The Innocent Wife

January 8, 2018
In British author Lloyd’s labored debut, Samantha, an English schoolteacher, becomes obsessed with the case of Dennis Danson, who has been on death row since 1993 for the gruesome murder of a high school girl in Florida’s Red River County. He was suspected of killing four other girls, but their bodies were never found, and Sam is convinced he’s innocent. Sam starts to correspond with Dennis, and they develop a bond that prompts her to fly to the U.S. to visit him in Altoona Prison. Their initially awkward romance eventually results in their marrying; an unexpected confession leads to Dennis’s release from Altoona. Sam, naive and unconfident, and Dennis, secretive and withdrawn, move into the remote Danson family home in Red River, where they must face the hostility of the locals. Dennis’s reconnecting with a sinister childhood friend, Lindsay Durst, complicates the couple’s uncomfortable life together. Dennis’s backstory—growing up poor with an abusive drunk of a father and a chronically depressed mother—follows familiar lines. The contrived and unexpected climax disappoints. Fans of serial killer fiction will find nothing new.

Dennis Danson was jailed 20 years ago for the murder of a teenage girl in Florida. When a documentary reexamines the case, positing that the wrong man was convicted, Samantha, a teacher from England, becomes enamoured with the case, subsequently meeting Dennis--and marrying him. Christina Cole's soft, quavering voice and British accent successfully convey Samantha's mounting insecurities, especially after Dennis is freed. Sadly, Cole's unconvincing delivery of Dennis's Southern accent causes much of his sex appeal to be lost, making Samantha's attraction to him seem even more implausible. Also, abrupt scene changes interrupt the flow of the story. Lorelei King recounts the details of the murder trial in the style of a seasoned newscaster, but it's not enough to keep this tightly paced thriller from losing steam. E.E. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine