‘Silent Lies’ by Kathryn Croft published 25/10

‘Your husband didn’t kill himself’......

I was looking forward to this book as I have read all the authors previous books and enjoyed them.
‘Silent Lies’ did not disappoint, no fuss or pages of pre amble but straight into the story and the action and what unfolds is a tense, dark psychological thriller, good characters who are easy to ‘get to know’.........some you will love, some hate!!!
The story really maps out well but fooled me!!! a couple of times I thought I had guessed the outcome and who, what, when, where, why and how.........THE TWIST( and it is a twist!!) proved all these wrong and its great when your an avid reader and a twist still gets you, this one did
A very enjoyable read and up to the standards I expected from this great author, I would definitely recommend it, thanks Bookouture for letting me read and review this

This is my fourth book by this author. The first two I loved, the third not so much but not enough to write the author off; not at all. So, when this one came out, I wiped the slate clean and dove right in and am glad to report that this book put the author back on track for me.
So, Mia, Zach and daughter Freya are a happy family unit. Until that is, the day that Zach committed suicide. On the same day that one of his students disappeared. Obviously the authorities and indeed the press considered these two events as not coincidental and Mia suffered the backlash quite hard. Five years later she has her life pretty much back on track with Will, a new love in her life, and a career as a therapist. Ticking along nicely until, one day, Alison books a session with her and, out of the blue, tells her that Zach didn't kill himself. Reeling from this shock information, Mia has some choices to make. Should she dig deeper and try and find out what Alison knows or thinks she knows? I mean, who exactly is Alison and what is her motivation for doing what she is doing? With so much more to lose, should Mia take what she has now and forget the past, let sleeping dogs lie? Maybe she should, but can she? When the truth is getting closer? Or is it the truth? What exactly is Alison's agenda and is she friend or foe?
Well, I simply raced through this book. I followed Mia through every twist and turn as she stumbled to uncover the truth. As she exposed each secret and lie, as she peeled back every layer on a life she thought she had left behind. Yes, OK, I did scream at her at some of her decisions and the reasoning behind doing what she did, especially as some of the things that she discovered took her to some pretty dark places. But, you know what, who am I to judge? How can I possible say how anyone would or could react given these circumstances, never having been faced by them myself. She's just a normal person, she followed her heart. I guess, given her current job, she really craves closure and suicide hardly ever gives a loved one that. Given a chance, a lifeline, a possibility that it wasn't suicide well, given that ball, who wouldn't run with it?
It really helped that the plotting was tight. With the cast of characters presented, all with their own secrets and lies, some connected to our story, some just personal to them, I spent the majority of the book in sheer disbelief as I really didn't know who to trust. That also meant that I didn't really fully commit to liking any of the characters but that's OK, I don't need to like them, as long as I get some kind of connection with the majority. I also had quite a bit of fun guessing the motivation behind certain characters' actions.
As I raced towards the ending I was quite conflicted. On one hand, I really wanted, needed to know what actually happened that night, but at the same time, I really didn't want the story to end as I was having so much fun reading it. But, all good things must come to an end and the end, when it came, completely blew me over. I already said it was well plotted but plotting is only as good as the conclusion where it is all wrapped up and in this book, that was simply sublime.
All in all a great story played out by some really well described characters that kept my attention nicely throughout and left me completely satisfied at the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This book is the story of Mia, whose husband committed suicide 5 years earlier, on the same night one of his students was murdered, of which it was thought he had done.

As 5 years has passed, Mia is now learning to trust again and put the past behind her, until one day the past comes roaring back with answers to questions that she didn't know she had....

This was my first book of Kathryn Croft's but certainly won't be my last. It was an intricately woven plot, with an ending which even I didn't see coming. Highly recommended!

Kathryn Croft has a writing style that I enjoy and this one has alternating timelines from present to past with two characters POVs where you feel like a fly on the wall as the story unfolds!

The story is told through Mia and Josie, two women who had a relationship with Mia's husband, Zach. He is a college professor and Josie is one of his students and is rumored to have had an affair with him, but Zach really does love his wife Mia and their daughter Freya. Would he really jeopardize his family who he truly loves?? He is a responsible adult, right?

Police have concluded that Zach committed suicide while in Josie's apartment, but where is Josie? She disappeared that night and no one has her since. Has she been murdered? Is she involved in Zach's demise? What does her roommate Alison know about that night? Did Alison see or hear something?

Mia has always accepted the police finding....until one day Alison walks into her office five years later and whispers..."Zach did not kill himself". Alison was Josie's roommate and she could know something!! Alison could have even been home!

Everyone has secrets and something to hide. Mia is committed to finding out what happened to her loving husband, but what it will cost her? Who does she trust? After all, Alison may have a motive in her little revelation.

I enjoyed this book and the constant guessing and analyzing of who to trust!! I went back and forth several times trying to see who the truth teller was! Loved the way it ended. Never saw it coming...
What just happened??

I think those who like K.L. Slater novels, will really enjoy this one as I did! Fast-paced and mind bending.

This is a definite must read. The book was well written, fast paced, characters were likable and a believable story line to follow. There were a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It kept me on my feet the whole time. What more do you want from a book. This author did a great job.

I really enjoyed this book. Great storyline, wonderful main characters and a very good read. I would recommend this book.

Like I’ve mentioned many times, I absolutely love a good mystery. An epic story that keeps me on the edge of my seat is my favorite way to spend time, besides being outside with my camera.

Kathryn Croft’s book, Silent Lies, sounds perfectly creepy and suspenseful.

Take a look:

Five years rebuilding your life. Five words will destroy it again. Mia Hamilton lived the perfect life with her husband, university teacher Zach, and their two-year-old daughter, Freya. But everything changed when Zach committed suicide on the same night one of his students, Josie Carpenter, vanished.

Five years later, and Josie is still missing but Mia has finally found some happiness with new boyfriend Will. Until one day when stranger Alison walks into her life and tells Mia that her husband didn’t kill himself. Desperate to find out what really happened to Zach, Mia is forced to put her trust in Alison. But she soon discovers that Alison has her own agenda behind exposing the details of Zach’s death. Can Mia really believe anything Alison says?

Mia must decide how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth – even if she risks losing everything she loves.

A complicated and deep story with an unexpected ending.

Five years after her husband supposedly kills a woman and himself, someone shows up to tell Mia he didn't do it. Great idea for a book except that none of the characters felt trustworthy or likeable. Mia has a boyfriend she keeps at arms' length because her faith in men was destroyed by her husband's actions? Fine, except not five years later. And if that really is the case, why have a boyfriend? And Will, the boyfriend, needed to get some self-esteem. The moping along behind Mia waiting for dropped pieces of affection grated on me. So, combine the dislike and distrust of the characters and that made the story annoying rather quickly. Sadly, this meant that the twists that might have excited me were drowned out by my easy acceptance of anything said or done by the characters. If the book had ended with them flying to the moon I wouldn't have been phased. Somewhere these characters lost all sense of plausibility and it ruined what could have been a really good read from an author I have really enjoyed.

Silent Lies by Kathryn Croft is narrated through two POVs and timelines. One timeline follows Josie's story and the events that took place five years ago. At the time, Josie was a student until she disappeared. In the present timeline, Mia is trying to rebuild her life after her husband committed suicide on the night that Josie disappeared. All seems well until Alison walks into her life bringing up the past.

This was a suspenseful read and right from the start, I couldn’t guess what had happened to Mia and Zach. Alison who seemed to have the answers was an unreliable narrator hence making it hard to fully trust her. What is interesting though, I didn’t have any suspects. I just couldn’t guess what happened that night leading to Zach’s suicide.

The characters in the story are well crafted though I didn’t like most of them. Interestingly, my opinion of different characters changed as the story progressed. I liked most of them at first but their actions soon turned me against them. One I disliked and ended up liking towards the end. I struggled to connect with any of them although I did find Josie’s narration to be quiet addictive. Perhaps this is because I knew that it was going to end with her disappearance and Zach’s death. So I kept turning pages to find answers.

Kathryn’s writing is great and the story has an interesting premise but I took longer than expected with this book. I can’t say for sure if it’s my lack of connection with the characters or perhaps the fact that the middle section felt slower for me or maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood. However, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I liked turning pages trying to find answers but something felt amiss.

If you are interested in this title, I suggest that you read other reviews especially on goodreads. Most readers enjoyed the book so I am in the minority here. As I said, it could be a personal issue and not the book so don’t let this review deter you from checking it out.

The beginning of this one reeled me in right away. Interesting storyline: the main character, Mia's husband committed suicide 5 years ago on the same night that one of his students disappeared. Mia has worked to get on with her life since with her career, a new boyfriend and being a good mother to her daughter now seven, A stranger comes to see her one day as a patient and tells her that her husband is still alive. The story alternates viewpoints between Mia in the present and Josie (the missing student) in the past. Mia starts to question what she has been led to believe all this time in spite of Allison's instability. Great story which kept me turning the pages and I did not know who to trust as the story progressed. Twist at the end was quite a surprise possibly leaving an opening for sequel....which I would love to read as well! My first book by this author but will look for more!

From the get-go, this book snapped me up in a whirlwind of action, leading me along with Mia and Josie. The characters were very well written and I found myself itching to find out the next actions they would take. We follow the story of Zach, Mia’s husband, who committed suicide Allegedly due to his relationship with a student (Josie). With many twists and turns and some awesomely dysfunctional characters, this book held my attention till the last page. Very pleased with this new release from Kathryn Croft!

This was a very well written psychological thriller, and I read many of them and they rarely are so good. I figured out a small part of the endig, but not the major twist until a few pages before it was revealed (and this is good for me) but in the end I had to go back and re-read some of it because I was sure there must be some contradictions. I didn't find any, but what I found out was that people were not only lying to each others, but even to themselves! So, we normally take for granted that unless there is some mental problem people would be sincere at least in their own minds? Don't do that. Every single word could be a lie.
Other than that I really enjoyed that novel, I would have probably read the second half in one sit if I didn't have to go to work, I loved the twist, but not the consequences of it. Some innocent people will suffer. Some more than all the ones that already had. So if there is hope for someone who deserve it, there is also someone who will pay for something that was not his/her fault at all. That's sad but.. it happens when we believe and love..somene who lies!
Overall this is like it always is with Kathryn Croft. I love her books...I can't stop reading, but in the end I feel a bit confused.. Why didn't I see it coming? So I will pause for a day or two, and then probably hurry to read another one of her books hoping that time I am more prepared to the final twist! But guess what? I'm not!!

This story was told from the present and Mia's perspective as well as from the past and Josie's perspective. Both stories meet at the end. This book is definitely about Silent Lies, everybody has a secret that they are keeping or lying about something. The whole time I was changing my mind about the killer and what happened to Josie. The end was a big surprise to me and I can normally predict what is going to happen. I liked the way the story was told and the description of the characters.
I look forward to reading more books by Kathryn Croft.
Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for the copy.

4 Stars.

This is my second Kathryn Croft book I have read.

I did not see the ending coming. Full of twists and turns. It was pretty good. I really wasn’t sure who I could trust. The book is told in alternating POVs, which I love. Past and present.

Five years ago, Mia Hamilton’s husband took his own life. He was found in an apartment where one of his students lived. The students’s blood is there but she is missing. The police believe that Zach had something to do with Josie’s disappearance and out of guilt killed him self.

Five years later, Mia is trying to get on with her life until a woman named Allison seeks out Mia and tells her Zach did not kill him self. Hmmm, what really happened?! Twisty!

Again, I found it hard to trust anyone in Silent Lies but I did enjoy this one!



Thank you, Netgalley and Bookouture

I want to give a huge thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Mia thinks that after five years she is over the tragic death of her husband Zach. She has finally made peace, has a healthy daughter and a loving partner. Working as a counselor she has a new patient come in and is surprised when the woman says “your husband didn’t kill himself.” After all this time she is thrown through a whirlwind and she wonders what is on this woman’s agenda. Was her husband guilty of having an affair with a student and then killing himself and his student? How did her husband die? Read this suspenseful and twisty psychological thriller to find out!

Review: This book receives 4.5 stars out of 5! This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! I didn’t know which way to think or what was going to happen next. This book was split between two point of views and usually I don’t enjoy that much but definitely did with this book! I didn’t see the ending coming at all. I was in complete shock! I read this book in less than a day. The only reason I am not giving this book 5 stars is because I felt a little left hanging in the end but that could’ve just been my preference of wanting more! I will definitely be checking out the author’s previous work! I am so glad that I read Silent Lies by Kathryn Croft. Highly Recommended!

Thank you for the advance copy. I have been a fan of Croft and have again not been disappointed. I felt the quick alternating chapters kept my interest, and was a slow but good build to the story. I didn’t see some twists, though knew that Allison wasn’t what she seemed. I felt this was a solid, well written book, and am looking forward to her next one!

Wow. I did not see that ending coming! Kathryn Croft’s Silent Lies starts off as a somewhat unsuspecting thriller; there are characters who make slightly poor choices, but no one seems capable of the murder (or murders?!).

The book begins with a funeral. Mother and child are mourning the death of their dearly beloved husband and father. We quickly learn that the mother, Mia, lost her university professor husband to what is believed to be a murder suicide. The running theory is that her husband, Zach, committed suicide after killing his college student and lover, Josie.

The second narrator is Josie, Zach’s supposed college-aged lover. The book tacks back and forth between Mia and Josie’s stories. You start to sympathize with both of the narrators, both leading you to form different, and sometimes contradictory, opinions of up to the two narrators, Mia and Josie. You develop feelings for both of them despite the years separating them and the man in between them.

Josie has led a hard life. She was raised by a teenage mother who really didn’t want her. As a result, Josie was beat, starved, and taunted by her mother, Liz, to the point that she nearly died by her mother’s boyfriend’s hands (while her mother stood by watching).

I won’t spoil this book for future readers, but I would encourage readers to think about Mia’s motivations for telling her story. I tended to sympathize more with Mia, but then I started to question why she was telling me her story and the narrative conventions upon which she was relying. I’d also encourage the reader to think about Josie’s story as well. Why is she sharing it?

I really loved the shocker of an ending, and how it wrapped up so neatly.

Thank you to the author, Kathryn Croft, the publisher, Bookouture (one of my favorites!), and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Silent Lies.

Mia’s husband, Zach, committed suicide five years ago on the same night one of his students vanishes. Now, there's a woman telling her her husband did not commit suicide. This book starts off strong with a good premise. It alternates in POV between present day Mia and the student, Josie, from five years ago. Unfortunately, I had trouble relating to either Mia or Josie. Mia seems to be stringing her new boyfriend along and I couldn't buy it was because she couldn't trust any men nowadays. Josie has a problematic relationship with her mother and is developing a crush on Zach.

This is one of those books when you have no idea who to trust. There is even a question of whether the characters are being honest with themselves. Several of the characters seem caricatures rather than fleshed out beings, for example, Josie’s mother. And I found a lot of what people did to just not make sense. There were times Mia reminded me of those gals in horror movies, always making what appears to be a stupid choice. As advertised, the ending is unexpected. Unfortunately, it also didn't really ring true. Too many leaps of faith required.

My thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.

"What a tangled web we have woven" is the exact mantra of this book!
Woah! Who would have ever thought!
This is a suspenseful and intriguing read that will have you up late at night.
I loved it!