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.