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The Loving Husband: A Novel Kindle Edition

3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 150 ratings

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Be careful, Fran,” the man said quietly. “About what you think you know.”

In a dilapidated farmhouse out in the vast waterlogged plains of the English Fenlands, Fran awakes groggily to her baby’s cries one February night and finds the bed empty beside her. Her husband, Nathan, is gone.

Moving uneasily through the drafty rooms, searching for her husband, Fran soon makes a devastating discovery that upends her marriage and any semblance of safety. As she tries desperately to make sense of what happened to Nathan, Fran is forced to delve dangerously into the undercurrents of his claustrophobic hometown and question how well she knew him in the first place. Fran, increasingly isolated, grows paranoid—but Nathan isn’t the only one hiding something. Though she can’t tell a soul, Fran is shielding a damning secret of her own: a hazy, dreamlike memory from the night of Nathan’s disappearance that might be the key to it all.

From the bestselling author of
The Crooked House comes an utterly gripping psychological thriller spanning the traditions of Daphne du Maurier and S. J. Watson. Christobel Kent’s The Loving Husband is spooky and skillfully written, dragging readers deep into the unsettling world of the Fens and into a marriage of half-truths and past lives, where no one can be trusted—especially not your spouse.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kent is a champion plotter, using well-placed flashbacks to find interesting characters . . . The novel's slow-building resolution comes silently, engulfing you like quicksand." ―Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"With expert pacing, rising tension, revelatory flashbacks and a claustrophobic setting, Kent tells a grim and creepy tale that will inspire readers to continue turning the pages while simultaneously longing for a cleansing shower." ―Jay Strafford,
Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Thriller novels told from an unreliable point of view have been all the rage of late, but they would have to go to some lengths to top
The Loving Husband, which takes the plot device to new heights. . . If you like your mysteries served up with a main course of unreliability and a side of deception, you will love this story." ―Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com

"A creepy, addictive read." ―Booklist

"An emotionally charged mystery that will keep readers guessing until the final chapter." ―
Publishers Weekly

"The mystery is a slow-burn but is startlingly effective at this pace. . . a truly chilling, absorbing read." ―
Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Christobel Kent was born in London and grew up in London and Essex, including a stint on the Essex coast on a Thames barge with three siblings and four step-siblings, before reading English at Cambridge. She has worked in publishing and TEFL teaching, and has lived in Modena, in northern Italy, and in Florence. She has written several novels set in Italy, including The Drowning River and A Murder in Tuscany, and lives in Cambridge with her husband and five children.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01KTFI79G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sarah Crichton Books (March 14, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 14, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2826 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 418 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 150 ratings

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Christobel Kent
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Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
150 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2018
Familiar emotional undercurrents and the oh so gradual discoveries by protagonist Fran engage the reader in a cold landscape where dark suspicions lie. But this onion is so layered with nuance and history that the peeling becomes tedious and repetitious; a reader could feel the author misdirected ends teases tiresomely deliberately.
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2017
If you like your mysteries simple and straightforward, this is not the book for you. But if you like subtlety and nuance in your whodunit, you will love "The Loving (??) Husband." Also great use of the atmosphere of the Fens landscape in England.
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017
I have to admit that I had a hard time putting this mystery down, but in the end it was somewhat disappointing. It has a complicated plot and even after I finished it, I was left a bit confused about certain elements of what happened. It's hard to talk about the plot at all without spoilers, so suffice it to say that there are a lot of red herrings, and then you get near the very end and think it has been established "whodunit," and then the author reverses direction and it turns out someone else is guilty. The ending felt forced to me, and she very suddenly tied everything up in a way that I found too precipitous and confusing. There was something else in this novel that I found annoying, which is that phenomenon wherein a character in a book or movie does something really stupid such that the reader or viewer wants to yell: "Stop, don't do that!" One sees this a lot in horror films or mysteries where the lead character, for instance, enters the spooky house by him- or herself even thought s/he knows it isn't a good idea. In the case of this novel, the protagonist repeatedly fails to tell the police (even the very sympathetic female officer) some very important information which might have been helpful to them in catching the murderer. She also refuses to leave her house with her kids despite the fact that she is clearly in danger and is totally aware that she is. This novel squarely falls into the very popular current genre of "the husband seems like a nice guy, but he is not who he seems!" The author writes fairly well, and I think shows real promise, but this book, despite a rousing start, ended up disappointing. I will try her next one, though.
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017
This book was poorly written. Details were left out. The author bounced back and forth without any train of thought. On multiple occasions, I caught myself rereading something sure that I had missed something, only to find out that I hadn't. The ending, whilst unexpected, isn't a good one. Leaves you thinking "uhhh, what?" And not because you're surprised, but because you really have no clue what happened or why.

A good plot, would have loved to have read the same story written better by another author...
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2017
The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent is a suspenseful murder mystery set in a rural village in Great Britain.

Fran Hall lives with her husband Nathan and their two young children, four year old Emme and 3 month old Ben on a rundown farm close to where Nathan grew up. Since their move from London, Fran has become increasingly isolated as Nathan controls just about every aspect of their life. Awakening to discover Nathan missing from their bed, she makes a horrifying discovery when she finds his lifeless body in a ditch on their property. The investigators assigned to her case, DS Doug Gerard and DC Ed Carswell, are convinced Fran knows more than she is telling but does this mean she is a killer?

Fran was never overly thrilled with the move from London, but it seems like the best way to put her mistakes behind her. The farmhouse is isolated and somewhat dilapidated, but she is trying to make the best of the situation for her family’s sake. While Nathan has a thriving business that takes him away from home quite frequently and an active social life, Fran’s days revolve around her children and keeping the peace with her husband. It is not until Nathan is murdered that the inconsistencies in his life become more apparent and Fran is somewhat surprised to discover she does not much at all about the man she has shared her life with more than five years.

While DS Gerard and DS Carswell are initially solicitous when dealing with Fran, it does not take long for her to realize they are not on her side. She is not exactly forthcoming with all of the details of the night Nathan was murdered but under the circumstances, her hesitance is understandable. The only person involved in the investigation that she feels comfortable with is Family Liaison Officer DC Ali Compton. However, Fran is unsure she can completely trust Ali so she continues to maintain her silence about some of the events that occurred the night of Nathan’s murder.

Fran is horribly confused about the information that is uncovered during the investigation . As she reflects back on her relationship with Nathan, she begins to realize how isolated she has become. She also starts to recognize how much of herself she has given up over the years in order to keep Nathan happy. Fran is dismayed by her inability to answer basic questions about her husband’s business dealings or who he socializes with in his downtime. With every new clue that emerges, she cannot help but wonder about Nathan’s motivation for marrying her but the reason for his actions eludes Fran.

The Loving Husband is a suspense-laden domestic mystery that moves at a moderately fast pace. Christobel Kent cleverly keeps the killer’s identity and motive for the crime a closely guarded secret with brilliantly plotted twists and turns and a few well-paced red herrings. The novel comes to quite a stunning conclusion that is virtually impossible to predict. An absolutely riveting mystery that fans of the genre do not want to miss.

I received a complimentary copy for review.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017
Reading this book as we speak. It's compelling and exciting. I'd recommend it to those who love suspenseful books with a unique flavor.
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017
Author has potential, but this mystery was disjointed and characters were not credible. Plot seemed to be pieced together from stuff seen on TV dramas. Writing was not worthy of Oxford graduate with degree in English, which may reflect haste in drafting. Many scenes (diaper changing, baby nursing) were repeated over and over again. Some sentences were lacking verbs and objects. Jarring for the reader. My head hurt at times. This book could have used a good editor, obviously not present.
8 people found this helpful
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