Mystery• Thriller

Review: The Not So Happy Couple by Emily Shiner

October 30, 2026

Synopsis:

It was their happily ever after. Until they found the body…

I’ve been playing the perfect wife to Bradley for a year now, cooking dinner every night and making sure his suits are pressed just the way he likes them. This weekend, we’re taking a trip on his yacht for our anniversary.

But on board, a dead body is laid across the rumpled sheets in the master bedroom.

My husband stares intently at the dead woman on our bed. Then I see something flicker across Bradley’s face.

That’s when it hits my husband recognises this woman…

But I can’t admit that I do, too.

She was pretty when I knew her. That was years ago. Now, are all the secrets I thought I’d kept tightly locked up about to come tumbling out?

Review:

The title of the book already gave a hint about what to expect, and the opening chapter made it clear instantly that it was anything but sunshine and rainbows. I was eagerly looking forward to it.

A couple spending their anniversary on his yacht sounded like a great idea on paper, until it became clear that Marissa was not a fan of open water. Bradley going ahead with it anyway, while also hiding the fact that a storm was approaching, showed just how messy their relationship was beneath the surface. When they find a body and neither of them has any idea how it got there, things start to get really interesting. They both claim not to know the person in front of them, but why are they denying it?
Adding mysterious letters from the past and a third POV to the mix creates an explosive combination.

For the first two-thirds of the book, I was completely hooked. It was obvious that many of the events were foreshadowing a darker past, plenty of secrets, and a marriage that may have looked healthy on the surface but felt more like one of convenience. Watching them lie to each other and uncover new truths along the way was a lot of fun. The initially anonymous letters were designed to mislead me, and once everything finally made sense, the pieces came together nicely.

The final part was where things felt slightly rushed and a bit over the top for me. I am aware that this is a work of fiction, but I think a little less would have made for a more fitting ending. That is, of course, just my personal preference.
Overall, this was an engaging story that kept me invested from the very first page.

🌙 Recension: The Not So Happy Couple by Emily Shiner
📚 Genre: Mystery, Thriller
📅 Release Date: October 30, 2026
📖 Publisher: Bookouture
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle+
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 302
⭐️ 3.5/5