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Spouse Trap (The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series) Hardcover – April 27, 2023

by Cynthia Hamilton (Author)

1,466

Book 1 of 11: The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series

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Blackmail, sabotage, and blood-chilling suspense converge in this psychological thriller meets detective mystery.

Madeline Ridley’s perfect world collapses in a swirl of sabotage, blackmail and deceit after awakening in a hotel room, naked and alone, with no memory of how she got there. Witnessing a payoff to a shady PI, she discovers who is systematically trying to destroy her life.
From that moment on, Madeline must deconstruct herself in order to salvage what’s left of her life. In the process, she discovers strengths she never knew she possessed. With that newfound knowledge, she steels herself for the battle of a lifetime.
Spouse Trap is the prequel to the Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series.

Full of unexpected twists, a must-read for fans of Ruth Ware, Karin Slaughter, and Mary Stone.

Book 1 of 11

The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series
Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publication date

April 27, 2023
Dimensions

6 x 0.95 x 9 inches
ISBN-13

979-8985262131
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C2RRNYH6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Woodstock Press (April 27, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8985262131
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.95 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #7,591,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28,899 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books)
- #93,237 in Women Sleuths (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,466

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Cynthia Hamilton

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A lifelong reader, Cynthia Hamilton turned to writing in 2000 as a means of coping with a debilitating illness. She now has 13 books in print, all of which are available on Amazon. In addition to THE MADELINE DAWKINS MYSTERY SERIES, she writes general fiction and some memoir: FINDING RUTH and ONCE UPON A LYME...A TALE OF TWO JOURNEYS.

The Madeline Dawkins Series has really captured her imagination. Madeline’s dual careers as private investigator and event planner to the Santa Barbara elite keep her on her toes. All the books in the series can be read as standalones.

Cynthia shares where she finds inspiration for her books at Chaucer's Bookstore with Justine Hamilton, and on SPEAK UP TALK RADIO with host Pat Rullo. You can listen to and view the interviews via the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEaLuU45Vd4

https://www.speakuptalkradio.com/cynthia-hamilton-speaks-up/

Website: http://cynthiahamiltonbooks.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/434917.Cynthia_Hamilton

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCynthiaH

Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y3sguv7m

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,466 global ratings

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Tony Parsons

mystery

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

Edgecliff Hotel. Madeline Ridley (40, wife) woke up & Steven Ridley (husband, Ridley Assets Management L.P. founder/CEO) was nowhere in the room.
Santa Barbara, CA. Katherine Broadhurst (NHDF national chairwoman), had congratulated co-chair’s Carla Dickens, & Madeline for hosting their Open Your Heart’ Valentine’s Ball.
Steven presented Madeline with several 8 x 10 glossy photographs.
Steven made it very clear when he got back from Dallas Madeline/all her belongings better be gone.
Madeline followed Russell Barnett. He is a Licensed PI.
Next stop for Madeline Barry Houstien (attorney, partner, Houstien Marcus & Winthorpe, JD).

What did Madeline see Alfonso Winogo about?
Richard Laird (Pillman, Guillaume & Laird, JD) is Steve’s lawyer.
Breaking News. Body Found on Hendry’s Beach was ID’d as local PI Burt Latham.
It seems Madeline (nee Ridley) rented an office space from Mr. Howard (owner/landlord).

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written mystery book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great mystery movie, or better yet a mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; Woodstock Press; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Couldn't put it down

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024

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Great twists and turns. Couldn't put it down. Stayed up till dawn finishing this thriller. Now to more in this series!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2023

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I am a prolific reader, and Spouse Trap is the best novel I’ve read this year.

The writing is first class. The plot hooks you like all great books do and forces you to read one more chapter when you should have turned the lights out long ago.

This book has five 1- and 2-star reviews. Disregard them. I can only presume the reviewers were having a bad day when they penned them and needed to kick a cat. As an aside, my all-time favorite novel, The Godfather, has 88 1- and 2-star reviews. Go figure.

I commend the author and have no hesitation in recommending Spouse Trap.

3 people found this helpful

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E.L. Wilson

INCREDIBLE

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2023

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It is rare I LOVE a book as much as I LOVED reading this!! Already bought more!!!!! The story! Madeline is INCREDIBLE!! Absolutely incredible book -- on to number 2 right now -- so excited for Madeline & Mike !!!!!!!!!

2 people found this helpful

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I.A.

Spouse Sap (3.5 Stars)

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

Yes, the story does grip you right out of the gate. That's good. However, it's like meeting a hot blind date, only to find out as the evening wears on that you really don't have that much in common. The divorce plot is good, but all of the sub-plots are very poorly fleshed out. We see no motivation for why she would become hitched to one of her old boy-friends on the rebound (who himself is a one-dimensional character, just put in the book so she could have a foil). There are no real flashbacks for happier times so we could really feel any anguish over Maddie being dumped by her husband, who is himself a one-dimensional character. In fact, none of the secondary characters in the book are developed in their own right at all, they are all just "window dressing" for Maddie to react with. Thus, when other characters die throughout the book, we really don't care. Our blood doesn't boil. There is no feeling of "I can't wait until they find the guy who did this and bring him to justice." Worst of all, the "climax" is a huge let-down. I'm not sure if the author had a deadline to meet, or simply was tired of writing and wanted to "wrap it up." Nevertheless, after (for example) boring us with details about all the wigs Maddie tries on trying to find a disguise, the author doesn't even bother to write the scene where the bad guys get their comeuppance. It's all just handled with a jump to an epilogue style last chapter where Maddie is starting her new life--very disappointing. If the author could fill in some back stories for her other characters, and take the effort to enhance the most poignant scenes instead of writing everything at the same clip-clop pace, this could be a good (dare I say Stephanie Plum-ish) new series. Else, this book is good enough to read once, but I wouldn't read a second one.

9 people found this helpful

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barbarawr

My cat loved this book!

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

No, my cat doesn't read; nor do I read TO her. HOWEVER, this is the first time I have even spent the entire day lying in bed reading a book I couldn't make myself put down. So she was very happy getting multiple lengthy naps with my warm body underneath her. I read enough books that it was immediately obvious to me that this was a date rape situation - nothing new. But it wasn't long before she sees her husband in an alley, passing what is probably an envelope of money to another man. She follows the man to his office - he's a private investigator. And then she remembers that her marriage has a pre-nup which says she gets nothing if she is unfaithful. And THAT is only the first chapter! It just gets better and better, to the point where there must have been 10 or more times that I told myself that I was going to finish the chapter and then put it down. There was never a lag, time wasting, or places where my mind drifted to other things. Even the ending was very satisfying, which doesn't always happen, since a lot of authors seem to either want to end the book quickly, or worse, drag it out to put in some final twist that comes out of left field and wasn't worth waiting for. I will be reading more of her books!

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024

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This book started off as a slow read for me, but then I quickly got into it. Madeline’s husband did her wrong and the hits just kept coming back to back. I was shocked by Burt. I did feel like Madeline was a little materialistic. Good book and I will probably continue reading the series.

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Kevin

A sizzling tale of treachery.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2019

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Madeline Ridley wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, disoriented, head throbbing and her lingerie in shreds. She has no recollection of how she even got there and a flurry of questions bombard her mind. The previous evening comes to her in fits and starts; her husband's jealousy ... an unknown man plying her with Champagne...
Cynthia Hamilton writes with panache and skilfully builds a story without the seams showing.
I was on Team Madeline from the outset; she was clearly an innocent victim of a despicable violation but her husband refuses to believe her side of the story. It dawns on Madeline that the scene might even be one of entrapment - but at whose hands, and for what gain? Our defiled heroine proves to have a steely determination and turns amateur sleuth while I cheered her on from the sidelines. Whoever has picked on this seemingly easy target has totally underestimated her resolve!
Themes of treachery and subterfuge thicken the plot and Hamilton kept me binge-reading into the early hours.
As paranoia sets in, Madeline's long-term friend, Mike, proves to be a man to depend upon in a crisis and the scenes on the beautiful island of Guam had me wishing I was on the next flight!
This was a tightly-plotted thriller by an author who knows her craft. Cynthia Hamilton has created a stylish page-turner that grabbed me from the first intriguing paragraph to the last.

One person found this helpful

EILEEN PARSONS

Eileen Parsons

Reviewed in Australia on September 11, 2023

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I can only imagine the fear of waking up in an unknown room not knowing where you are or what is happening. The leading lady has to go through a lot of unknowns to sort her life out. It will drag you in. It's an addictive storey and extremely good writing by Cynthia Hamilton. Loved it!

Julia McClure

An Enjoyable Read

Reviewed in Canada on October 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

This was my first book with this author and this genre. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did although, it wasn't perfect. I am still chuckling over a couple of scenes that were very well written and quite funny.

Amazon Customer

Excellent Read

Reviewed in Canada on September 30, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a very good book to read and keep you wanting to not put it down.
I would highly recommend this book.

Diogenes

A High Stakes Game...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

Madeline Dawkins has a big problem … and one she might not be able to handle.
‘Spouse Trap’ opens thrillingly, and once it has you in its grip it never eases off. Author Cynthia Hamilton has crafted an addictive narrative - psychologically credible and cunningly constructed. Much more than a cozy mystery tale, the first book in Ms. Hamilton’s Madeline Dawkins series is a thoughtful study of the disintegration of a marriage and its chilling aftermath. The novel has plenty of pace and twists (but no spoilers here),and the author’s prose is smooth and engaging. You will almost certainly want to read more of Ms. Dawkins’ adventures. Highly recommended for lovers of good ‘I-wonder-how-she-gets-out-of-this’ stories.

One person found this helpful

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