Marriage Thriller

Ten years ago he killed my son. Today I married him. Ten years ago my darling son Jesse was murdered and our perfect family was destroyed. My strong, handsome boy, so full of life, became a memory, a photo I carried with me everywhere. But today I’m finally close to finding happiness again. My ash-blonde hair has been curled into ringlets. Carefully placed white flowers frame my delicate features. The small, drab chapel has been prettied up with white satin, and there are tiny red hearts scattered on the small table where I will soon sign the register with my new husband.

On a warm spring evening, guests gather in a perfectly manicured garden to celebrate Maggie and Len’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Maggie leans against the apple tree, watching her fun-loving husband and darling children as her heart swells with pride. As the joyful party atmosphere disappears into the night, close by, the lifeless body of a young woman is pulled from a river. Slipping upstairs to find the special gift for her adoring husband, Maggie stumbles across something else hidden amongst the dusty boxes of family keepsakes.

Faye Townsend has planned the perfect summer trip for her family. But returning to the small seaside town her husband grew up in does not go to plan - the rain pours, and the long days become stifling. And then the unthinkable happens.... Her husband, Jake, and her six-year-old son, Dylan, go for an early morning walk along the beautiful, windswept clifftops. They don’t come back.

Karla watches silently as Jason hurriedly packs his belongings into a suitcase. She knows that her stillness is unnerving him as she watches his every move from the doorway of their bedroom. "I’ve fallen in love with someone else", he’d said to her, just moments earlier. The brutality of those words hit Karla hard and she struggled to breathe as she took in each word in turn. You may think you know what Karla will do next. But you’ll be wrong. Because Karla isn't who you think she is. Only she knows what's about to happen. And you will never see it coming.

From John Marrs, the bestselling author of The One. Set in the same world, and narrated by a full cast, The Marriage Act is a dark, high-concept thriller. ‘One of the most exciting original thriller writers’ - Simon Kernick, author of Good Cop Bad Cop What if marriage was the law? Dare you...

When Kirsten Harbourn is found strangled on her wedding day, DI Wesley Peterson makes some alarming discoveries. Kirsten was being pursued by a stalker, and she had dark secrets her fiancé knew nothing about. But Kirsten's wasn't the only wedding planned to take place that day. At Morbay register office a terrified young girl makes her wedding vows, but a few days later her bridegroom is found dead. Wesley suspects that his death and his bride's subsequent disappearance might be linked to Kirsten's murder.

My best friend warned me that it was too soon to marry Edward, a widower with an adorable but troubled little boy. She said we were moving too fast. But all I could see was a kind, loving man, struggling with grief, who needed my help. Yet as storm clouds gather above our small wedding ceremony, my hopes and dreams fall apart. None of my husband’s family turns up to support us. Instead of a honeymoon, we have a quiet night in. My wedding bouquet is placed on his first wife’s grave. And then my new stepson tells me he’s sure his mother is still alive.

Fiona Fisher lives a quiet and contented existence. A former nurse who married Jason, the doctor of her dreams, she is now a mother to his two daughters and living in the sort of cosy village home she’d always wished for.

Rafe Montclair is the ruthless billionaire about to destroy my company. The only way to stop it? Become his wife and pretend to love the man I hate. He’s tall, charming, and speaks three languages. But where I value craftsmanship, he shuts down century-old workshops for profit. I can’t let him do the same to my fashion house. So I’ll wear his giant ring and spend the summer in his Lake Como villa, but I plan to drive him insane. I drink too much champagne, swim in his fountain, and steal shirts from his closet.

Los Angeles homicide detective Dinah Marino may have a complicated relationship with her family, but her psychiatrist husband, Joe, makes her feel safe, secure, and happy. She couldn’t want for a more loving or trusting man. But throughout their ten-year marriage, she’s been keeping a secret from him—a secret she’d take to the grave. Dr. Joe Marino loves his wife more than anything in this world, but there are things he’s learned to keep close to the chest—including a few dead bodies.

After my beautiful daughter Annabelle died in a tragic accident, I thought I would never recover. With my world in pieces, my husband Matthew did what he could to support me and our son, Noah. He hired a young woman, Reka, to help us at home, to be the mother for Noah that I couldn’t be. She cares for him like he’s her own.

It feels like all the air has been knocked out of me. My best friend is dead, killed at her own daughter’s birthday party. All I want to do is run into my husband’s loving arms. But he’s in handcuffs, covered in her blood. His voice quivers, almost sobbing as officers put him in the police car. ‘You don’t think I did this, do you? I was trying to save her.’ At first, I’m sure he couldn’t have done it. The man I love wouldn’t hurt anyone. But as I try to prove that he didn’t murder Lucy, secrets begin unravelling…

Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple. Alice, once a singer in a well-known rock band, is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in an up-and-coming psychology practice. Their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice's prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as the Pact. The goal of the Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact.

Social media influencer Crystabel Hughes is determined her wedding to Giles Preston Smythe will be the talk of the town. No matter the cost or the upset, nothing will stop this wedding! But for Alexi Ellis and the rest of the staff at Hopgood Hall, Crystabel’s demands are becoming increasingly extreme. And when Alexi spots the groom getting up close and personal with one of the bridesmaids, she fears trouble is only a bouquet toss away.

Lexi "Lynx" Sabado is no stranger to stressful situations. She can handle the fact that the CIA won't let her divorce her previously presumed dead husband. She can even figure out a way to legally marry ex-NAVY SEAL Striker Rheas, the love of her life. But when an old friend shows up at a very inopportune moment and asks Striker and Lexi for help, she wonders how much more she can take. The Pentagon is relying on her to stop a world-changing crisis.

My husband, Marcus, and I used to be so in love. But now, after ten years together, we barely talk. I've seen so many of our friends marriages end in divorce, and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to stop that from happening to us. And then I meet Erin. She tells me all about her perfect marriage to Kieran, and I'm shocked when she reveals the secret to their marital bliss they have an open marriage. My heart starts to race as I consider it for me and Marcus. Could we really do this?

A COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER ** A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK ** 'If you liked Mr & Mrs Smith, you'll love this' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'Darkly funny and clever' KATY BRENT 'Sexy, stylish, thrilling. A razor-sharp tale of marriage and murder' CHRIS WHITAKER 'Your sassy, twisted...

Newly minted celebrant and camper van aficionado Daphne Jones pulls up in the charming town of Little Bridges, ready to officiate the wedding of Steve Tanning and Lisa Brooker. But when Steve is murdered just minutes after saying "I do", Daphne finds herself taking on a whole new role: amateur sleuth. The tension between the two families was apparent from the outset. As emotions escalate, Daphne soon learns why: Steve is the third Tanning man Lisa has married, and now the third to die in mysterious circumstances.

Miss Sarah Hughes has long accepted her fate as the dustiest spinster on the shelf in Plumpton—until a local landowner is found dead, and suspicion falls on her father. Determined to protect her family, Sarah is drawn into village gossip, family secrets, and one extremely inconvenient alliance: a fake courtship with the Earl of Ashford.

My husband is a handsome and successful businessman. He charms everyone he meets, including me. I’m madly in love with him and I believe we will grow old together in our beautiful, renovated farmhouse in the countryside. Until one rainy evening when I discover his secret: I watch as he steps into the arms of another woman. The truth is like a punch to my gut. But what comes next is even worse. I notice the gold wedding band on her finger and I hear him say, ‘I missed you, wifey.’