The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd

Book Review

"She felt suddenly very alone, as though the person she married had never existed and she had woken up to a life she didn't recognise, in the middle of a story she didn't understand."

The Innocent Wife is out now in eBook format and will be released in hardback on December 28th 2017. It is written by Amy Lloyd and published by Century.

This is quite a timely book, considering the popularity of Making a Murderer. And the plot involves a similar premise, with a documentary crew making a film about Dennis Danson being convicted of murder at 18 on very little evidence. This really attracted my attention; I'm always a  bit fascinated by these did he/didn't he crimes. I'm also fascinated by the men and women who write to criminals on death row and end up dedicating their life to them. So The Innocent Wife felt like a sure hit with me. But, while I did enjoy it, I thought it lost momentum in the middle and didn't delve as deep as I wanted it to.

BLURB

Twenty years ago Dennis Danson was arrested for the brutal murder of Holly Michaels in Florida’s Red River County. Now he’s the subject of a Making a Murderer-style true crime documentary that’s taking the world by storm – the filmmakers are whipping up a frenzy of coverage to uncover the truth and free the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice.

Samantha may be thousands of miles away in Britain, but she is as invested in Dennis’s case as any of his lawyers. Perhaps even more so, as her letters to the convicted killer grow ever more intimate. Soon she is leaving her life behind to marry Danson and campaign, as his wife, for his release.

But when the campaign is successful, and Dennis is freed, events begin to suggest that he may not be so innocent after all. How many girls went missing in Red River, and what does Dennis really know?

I was hoping that The Innocent Wife would dive into the psychology behind Sam's obsession with a convicted murderer. But for me it felt rather shallow; insecure woman, feels ugly, bad luck with men, drinks for confidence, never really fits in etc, it doesn't really go much deeper than that into Sam's personality.

Also, Sam is not particularly likable; she's a bit pathetic with doormat qualities. I don't have to love a character to be invested but I did find her irritating and didn't feel there was enough to her to really connect.

Still, for the first third of the book I was gripped and the exchange of letters and their slightly awkward first meeting read well. Amy Lloyd is rather adept at writing an awkward scene, especially juxtaposing between Sam's romantic imaginings and the reality.

Dennis is an interesting character and I feel Lloyd tackled him well, not revealing too much and allowing his true personality to come through slowly. A little too slowly though. This is one of my issues with The Innocent Wife in that it starts off well but once Dennis is out of prison it really slows down and becomes a little boring. It follows Sam and Dennis going about their new lives with neither of them really knowing what to do and trying to connect. I get that Lloyd is trying to instill growing tension and uncertainty, but there is a bit too much waffle and it actually becomes pretty dull, only to then rush the ending.  I did like the ending though, even though I guessed a few aspects.

Ultimately, I think there are some really great section in The Innocent Wife but that it doesn't quite get the pacing or depth of characters right. It's a really interesting read though, especially for those interested in true crime and prisoner relationships.

My Rating: 3 Stars

I received a copy of The Innocent Wife, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

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