Annie Ward

The Ideal Wife (UK) / Beautiful Bad (US)

Genre

Mystery / Suspense

UK Publication

Hachette / Quercus, January 2019

US Publication

HarperCollins / Park Row, January 2019

TV & Film

Optioned

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Blurb

Maddie and Ian’s romance began when he was serving in the British Army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend Jo in Europe. Now sixteen years later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America.

But when an accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son Charlie; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, the years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of shocking crime.

But what in this beautiful home has gone so terribly bad?

Press & reviews

“As imaginatively constructed as it is compelling. Filled with unexpected twists, BEAUTIFUL BAD is a riveting read.”

– Sarah Pekkanen , New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Between Us

“You won’t be able to tear yourself away from the page. With fascinating characters that chill and horrify, the ending will leave you staggered.”

– Liv Constantine , author of the national bestseller The Last Mrs. Parrish

“I loved this book! The various settings were really evocative, and the narrators kept me guessing all the way along. I love how she used broad…”

– Mel Sherratt , author of Taunting the Dead

“Beautiful Bad is beautifully written, beautifully twisty – and beautifully twisted. A dark thriller with real psychological depth.”

– JP Delaney , author of The Girl Before

“Utterly gripping and thrillingly original – I loved the unique settings. Cannot recommend this book highly enough”

– Karen Hamilton , author of The Perfect Girlfriend

“Readers need to be off-the-charts clever to figure out who’s going to kill whom in this disturbing first novel by the American writer Annie Ward.”

– The Toronto Star

“Ward writes with the same compelling energy as you get in a blockbuster Netflix series. The original storyline and the expertly drawn minor characters will leave…”

– Daily Mail

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