The Third Wife: A psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

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When Maya, the inebriated third wife of a Adrian, a charming, middle-aged architect, falls in front of a moving bus, the question on everyone’s lips is, what happened? Was it an accident, suicide or, perhaps, something more sinister? From all outward appearances, Maya was the perfect fit for Adrian’s unconventional family. Still immersed in his ex-wives lives and juggling the schedules of his five kids, Maya didn’t have much choice but to be accepting and join in the chaos. It honestly was a strange dynamic. One, I couldn’t ever imagine any woman signing up to be a part of. But, sometimes love makes us do crazy things, right?

Maya is Adrian's third wife, one evening she steps out in front of a moving bus and is killed. Is is suicide? Was it an accident? Nobody knows for sure.The words passed through her mind, clear and concise in their meaning, like a sober person leading her home. And then those other words, the words from earlier. Then I thought of the children hes had with each wife, all except the last one. Maya hasn't had a child yet. They had all belonged to him once; the houses, the wives, the children. And yet now he had nothing. A crap flat, a weird cat, a stranger’s phone. For nearly five decades he had lived with an unshakeable belief in the decisions he made. Every morning for forty-eight years he had woken up and thought: I am where I want to be right now. And now he was not. He did not want to be in this flat, with his cat and this phone and this feeling of cold dread. He’d made a bad choice somewhere along the line but he didn’t know where.” A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. That feeling is at the center of this book. You’ve got Adrian, a fortysomething with five children between two ex-wives whose life if thrown off-balance when his third wife, Maya, is hit and killed by a bus after a night of uncharacteristic excessive drinking. Even though his family is complicated, Adrian believes that they’ve got it all figured out. All three sections of the family can go on vacation together! The ex-wives get a long and the children have welcomed Maya into their lives without batting an eyelash. It’s the perfect set-up.

Adrian Wolfe is married to Maya, his third wife. He's got two ex-wifes and five children that carry on with him. Suddenly, Maya dies and Adrian is left to figure out what happened and what is important in his life. These characters wove into my heart- especially the younger ones. They crave their dad's attention, as we slowly realize what happened to Maya. This one was a little more realistic to believe, but made for a less satisfying read. (Why is that?) The story centered around a man, Adrian Wolfe, and his unique family situation. When the story started off, my heart broke for him. Here’s a guy that just lost his third wife. Yes . . . third. It’s hard to fathom, anyone could believe in love after two failed marriages, but this guy was convinced, he had finally found the one. The woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. This is another emotional clever read from Jewell, beautifully written and populated with carefully constructed characters you’ll be rooting for as you race through it.... I couldn’t put it down. Sara LawrenceAnother unforgettable psychological suspense novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs. In what ways are Maya and Luke similar? What do you think sparked their connection with each other? Adrian is a serial husband. There has always been somewhere for him to go. The next woman. The next house. The next family. Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and The Night She Disappeared.

One of the things that I like about Lisa Jewell's books is that each one is different and unpredictable--this is true of The Third Wife. The mystery begins when Adrian decides to find a new home for Maya's cat and posts a note on a bulletin board at the post office. A woman answers the add (we first learn she watched him post the ad and she takes it with her) but ultimately decides not to adopt the cat. BUT...she leaves her phone at Adrian's apartment and he tries to find her. Hagestadt, Emma (21 September 2001). "Lisa Jewell: Inside the cappuccino conspiracy". The Independent . Retrieved 9 January 2011. [ dead link] What would you describe as the major themes of this story? Would you say it is a redemptive story? Why or why not?We meet Jane... (The mysterious woman), who answers Adrian's add. She comes to see the BILLIE -the CAT, a couple of times. She even considers dating that cat to decide whether or not to take him. We know something is odd about this woman immediately, but we don't know what. She leaves her phone behind...(with no phone numbers on it except Adrian's) Adrian has been married to Maya a couple of years before she wanders drunkenly into the path of a London bus and is killed. He is distraught and seeks comfort in his other two families. Yes – that’s right –because Adrian, silly shambolic, selfish man has been married twice before. He left wife number 1 (Susie) and his two kids for Caroline who became wife number 2, bearing three children during their years together, then Caroline and kids were dumped for young, slim, beautiful Maya. They apparently all love each other, spend holidays together, regularly have family gatherings, the older kids babysit the younger ones. All is wonderful – until Maya is killed. Jesus,” she said to the outline of the person, whose gender she had failed to ascertain. “What’s your problem?”