It’s far too long since I featured lovely Jackie Kabler on Linda’s Book Bag and I’m delighted to be reviewing her latest book The Perfect Couple today. My enormous thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in this tour.

Previously I’ve introduced Jackie’s The Dead Dog Day here, reviewed The Deadline here, revealed the cover for The Development (complete with my quotation on the front) here and helped launch Jackie’s less cosy Am I Guilty? (which is still on my TBR) here.

Published by Harper Collins imprint, One More Chapter, on 17th April 2020, The Perfect Couple is available for purchase through these links.

The Perfect Couple

The perfect couple … or the perfect lie?

A year and a half ago, Gemma met the love of her life, Danny. Since then, their relationship has been like something out of a dream. But one Friday evening, Gemma returns home to find Danny is nowhere to be seen.

After two days with no word from her husband, Gemma turns to the police. She is horrified by what she discovers – a serial killer is on the loose in Bristol. When she sees the photos of the victims she is even more stunned … they all look just like Danny.

But the police aren’t convinced by Gemma’s story. Why has no one apart from Gemma seen or heard from Danny in weeks? Why is there barely a trace of him in their flat? Is she telling them the truth, or are there more secrets and lies in this marriage than meets the eye?

My Review of The Perfect Couple

Gemma’s return home finds husband Danny missing.

Oh my. I absolutely loved The Perfect Couple because it’s so cleverly written, totally compelling and brilliantly plotted being part police procedural and part psychological thriller. Throughout, I was simply unable to stop reading The Perfect Couple because I needed to know what would happen next and whether my theories and predictions would be proved correct. They weren’t. Jackie Kabler kept me guessing all the way through The Perfect Couple and entertained me flawlessly at the same time so that I finished the book feeling as if I’d had a smashing, all-consuming read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the structure of the book. The third person police sections were perfectly balance by Gemma’s first person accounts so that I was never sure how much of her part of the narrative was true. I found character actions and direct speech natural and convincing so that it felt as if this was an account of real people who held me in their thrall.

Whilst Gemma is obviously the central character and the one we find out most about, I thought all those featured had a human and engaging quality. I’d love to see the police team featured in future novels. What I found so interesting was the rationale for character actions as much as what those actions were. Jackie Kabler is exploring human nature extremely convincingly within the narrative.

I am unable to say too much about other themes as to do so might undermine or spoil The Perfect Couple for others, but the sense of justice, of the role of social media, the depth to which we really know those around us, loyalty and so on that echo throughout make for such a rounded book that I was incredibly impressed.

I was completely spellbound by The Perfect Couple. Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Jackie Kabler’s lighter writing I was expecting to be entertained, but The Perfect Couple exceeded all my expectations and I recommend it wholeheartedly. It’s a cracking story.

About Jackie Kabler

Jackie Kabler is the author of the Cora Baxter Mysteries, a series of murder mysteries set in a television newsroom. Jackie worked as a newspaper reporter and then in television news for twenty years, including nearly a decade on GMTV. She later appeared on BBC and ITV news, presented a property show for Sky, hosted sports shows on Setanta Sports News and worked as a media trainer for the Armed Forces. She is now a presenter on shopping channel QVC. Jackie lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, who is a GP.

You can follow Jackie on Twitter @jackiekabler, visit her website and find her on Instagram.

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