Loved this book… what a twist the last 2 chapters. Very creatively put together!!

Beautiful Ugly: A Novel, Alice Feeney, author; Richard Armitage, Tuppence Middleton, narrators.
Grady Green is a New York Times best-selling author, or at least he was, but now he is having a dry spell. Abby, his wife, is an investigative journalist. Both of them are work-driven, ambitious individuals. On the night he finds out he has a New York Times best-seller, Abby disappears as she is driving home and is presumed dead, drowned in the water at the bottom of Cliff Road, the road she was on. Grady was on the phone with her when she suddenly went dark. Because she had been getting threats at her office, it is assumed that someone she is investigating is behind the threats and her disappearance. Grady seems distraught and he can no longer write the second book for which he has been contracted. For the next year, his life deteriorates completely and his world collapses. His grief has overwhelmed him.
Then the narrative switches to Abby. She is having a conversation with the woman dressed in black, presumably her analyst who is helping her get over her disillusionment about her life and her marriage. The storyline moves back and forth between Grady and Abby throughout the novel.
Kitty, Grady’s agent, suggests that he use her cabin on a remote Scottish Island, in order to produce his second book. He always seemed to need to be undisturbed and to have silence in order to write. This cabin seemed to be the answer to his prayers. Kitty was the godmother of his missing wife and he trusted her. He takes his dog Columbo and moves there for a period of about three months, he thinks, but it could be longer. At first, he loves being there. However, he is completely out of touch with the outside world. There is no phone service, no regular ferry service and no internet. Still, the cabin is well furnished and the village can provide for all his basic needs.
Soon, he discovers that the island is not all that it seems. There are no men on the island. The very successful author who lived in the cabin before seems to have ended his own life. He begins to imagine that he sees his wife in her red coat, though he knows it was found, washed up from the sea, torn and unwearable. Why is his imagination running wild? He is still unable to write his book. Then, he discovers a hidden manuscript under the floor boards of the cabin. Has it ever been published? He does not think so, and he decides to steal the ideas in the book written by the former best-selling author on the island. He sets about editing it to make it his own. Both authors have their own distinctive style, so it does need alteration. When he finishes and forwards it, he would like to leave the island. The residents have hinted that he will not be able to leave very soon, and they have no idea when he might be able to leave. The ferry schedule is finicky due to weather, and they no longer have a ferry driver. What happens as he tries to escape this island is completely unexpected by both Grady and the reader. Who are these people on the island? Why don’t they want him to leave?
The elaborate scheme and unraveling of this mystery will baffle every reader. The twists and turns, the trompe l’oeil, the misdirection and open-ended questions will not prepare the reader for the conclusion. One thing is for sure, however, everything is beautiful and ugly both on the island and everywhere in the world. Everyone is good and bad. On the island there are no exceptions. Nothing seems to be what it appears to be at first, and in the end, the phrase I hope you die in your sleep, the code words for I love you for Abby and Grady, take on a far greater meaning.
This audio was read by two accomplished and talented readers. The accents used for the characters, including their tones of voice and expression, was completely appropriate and enhanced the novel. It made certain scenes very easy to listen to, as well as making them appear more credible, even when they might have otherwise seemed less so. The mystery will keep the reader guessing until the conclusion as they see it play out in the theater of their minds.