A psychological thriller full of shocking twists by Orkney based author Lorna Douneava will be published this month.

‘The Wife’s Mistake’ is published by  Bookouture on February 19th and will be available from Amazon.

“I have the life I’ve always dreamed of… but how long will it be until the past catches up with me?

I can’t believe how far my husband, Hayden, and I have come. I never expected that one day I’d be sipping a steaming coffee over our marble countertop or finishing off a humid summer day with a dip in our sparkling pool. But even though we’re living in paradise, I’ve never felt so distant from my husband. I’m certain he’s hiding something from me. Before, I would have confided in my friends and family but in this new life of ours, I’m terrified to trust anyone…

Now, with Hayden out again, my evening is quiet. From our floor-to-ceiling windows, I watch the pool water ripple under the raindrops. But I swear I see movement beyond the garden hedges. I try to shake my fears away, I must be imagining things.

That’s what Hayden would say. But then I find the hand-delivered note and my heart pounds in my chest as I scan the neat words. You don’t deserve this life.

My blood runs cold. I thought I’d kept all my secrets well hidden, but now as I look out to the still night, I realise it’s only a matter of time until my past catches up with me – a past my husband still has no idea about. I know what I have to do to protect my perfect new life, but those around me have no idea how far I’m willing to go to keep it…”

Author Lorna Douneava, lived in Surrey for over 12 years and has recently moved to Orkney.

During lockdown, Lorna’s three children entertained themselves by pretending to live on an island. Lorna got sucked into their fantasy and started reading about Orkney, some 700 miles away from where she was living in Surrey. The whole family were fascinated with the idea and in February 2022, they flew to Orkney to see it for themselves. Whilst it was wet and windy during their visit, they were drawn to the wildlife and beaches, shipwrecks and ancient archaeological sites. Not only had they fallen in love with the area but they found their dream home overlooking Stromness harbour.

One week later however, their world changed when Russia invaded the Lorna’s husband’s native Ukraine. They had known war was a possibility, but had been cautiously optimistic that it wouldn’t happen, or that if it did, it wouldn’t spread to the West of the country where their family and friends lived. 

Lorna said:

“We were wrong. Within weeks, my in-laws made the difficult decision to leave, driving across Europe with their puppy, Mickey. We still had our heart set on the move to Orkney. It was difficult, uprooting everybody again, but our small Surrey home was not built for seven, whilst the house in Orkney was big enough to accommodate us all. Snow was falling as we finally moved in, just in time for Christmas, 2023.”

Editor, Billie-Dee Jones, commented:

‘Lorna Dounaeva is the bestselling author of twisty, chart-topping psychological thrillers and we are hugely excited to launch her on our list. Lorna has such an outstanding talent for combining dark, layered characters that expertly get under your skin with incredibly tense domestic situations which will have readers absolutely racing through the pages, desperate to uncover every last secret.’

What readers are saying about Lorna Dounaeva: ‘I couldn’t put it down… WOW.’, ‘Grips you from the very first page and doesn’t stop. So many twists and omg moments.’ and ‘Wow… absolutely fantastic… Addictive… rollercoaster twisty and has a blow-your-mind ending… Suspenseful, dark and thoroughly gripping.’