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rachhenderson's review against another edition
4.0
It's almost exactly three years since I read the first Joseph O'Loughlin book, ([b:Suspect|477362|Suspect (Joseph O'Loughlin, #1)|Michael Robotham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361387524l/477362._SY75_.jpg|2321023]), and it's interesting to go back and read all of my reviews. The series definitely got stronger as it went along.
There are some great things about this one:
1. It's focussed on Joe but still includes a good amount of his buddy, Vincent.
2. Neither Joe or Vincent allow any teenage girls associated with the case to move in with them.
3. Joe doesn't let his daughters help investigate.
4. The police consistently and continuously tell Joe to stay out of the case.
So the believability level is a lot higher than most of the other books.
In this book, Joe is called to the hospital after his father is bashed unconscious, only to find a women claiming to be his father's second wife at his bedside. Joe quickly comes to discover that his father is not the man he thought he was.
A good mystery, easy to keep turning the pages, I'll miss Joe and Vincent but maybe they'll turn up again in one of Robotham's Cyrus Haven books.
4.5 stars rounded down
There are some great things about this one:
1. It's focussed on Joe but still includes a good amount of his buddy, Vincent.
2. Neither Joe or Vincent allow any teenage girls associated with the case to move in with them.
3. Joe doesn't let his daughters help investigate.
4. The police consistently and continuously tell Joe to stay out of the case.
So the believability level is a lot higher than most of the other books.
In this book, Joe is called to the hospital after his father is bashed unconscious, only to find a women claiming to be his father's second wife at his bedside. Joe quickly comes to discover that his father is not the man he thought he was.
A good mystery, easy to keep turning the pages, I'll miss Joe and Vincent but maybe they'll turn up again in one of Robotham's Cyrus Haven books.
4.5 stars rounded down
desterman's review against another edition
3.0
'The Other Wife' is Robotham's 9th novel featuring criminal psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin and it seems it will be his last featuring this character. Joe is now a widower, trying to look after his daughters and deal with the ever increasing terrible side effects of his Parkinson’s disease. He’s dragged into another criminal case when he receives a call from the hospital to say that his father, William, a brilliant and celebrated surgeon, has been brutally attacked and is in a coma. When Joe arrives at the hospital, he finds a woman at his father’s bedside. The problem is, it is not Joe’s mother Mary, William’s wife of sixty years, but another woman who claims she is his other wife. There are so many questions arising from this situation: Is this woman who she says she is? Who attacked William and why? Could he really have been leading a double life? The more Joe digs, the more questions get thrown up, as he discovers much about his father he would rather not have known.
The novel explores the lies we tell ourselves and others by questioning how well you can really ever know someone. It offers a consideration of families and the relationships between parents and their children. I liked the way it conveyed the changing nature of how one views a parent, morphing over time, in good ways and bad, as the child gathers more experience and perspective.
I’m a huge fan of Robotham. I genuinely think he is one of the finest crime writers around, and I’ve enjoyed all of his Joseph O’Loughlin novels. That said, despite the interesting premise, I felt this one fell a bit flat. The story moved along at a nice pace, with the usual twists and turns that keep you second guessing where the story is headed the whole time. I think the thing I found difficult was that William is revealed to be such an awful man that I didn’t have much sympathy for him, and thus, found myself not really caring whether the identity and motivation of his attacker was uncovered or not. I also found Joe to be infuriating in his actions. He’s always been a little daring and foolhardy, but with so much emphasis on his increasing poor physical health and his sense of devotion to his daughters, particularly his youngest, who is clearly not coping since her mother’s death, at times he was straight out reckless. He gets himself into unnecessarily dangerous situations without clear motivation or thought and miraculously survives. I found the love interest pub plot unnecessary, and the ending very saccharine, rather than moving. If this is the last Joseph O’Loughlin thriller, it left me feeling like maybe Joe needed to be retired a little sooner, or at the least, farewelled a little better.
The novel explores the lies we tell ourselves and others by questioning how well you can really ever know someone. It offers a consideration of families and the relationships between parents and their children. I liked the way it conveyed the changing nature of how one views a parent, morphing over time, in good ways and bad, as the child gathers more experience and perspective.
I’m a huge fan of Robotham. I genuinely think he is one of the finest crime writers around, and I’ve enjoyed all of his Joseph O’Loughlin novels. That said, despite the interesting premise, I felt this one fell a bit flat. The story moved along at a nice pace, with the usual twists and turns that keep you second guessing where the story is headed the whole time. I think the thing I found difficult was that William is revealed to be such an awful man that I didn’t have much sympathy for him, and thus, found myself not really caring whether the identity and motivation of his attacker was uncovered or not. I also found Joe to be infuriating in his actions. He’s always been a little daring and foolhardy, but with so much emphasis on his increasing poor physical health and his sense of devotion to his daughters, particularly his youngest, who is clearly not coping since her mother’s death, at times he was straight out reckless. He gets himself into unnecessarily dangerous situations without clear motivation or thought and miraculously survives. I found the love interest pub plot unnecessary, and the ending very saccharine, rather than moving. If this is the last Joseph O’Loughlin thriller, it left me feeling like maybe Joe needed to be retired a little sooner, or at the least, farewelled a little better.
jacqui_des's review against another edition
4.0
Memorable Quotes
"I once saw a famous play called Gas Light set in 1930s about a husband who drives his wife crazy by dimming the gas lights in their house and denying there has been any change when she notices. It's where the term gas-lighting comes from - manipulating someone into doubting his or her own sanity."
"Understanding human behaviour doesn't make life any easier." "I know, but it makes it less mysterious."
"I've seen a ghost and that ghost is my father; an oversized man with a heart of stone who once occupied a pedestal, but whose legacy is as fouled and be-shitted as a London statue."
"...the worst hour of your life only last for sixty minutes... Get through it and the next one will be easier... and the next one."
"Don't cry, Daddy."
"I'm not crying."
"Your eyes are leaking."
"I'm watering my cheeks."
mollyfy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ruby_ostler23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
izzyproudfoot's review against another edition
3.0
It's funny only by coming on here to mark as read do I realise this is part of a series.
damopedro's review against another edition
4.0
I finished reading this about an hour and a half before seeing Michael Robotham chatting about the book at the Melbourne Writers Festival. Just scraped it in! I really enjoyed it. Well written and it kept me turning the pages. Possibly a few too many plot twists or unlikelihoods but still, it was a fun read. I gather this is the last of his Joseph O'Loughlin books though which is a pity. Time to work through the back catalog now.