I have to say this book had me hooked to the point that I finished it in 12 hrs ! Just love Clare Douglas and this book did not disappoint ! A book about a book full of all sorts of twists, turns and secrets which kept me turning the pages from start to finish. Brilliant characters which brought the book to life.
My thanks as always to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the early read.

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas

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Here we follow Emilia Ward, a bestselling London novelist famous for her book series about the fictional DCI Miranda Moody. Having finished a draft of her tenth and final book, Emilia sends it to those closest to her. Days later, however, the chilling events of her books start playing out in real life. Whilst unnerving at first, it soon turns sinister as even the events belonging to the unpublished manuscript begin to come to life. Given that only a small handful of people have read the final book, Emilia believes someone close to her is responsible. But who? And more importantly, why?

This thriller had me hooked from the very beginning and has all the elements you want in a fast-paced and suspenseful read: a paranoid protagonist; different points of view; mixed media; and a plot that keeps you guessing right until the very end!
I will definitely be picking up whatever Claire Douglas does next.

Thank you to both @netgalley and @michaljbooks (Penguin) for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Claire Douglas is such an auto-buy of an author for me, so I was excited to read her latest which has a hook that drew me in immediately. It has one of my favourite tropes - a thriller about an author, whose work takes a spooky level of meta when incidents from her novel start to appear in her life. At first these are small things, like a weird present from a ‘fan’ and her windows being open, when she insisted they were closed, until eventually things take on a more serious turn and the takes are raised. Now incidents from her unpublished book is happening in her life, but only a few people have read that, so who can it be? Because according to that the protagonist dies. And if she doesn’t figure out that the answers, her life can be on the line.
This was such a rollercoaster. I devoured it in a day. An absolute to-be-read-in-one-sitting sort of a book. I loved the short chapters, and the alternating chapters between the unpublished manuscript and Daisy’s storyline. You wonder how these threads will come together and they do.

Another brilliant suspense read from Claire Douglas, who is just a consistently superb writer up there with Lisa Jewell and Gillian McAllister.
This one has an intriguing premise, an author who seems to have it all - the house, the husband, the family - finds that she’s being stalked. Not only that, her stalker is imitating scenes from her procedural thrillers…What is going on? And is the serial book in her latest book fictional or real?
This was a such a fast pace read, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the story within the story. At times I was a bit confused when things got a bit meta, but nonetheless it had me hooked and delivered with surprising reveals and twists. I look forward to the next Claire Douglas, and in the meantime can’t recommend this one enough.

A gripping read from start to finish from Claire Douglas. Such a clever plot which had me guessing right up until the end, with twists and red herrings galore!

Emilia Ward is a wife, a mother, and an author of best selling crime novels featuring detective Miranda Moody.

When similar things start happening in real life that correspond to incidents in Emilia's previous novels, she wonders if they are just coincidences. But as more coincidences happen, it becomes clear that someone is out to frighten her, and her friends and family could be in serious danger.

Such an interesting and brilliant style of writing. Chapters mainly in current time following the events happening in Emilia's life. Also, it uses different narratives and extracts from her books. A book within a book!

This is the second book I have read by this author and it won't be the last. Looking forward to reading more.

Absolutely loved The Women Lied, a dynamic and exciting thriller.
Emilia is a crime thriller writer with a wonderful home, two children and a loving husband. But when strange events begin to mirror events from her books she starts to fear for her and her family’s safety, questioning if she really does have the trustworthy and loyal friends and family she thought.
Who is doing this to her and why?
Brilliant and cleverly written, Douglas uses Emilias literary work to create a story within a story and multiple plot twists.
I did manage to predict some aspects of the plot however, as usual Douglas gets the last laugh with a shocking and unpredictable plot twist.

Emilia Ward is a successful author, but when she starts to notice similarities between real-life events and things that have happened in her books, she starts to get concerned.. particularly when these events start to come from a book that she hasn't finished yet and only a handful of people have read.

This was a well-plotted, addictive read that had a believable bunch of characters. Definitely recommended if you are up for a fast-paced twisty tale!

Absolutely loved this book. A book within a book full of twists and turns which kept me turning the pages (rather quickly) from start to finish. Great characters which brought the book to life.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This incredibly well plotted book has thrown so many surprises at me since I started it yesterday that I have just had to keep reading it every time I had a spare moment to try and find out what was going on!
When I began reading I wasn't sure if the story was being told by more than one narrator or if there was a book within the book in these pages, with our main character being an author! This was an amazingly bit of subterfuge as it kept me guessing if what was happening was storyline or if what I was reading was actually the fiction upon which actions were happening for quite a while. This was not confusing to read as each different voice had a reason for being there but once I was sure of what I was reading from them it made me appreciate this authors skill in the way that everything came together to make a fantastic story.
There are a lot of different elements in this tale, obsession, jealousy, and lots and lots of secrets. I'm just relieved that no kittens were harmed in the writing of this book!

Emilia Ward is a crime writer, living in London with her husband and two children. On the bus home one evening all of the passengers are asked to leave the bus due to an incident further up the road. Emilia soon realises that this incident bears an unusual resemblance to one of her books, a popular series featuring Detective Miranda Moody.

Although Emilia notices the similarity, she doesn’t waste much time thinking about it, until it happens again, and again. As Emilia endeavours to write her tenth and final book in the series, she shares a draft with her close friends and family. It is then that things start to happen to her which are straight from the plot of this book, which hasn’t even been published yet. Due to the small group who have been given a copy of this draft book, Emilia deduces it must be one of them who is carrying out the gruelling crimes. But which one and why?

This book is so clever, with split narratives it has such a unique plot. It is really well written, with many clever twists that you don’t see coming, despite the clues throughout the book, which tie the ending together really well. A totally enjoyable read from an author who never fails to deliver.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House

This was an enjoyable read. I loved all the characters and felt they were well developed. Emilia's house sounds stunning. My only negative is that there are a couple of twists to many which drags the story out too much at the end.

The beginning is very unnerving as Emilia a successful author plots start occurring in her real life. It turns out that it can be only one of her closest friends or family que lots of tension as Emilia starts accusing everyone around her desperate to protect her family no matter the cost of her relationships. The books within the book were very good and did not detract from the main story, they helped ramp up the fear as you could see them come to life in Emilia's

I absolutely loved this fast paced psychological thriller from Claire Douglas. I always love books about writers and this combines that with the police procedural side of things as well. The main character, Emilia, is a likeable mum generally looking for the good in people but at times I wanted her to be a bit tougher! I guessed the culprit wrongly twice while reading- the twist was clever and unexpected for me.
Well written, the friendships were believable and the general feel of the book was modern and relatable to stressed working mums trying to balance everything!

Ooh, this book is addictive. I loved the split narratives and really empathised with the main character. I’m always happy to read detective novels that have a book within a book, so this was a perfect read for me. I have to admit that I guessed the culprit about 60% in, but that didn’t curb my enthusiasm for this. A really good read.

Emilia Ward, a best selling crime fiction author, gets plunged into a nightmare when her plots begin to occur in real life. She has just completed her tenth, Miranda Moody detective novel which is waiting to be published, yet someone knows the story. Who is behind these events and why?

I have loved and read every book by Claire Douglas, so had high expectations for The Woman Who Lied. I was not disappointed and pleased to see the author’s usual unique and clever plot was there. I loved the constant guessing and not knowing who to trust or what was going on. About half way through I was 99% convinced I had it all worked out and all I can say is, how wrong was I! The overall story is slightly slower than her previous novels but just as enjoyable, well written and twisty. I am so pleased to see Claire Douglas has more books coming. I can’t wait to read them and will be recommending! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review.

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the publisher's blurb or give away the plot...

Having read several novels by Claire Douglas, I was delighted to be invited to read this one.

As usual, I was gripped and stayed up late to finish it...

The plot is very well thought out, and the characters are believable. I suspected most of the supporting cast at one point or another - red herrings abound in this novel! I was quite pleased with myself for figuring out one part of the plot - only to be surprised by yet another twist at the very end! Great stuff.

There's suspense aplenty - several sections caused my heart to pound (and I got up and closed the curtains...just in case...as I don't have CCTV lol) - Claire Douglas excels at this type of evocative writing!

Looking forward to reading more by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I really enjoyed reading this pacey new thriller from Claire Douglas. The book begins by meeting Emilia and her family. Emelia is a writer of novels and she is thinking of killing off the main character when strange things start happening to her and someone seems to be copying the timeline of her books . She begins to wonder if she is next. This book had me turning the pages as I always knew something else was about to happen and turn everything on its head. I will be recommending this book to others.

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas gripped me from the first page to the last. It was so absorbing that I read it in one sitting.

Emilia Ward is a successful crime writer but her life takes a dark turn when real-life events begin to mirror those in her books.. The clever plot, fast pace and plausible characters plus all the twists and turns make this book a joy to read.

A real treat for fans of crime fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph (Penguin) for this ARC. All opinions in this review are my own.

In "The Woman Who Lied" by Claire Douglas, Emilia Ward leads a seemingly ordinary life as a wife, mother, and bestselling crime writer. Residing in suburban London, she enjoys the comfort of her family and the success of her novels, particularly those featuring Detective Miranda Moody.

However, as Emilia begins crafting her tenth novel, her reality takes a dark and chilling turn. Events eerily reminiscent of her fictional stories start unfolding in her own life. At first, she dismisses these occurrences as unsettling coincidences, but when a person she knows dies in a manner mirroring one of her book's victims, Emilia is gripped with fear and paranoia.

Emilia grapples with a series of questions that haunt her every waking moment. Who is behind these horrifying events? How do they have knowledge of her ongoing writing? And most importantly, how long will it be before her own family becomes the next target?

"The Woman Who Lied" is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the blurred lines between fiction and reality. Claire Douglas masterfully builds tension as Emilia races against time to uncover the truth and protect her loved ones. With its intriguing premise and relentless suspense, the novel explores the sinister depths of obsession and the dire consequences of a writer's darkest imaginings turning into a terrifying actuality.

This was a good read but it did not get my heart racing like some of her other work. Well written with strong characters but very slow and I soon began to lose interest. It did pick up. All in all a good read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

The Women who Lied by @clairedouglasauthor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Once again Claire Douglas does not disappoint with this thriller!
I have been lucky enough to get the chance to read this before publication on 6th July 2023, and its certainly one to get once its available, I couldn't put it down.

Emilia Ward is a bestselling crime writer who lives with her husband and two children, she has her dream life until one day events start happening to her, which replicate events straight from her own novels.

With her new novel shortly to come out, how bad can things get. Someone is trying to share a secret, but will it be at the risk to Emilia and her family.

This book was so well written, just as you think you know how the story's going you are hit with a twist and turn that starts you guessing all over again. I loved the way it was written, as it made you feel you was reading Emilias Novel when it was actually happening alongside, as well as the Daisy parts.

Thank you to @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for allowing me the chance to read this book early.
In the meantime if you haven't already start reading some of Claire Douglas's previous novels you won't be disappointed.