My Lovely Wife

My Lovely Wife is a domestic thriller. Domestic thrillers are thriller novels that take place in domestic settings, such as the suburban community depicted in My Lovely Wife, which are often seen as safe havens from the dangerous outside world. Domestic thrillers complicate the notion of home and family as beacons of safety by exposing how some of the worst dangers can exist within the home and the family, not just outside of it. In domestic thrillers, a character may discover that someone in their family is a criminal or a serial killer, for example. Domestic thrillers explore the dark sides of parenthood, marriage, romance, suburban communities, socioeconomic class, gender norms, prejudice, infidelity, family secrets, abuse, violence, and more. Often, characters in suburban thrillers appear to be “normal,” but are secretly criminals hiding in plain sight. This lends itself to an exploration of the themes of deception, duality, dishonesty, and the difference between perception and reality. Domestic thrillers also explore themes of social inequality, including inequalities related to gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and more.

It may seem like domestic settings are not scary enough places for thriller novels to take place. However, domestic settings allow authors to explore the horrifying truth that murder, crime, dishonesty, and other dangers exist everywhere. While a stranger can be a scary villain, it is arguably even scarier when the villain is someone the protagonist knows well, such as their wife, husband, or even themselves. Domestic thrillers tend to feature at least a few characters who are not what they appear to be at first. This makes sense because criminals often have to hide in plain sight if they are going to continue committing crimes without being caught. Domestic thrillers explore how the people one trusts most can, at times, turn out to cause them the most harm. This amplifies the terror because “monsters” start to seem inescapable or unavoidable.

Domestic thrillers have existed in various forms for centuries, with some traditional folktales like “Bluebeard,” “Cinderella,” and “Hansel and Gretel” fitting many aspects of the genre. However, the domestic thriller has become more popular and widespread in recent decades. Domestic thrillers contain most aspects of psychological thrillers, which feature suspense, fear, and mystery, though usually not supernatural elements. The crimes depicted in domestic thrillers can be explained rationally, although this does not necessarily make them less scary. The villains of domestic thrillers tend to be humans, rather than vampires, ghosts, demons, monsters, and the like. Some examples of domestic thriller novels include Gone Girl (2012) by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train (2015) by Paula Hawkins, Stillhouse Lake (2017) by Rachel Caine, The Couple Next Door (2017) by Shari Lapena, The Wives (2019) by Tarryn Fisher, and We’re All Lying (2023) by Marie Still. While these are novels, domestic thrillers are also popular in film and television.