Seven top thrillers with flawed characters

Christina McDonald is a USA Today bestselling author. The Night Olivia Fell (Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books) has been optioned for television by a major Hollywood studio and her second book, Behind Every Lie, is available now.

At CrimeReads, McDonald tagged a few of her favorite thrillers with flawed characters. One title on the list:

My Lovely Wife, Samantha Downing

The protagonist of My Lovely Wife is a hands-on dad and a devoted husband, willing to do anything for his wife, Millicent. But there’s such a thing as being too devoted, and this is his fatal flaw. Whether he’s stalking potential victims for his wife or just disposing of their bodies, he soon finds himself in deep trouble because of his proclivity to do his wife’s bidding. A twisted, sinister story with an utterly compelling character, Samantha Downing is giving Gillian Flynn a run for her money.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Lovely Wife is among C.J. Tudor's seven crime novels where murder is a group activity, Lisa Levy's top seven psychological thrillers with manipulative male narrators, Kaira Rouda's top seven literary couples whose relationships are deeply disturbing in the most fascinating ways possible, and Margot Hunt's top five villains who have had about enough of domestic life.

The Page 69 Test: My Lovely Wife.

--Marshal Zeringue