which really delivers. A very real sense of creeping dread, combined with intelligent, finely drawn characters, had me turning the pages late into the night." (J. Ross, bestselling author of The DCI Ryan books)
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I really liked this story. It took me a while to get on with the woman's voice but I ended up thinking it suited her character so much. I liked how raw and honest it was with unexpected twists and turns. Would definitely read more from this author!

uniquely riveting

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This book had me hooked from the start and kept me entertained until the very end.
I usually guess the twist or the predictable ending to whatever audiobook Im listening to - not this time, which was a nice change. Little bonus shocker at the end too!

What a gem!

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A strange book that’s neither fish nor fowl. The blurb suggests it’s a serial killer crime story, but for the majority of the book the murders are just a sketchy background thread. Instead, this novel is really a study of the life of its protagonist.

We first meet Deborah as a shy, unpopular, put-upon teenager navigating her dull, lonely existence and grieving the loss of her mother. The appearance of Larry, a confident and good looking 20-something changes her world beyond recognition, and we follow the oddly mismatched couple into married adulthood and increasingly murky, questionable life choices.

The psychological portrait of Deborah is compelling, as her co-dependent relationship with her husband becomes more insular and sinister - even as she is gradually revealed to be an unreliable narrator with a capacity for moral ambiguity and sudden, dark impulses.

The audio narrator is brilliant at giving voice to Deborah, but it’s a shame some of the other characterisations - mostly the men - fall short. Larry is particularly distracting, as he appears to be Toast of London, and Dee’s arch nemesis, Mark, sounds closer to a suave Bond villain than the boorish, working class bully he’s clearly supposed to be.

There were some evocative passages (being an 80s teen, living in poverty, domestic abuse, postnatal depression), but in the end I was left wondering what the point of the whole thing was. The denouement was really not a surprise at all and the story seemed to amount to a description of damaged, unpleasant, dysfunctional people living a dull, grinding life and doing horrible things.

Throughout there are lots of none-too-subtle nods to the life and crimes of a certain grisly Gloucestershire couple, which begs the question: why the need for a fictionalised version of people whose vile acts and psychological co-dependency are already so well documented?

Weird hybrid

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Feel like I've heard this story before though this is set in Cambridge, not Gloucester

Fred and Rose vibes

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This is not really my kind of book, I like crime books but with nothing to read, plus I saw a couple of good reviews I thought why not!!

Excellent book, narrator not bad,overall worth reading!

Right to the very end,

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I actually liked this story a lot. And a real good twist at the end. Definitely worth a listen.

basically a Rose and Fred West story

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I did not expect that you'll understand what I mean if you listen to this story. definitely worth a listen.

Omg.

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Great story ,wonderful narrator, edge of seat listening, could not put it down
i highly recommend this book

Absolutely brilliant

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Never written a review until now. If you want something a bit different and a brilliant story read this book. Really enjoyed this from start to finish. It can be quite dark at times but this just adds to the story.

Amazing

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By far the least likeable protagonist I have ever read. Absolutely zero redeeming qualities, so much so I was rooting for her downfall from the first chapter

Not great…

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