Publication: 20th June 2024 – HarperCollins UK
One toxic family. Eight suspicious guests. Everyone is guilty. But who is a killer?
Welcome to the McAlpine Lodge: a secluded mountain getaway, it’s the height of escapist luxury living.
Except that everyone here is lying. Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.
Then one night, Mercy McAlpine – until now the good daughter – threatens to expose everybody’s secrets. Just hours later, Mercy is dead.
In an area this remote, it’s easy to get away with murder. But Will Trent and Sara Linton – investigator and medical examiner for the GBI – are here on their honeymoon.
And now, with the killer poised to strike again, the holiday of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…
I can’t never get enough of the Will Trent and Sara Linton series and in this twelfth book they are at last married (how long have I been waiting for this?!). And, for their honeymoon, Will chose a luxury cabin in a remote family-run resort in the mountains a few hours from Atlanta. But what was supposed to be a relaxing week of romance, hiking, yoga, fishing, and canoeing is interrupted on the first night when the resort manager, Mercy McAlpine, is found stabbed by the lake. With no easy access to the resort, the family and the other guests are all suspects and it seems that they are all keeping secrets. And since leading the investigation is an incompetent sheriff influenced by years of prejudices against the victim, Will and Sara call his partner Faith and his boss Amanda for help.
Let me start by saying that this is not an easy read. It’s gripping and suspenseful and immersive, but it’s not for the light-hearted. There are themes of abuse, assault, alcohol and drug abuse, and toxic family relationships. The story is told from many perspectives, including the victim as we relive her last day and discover the events that led to her murder. For Will, the investigation is more personal than usual as one of the suspects is someone from his past and brings back up memories of his childhood and the mother he never met. He’s backed by three strong-minded and resolute women. His partner Faith who doesn’t think twice about giving up her much awaited week off to help him; his boss Amanda who would rather he enjoyed his honeymoon; and his now-wife Sara, who supports him in everything, even when he dangerously jumps in a river to save someone. I love these two characters. They are adorable together and, after many years of problems, miscommunications, and past loves coming between them, they are happy together (murder aside, of course).
This Is Why We Lied is another intense and incredible novel by Karin Slaughter (she can’t ever do wrong). A remote location, murder, dysfunctional family, and secrets and many many twists will keep you glued to the page until the very end!
A huge thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.
Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe, her novels have all been Sunday Times bestsellers. Slaughter lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is the founder of the Save the Libraries project―a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. Her standalone novel Pieces of Her is now a Netflix series, and the Grant County and Will Trent series are in development for television.
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