I look forward to a new book from Lesley Pearce she never seems to disappoint, and this is no exception.
The story is based in 1970’s London. Amelia White had a tough upbringing. Her mother is an alcoholic and very cold towards her and her siblings and her father was always using his fists to get out of anything including towards her. As soon as he could she left home. She manages to get a job at the local newspaper selling advertising space. But her dream is become a reporter a novelist.
She is walking home one day when she comes across a body dumped in a rubbish pile in broad daylight. Who would do such a thing? She asks her boss Jack if she can investigate the murder. At first, he is reluctant but agrees. But when more bodies turn up, she knows there is a serial killer on the loose and the paper wants her to stop investigating because her own life could be in danger.
This is another great read from the author. It had a great gripping storyline and I loved the period it was set in; I could just imagine myself being there. I kind of felt quite sorry for Amelia. Boy did you go through the mill in this book. But instead of being negative about someone she always tried to find the good in people.

Thank you to Penguin UK Michael Joseph and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this gripping book.

Even though this was set back in the 70s I was drawn in straight away and was hooked.
Amelia stumbles across a pair of white boots she desperately wants and goes to take them from the pile of rubbish bags only they are attached to a body.

Amelia works for a newspaper and dreams of becoming a journalist and she is determined to find the killer.

This was a real page turner and made me question everyone hence the title Liar.
I know the area and roads named in Shepherd's Bush so I really connected with this story.

Full of suspense and gritty I highly reccomend you give this a read.

Lesley Pearse's latest offering is set in early 1970s London, with all the cultural references of the period such as the fashions and music, with details of the time, the power cuts, decimalisation, the Vietnam War and more. Amelia White has had a traumatic abused family background that resulted in her living by herself, expending energy in making her dilapidated home feel welcoming, brightening it up, cleaning the building, despite her fellow residents not making the same efforts. She has lived through her hippie phase, but was disillusioned when she was taken advantage of by others. She has no real friends, and feels the loneliness desperately. She works at the West London Weekly newspaper, selling advertising space, but dreams of writing a book. She happens to spot some white boots that she has lusted after in the trash outside her building, but as she tries to acquire them, they turn out to be attached to the feet of a murdered young woman.

This discovery is to upend Amelia's life, her boss at work wants to exploit the situation, sending her to speak to the shocked and devastated family of the victim, Lucy Whelan. The family take to the empathetic Amelia, opening up about their feelings and memories of Lucy, and upon being besieged by the media, agree to Amelia writing an exclusive to get rid of them. Amelia refrains from playing to the lurid and sensationalist instincts of the tabloids, and instead writes an unexpectedly popular thoughtful and sensitive portrait of a much loved Lucy, an ordinary woman with all her dreams and ambitions, leaving behnd a grieving family struggling to come to terms with their loss. In the aftermath of finding Lucy's body, Amelia finds love with a neighbour, Max Creedy, hoping that this time it will all work out, and a close friendship with Kat, a buyer at Harrods Bathrooms Department.

As other women are murdered, Amelia cannot help investigating, wanting to find a killer that the media have dubbed 'The Creeper', with no idea of the danger she will find herself in. Pearse's characterisation portrays a woman her times, shaped by the trauma of her family background, managing to escape her past to carve a different future for herself against all the odds. While Amelia faces betrayal, deception and lies, to be tested by the adversities that come her way, none of this destroys her innate sensitivity and compassion towards others. It took me a little while to warm to Amelia as a character, and as a consequence it took time to immerse myself in the storytelling. However, once I did, I really enjoyed this entertaining historical fiction with its numerous twists, with its issues of abuse, gender, and British social norms and attitudes of the time. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

Although I enjoyed this book, I did find it predictable and lacking the suspense of her other books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 ok stars

My first book by the author so wasn’t sure what to expect.

This is an easy to read crime by numbers book; unfortunately there is little suspense, the characters are for the most part unlikeable and you kind of work out early on who the bad guy is.

This has an old fashioned style of writing that I didn’t enjoy, but hey I am in the minority!!

Bit slow to start buy picked up at about 20% then got interesting nice read good twist at the end l knew l would enjoy it as l have read many of her books 7/10

I loved this book. Kept me awake reading into the night. The main character Amelia is very good. She has strong morals and despite an awful childhood a self belief that she can find the truth. While working in a newspaper she finds a dead body, her boss eventually lets her investigate and meet the families. 3 girls go missing and along with her new boyfriend Max she tries to find out more about them and their lives. The connection is small but after a lot of searching is obvious. Amelia finds everything she believes in is threatened. A really fast paced read that never got boring. The end was good

I always enjoy books by Lesley Pearce. This wasn’t the best I have read but it was an easy enjoyable read. I had worked out who the killer was fairly early on but read on to the end. I felt this book lacked the grittiness of previous books from Lesley. I will still look forward to the next one.

Firstly thank you Net Galley for allowing me the opportunity to read this brilliant book. I love and have read every book by Lesley Pearse and am never disappointed. This book features Amelia, a young girl who aspires to become a reporter,whilst selling advertising space in the local paper. Through no fault of her own she becomes involved in the biggest scoop ever starting with the discovery of a murder victim. The story is fast paced and very interesting and twists and turns and who is the liar.?
I don’t like to divulge the content too much as what would be the point of reading it - all I would say is I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend.


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Another excellent book by Lesley Pearse, always enjoyed her books! This is a murder mystery that features Amelia who sees a pair of boots amongst rubbish and has always wanted them. As she goes to pull them out of the rubbish, a leg follows.

I have read a lot of Lesley Pearce’s previous books (possibly all) and so was especially excited when I was given the opportunity to read this one early.

Amelia is a young woman who has had a difficult life so far, safe and secure in her little room she is working selling advertising in the local paper, a far cry from her dream of becoming a reporter.

This follows all the twists and changes that Amelia’s life goes through after she finds a murder victim just around the corner from her house. The story isn’t as you would expect and Amelia is shown to be a caring and thoughtful character, desperate to ensure that the victims are not smeared by what appears to be the case at first, but someone is lying to her.

Taking on an investigative role, Amelia is delighted by her first front-page scoop but it’s not all easy for her. She is completely absorbed by the investigation and gets very involved with the families, sometimes to her detriment.

I thought I had the story all figured out a number of times, but I was wrong, even when I realised, I thought I had the next bit all sorted with the ending but again I was wrong! A brilliant, compelling read. A great plot, that’s realistic, and beautifully written.

This was a really quick read, finished in hours. There were some twists, but I predicted most of them, mainly because the title 'Liar' made me suspicious of every character and their role in the story!
Overall, an enjoyable read.

Amelia’s love of boots leads to her finding the dead body of a young woman. At the same time she meets Max who lives just a few doors down from her and the attraction is instant. Amelia works for a newspaper selling ads but really wants to write. Finding a dead body may be her first step into actually writing something for the newspaper but Amelia wants to go further, she wants to investigate why this girl was murdered.
I got into this book quickly but then I kind of ran out of steam and thought there wasn’t enough to interest me. I made a guess to who the murderer was but I was wrong, my second guess was right.
I then became hooked again and the pace of the story quickened. By the end I had enjoyed it and how it ended.
I have read every one of Lesley’s books and I prefer her earlier more historical ones. Although her newer ones are still a good read.

Another masterpiece from the pen of Lesley Pearce and a book i can highly recommend with a great story and charactors.5*

This is the first novel I have read of Lesley Pearse and will be looking out for others as it was quite a read.

Amelia works for a local newspaper selling advertising space. Her background is poor from an abusive family with an alcoholic mother and father quite willing to punch his way in and out of trouble.

Her aspiration is to become a reporter and maybe write a book when one day she comes across the body of a young woman. Convincing her employer to allow her to investigate she soon finds more bodies.

Cleverly plotted as Amelia becomes involved the twists and turns keep coming.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and Lesley Pearse for my ARC of ‘Liar' in return for my honest review.

Great read and highly recommended.

Amelia is an aspiring reporter, that just happens to discover the body of a young woman. She soon starts becoming part of the investigation, while falling in love with the handsome stranger down the street. Honestly, nothing is as it seems, and I just loved the way everything unfolded towards the end. Recommended for anyone who loves a good Lesley Pearse story, you won't be disappointed!
TB

It's been a few years since I've read any of lesley's book, so I was so excited to read Liar, straight away I was drawn in by the story and couldn't put my kindle down, loved the twists and turns and I thought I had the story figured out but I was wrong!!!

Amelia grew up on the cusp of poverty with an alcoholic Mother and a Father who was handy with his fists. At the first opportunity she left home without a backward glance.
Now Amelia is working for a local newspaper, selling advertisements. She has hopes of becoming a reporter and writing a book. One day she comes across the body of a young woman and this discovery soon changes her life for ever. Amelia convinces her enthusiastic employer that she should cover the story. As the plot develops more bodies are discovered. Amelia starts her own investigations, getting embroiled with the families of the victims. She is soon absorbed by the case and it is not long until she discovers who has been lying to her.
With lots of twists, this book is extremely gripping and will keep you reading into the early hours. The plot is realistic and beautifully written. Lesley Pearse is a ‘go to’ author for me and this book does not disappoint in the least. There is no doubt that this is another five-star book to add to her already remarkable anthology.

Superb book.
I haven’t wanted to put this one down! It has literally sucked me in from the very beginning and been impossible to put down.

I have to admit that Lesley Pearse has been one of my favourite authors for many years so I was very excited to see this new release. Luckily I have not been disappointed and Lesley has hit the mark yet again, creating memorable characters - good and bad. This author’s strength lies in being able to create with words a strong visual depiction of the places her characters live in different times (this book was set in early ‘70’s London) and also a detailed back story of characters lives and how they have ended up where they are at the time of the book.
This was a good story, strong characters and some murder and sleuthing involved for good measure. The book progressed at a good pace and kept me eagerly turning the pages. I rated this 4⭐️ and recommend this book to those who enjoy a strong fictional story with elements leaning towards a psychological thriller/crime novel too.