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The Lover: The unputdownable, addictive new domestic thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE CLEANER
Not yet published
Expected 4 Jun 26A heart-pumping new psychological thriller about the dark side of love and obsession - an unmissable read for fans of Frieda McFadden, Lucy Foley and Jeneva Rose.
'Absolutely thrilling - kept me guessing until the end.' Edel Coffey, #1 bestselling author of Breaking Point
You never know what happens behind closed doors.
Rafe seems like your perfect man – intelligent, charming, attractive.
He also happens to be your boss.
You’re too swept up to care for office gossip. In Rafe, you have found the one.
You go back to his house one evening and falls asleep in his arms.
When you wake, you reach out for him. But something feels cold beside you…
Rafe is dead – murdered in bed as you lay next to him – and everyone is going to think you did it.
Everyone is talking about Mary
'Tight, tense, beautifully written - my favourite kind of thriller.' Kitty Murphy, author of the Dublin Drag Mysteries
'This book gets under your skin. An unputdownable thriller.' Jen Bray, author The Lies Between Us
'Absolutely thrilling - kept me guessing until the end.' Edel Coffey, #1 bestselling author of Breaking Point
You never know what happens behind closed doors.
Rafe seems like your perfect man – intelligent, charming, attractive.
He also happens to be your boss.
You’re too swept up to care for office gossip. In Rafe, you have found the one.
You go back to his house one evening and falls asleep in his arms.
When you wake, you reach out for him. But something feels cold beside you…
Rafe is dead – murdered in bed as you lay next to him – and everyone is going to think you did it.
Everyone is talking about Mary
'Tight, tense, beautifully written - my favourite kind of thriller.' Kitty Murphy, author of the Dublin Drag Mysteries
'This book gets under your skin. An unputdownable thriller.' Jen Bray, author The Lies Between Us
Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 4, 2026
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 24, 2026
Review of ‘The Lover’ by Mary Watson, due to be published on 4 June 2026 by Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam.
This story finds Hallie, recently returned to her hometown in Ireland, except things aren’t going like a dream as she is one written warning away from losing her job and no one is listening to her pleading her case that someone has been sabotaging her work. Following her break up with the director of her workplace, Rafe, convinced he is the one derailing her, she files a grievance against him before finding herself in a perilous situation she believes he has orchestrated.
When Rafe is murdered on the night he reconciles with Hallie, it’s clear everyone thinks she did it, leaving her fighting to find out the truth of what happened to clear her name.
Characters and storylines are well developed, the pages are full of tension, mystery and intrigue along with a healthy drip feeding of backstory and revelations.
From the best selling author of ‘The Cleaner’ this book does not disappoint. It’s full of red herrings, it twists and turns and leads you to draw a conclusion only to turn the theory on its head and get you guessing again. I did not see that ending coming!
This story finds Hallie, recently returned to her hometown in Ireland, except things aren’t going like a dream as she is one written warning away from losing her job and no one is listening to her pleading her case that someone has been sabotaging her work. Following her break up with the director of her workplace, Rafe, convinced he is the one derailing her, she files a grievance against him before finding herself in a perilous situation she believes he has orchestrated.
When Rafe is murdered on the night he reconciles with Hallie, it’s clear everyone thinks she did it, leaving her fighting to find out the truth of what happened to clear her name.
Characters and storylines are well developed, the pages are full of tension, mystery and intrigue along with a healthy drip feeding of backstory and revelations.
From the best selling author of ‘The Cleaner’ this book does not disappoint. It’s full of red herrings, it twists and turns and leads you to draw a conclusion only to turn the theory on its head and get you guessing again. I did not see that ending coming!
February 23, 2026
4.5 rounded up to 5
Hallie moves back to her small Irish hometown after a breakup from her longtime boyfriend (Calvin). The town where he grew up, and ends up there too. Getting a job in a museum where she starts, and ends, a relationship with the museum director Rafe. He doesn’t take it well and she feels targeted by him at work, so has started a grievance against him. This isn’t helped by all the past that surrounds her including Calvin’s friends and Rafe’s ex-wife and daughter. When Rafe is found dead in bed with Hallie sleeping next to him her life spirals further. As the obvious suspect and seemingly being frame she is not sure who she can trust and starts to fear for her life.
Hallie is the narrator, giving us snippets of her past as well as her present. Scattered throughout are interviews with colleagues from the grievance case. These had me questioning whether she was an unreliable narrator. This was a well written thriller that had me guessing throughout.
Hallie moves back to her small Irish hometown after a breakup from her longtime boyfriend (Calvin). The town where he grew up, and ends up there too. Getting a job in a museum where she starts, and ends, a relationship with the museum director Rafe. He doesn’t take it well and she feels targeted by him at work, so has started a grievance against him. This isn’t helped by all the past that surrounds her including Calvin’s friends and Rafe’s ex-wife and daughter. When Rafe is found dead in bed with Hallie sleeping next to him her life spirals further. As the obvious suspect and seemingly being frame she is not sure who she can trust and starts to fear for her life.
Hallie is the narrator, giving us snippets of her past as well as her present. Scattered throughout are interviews with colleagues from the grievance case. These had me questioning whether she was an unreliable narrator. This was a well written thriller that had me guessing throughout.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews