When Lexie's sister Amber is murdered her life is turned upside down. Her mother finds solace in drinking and all Lexie's plans for the future crumble any her ambitions face to nothing. 15 years on and the person found guilty of the murder contacts her as the death penalty date has been set. It's her ex boyfriend Riley and now Lex starts to have doubts about his guilt but she only has a short time to prove his innocence. At times I found this story a little slow but it did pick up pace at the end culminating in a stunning twist that left me stunned as it was so unexpected.

Sisters Lexie and Amber. Close in age but growing apart when, aged 16, Amber is brutally murdered on the night of the Homecoming Dance. Fifteen years on, Lexie hasn't moved on with her life, guilt eating away at her. Her boyfriend on death row for her sister's murder. We're teased throughout the book by glimpses of what happened that night and Lexie hinting she was doing something she can't talk about. We see the devastating effects not just on a family but on a whole town that last decades. While I did guess at the outcome it was no less shocking for it. Excellent. #netgalley #sweetlittlelies

I found Sweet Little Lies to be an interesting read. It had lots of twists and turns to keep the suspense levels ramped up but I did find elements of the story confusing in places.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my ARC.

I needed a quick thriller, and Sweet Little Lies hit the spot!
The story of sisters, told for multiple POV, and delegate timelines. A murder occurs on the night of the homecoming dance and the killer has been in prison ever since. But did they get the wrong man?

Reading through this as Lexie goes about trying to find out who really murdered her sister, Amber, was like unwrapping the perfect gift on Christmas morning. Constantly giving us new info and sneaks into the past, we find ourselves in a high at the end as the truth is finally revealed. Or is it??

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Pub date: 08 Sep 2023

Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy, for my free, voluntary and honest review. This book was a page turner that gripped me from page 1. Phenomenal story that has so many twists and turns, all realistic and keeping me in the edge of my seat. I absolutely recommend this book, and hope to read more Karin Nordic novels very soon. BRAVO!

Even if it's entertaining I found that the story required a suspension of belief that was bigger than usual.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a book that kept me hooked until the end. The story alternated between the past and the present. The death of Amber by her sister, Lexi's boyfriend 15 years earlier forms the plot of the story. 15 years later, he is sentenced to death, but the doubts in Lexie's mind of whether he is innocent urges her to take action. What then happened was Lexie's travel to the past to find clues regarding her sister's death.

The book was full of suspense. The question as to why Amber was killed along with Lexie's involvement in the same made me curious. As the story progresses, many details about Amber's past is revealed, thus bringing a clear picture of the girl. The ending too was the fitting one for this mystery.

This is a really easy book to read and I finished it in just a few days. It has a very good plot with lots of twists, but what keeps you reading is the characters. They are very well-drawn and the author makes the reader care about what happens to them.
The story is told from the perspective of Lex. She's a school janitor in the school she went to herself, trapped in the same claustrophobic town that she'd hoped she would escape from. But a tragedy in her past and the impact on her family meant she never got away.
Lex's sister Amber was killed fifteen years ago when she was a teenager - and Lex's then boyfriend Riley was jailed for her murder. Riley is now about to be executed. But when he sends Lex a letter, she's pulled into looking into the death of her sister to try and find out whether Riley actually did it, or whether there is still a killer on the loose.
Lex is a very likeable character. She's insecure, timid and unsure of herself, traits that lots of people will have experienced in themselves at one time or another. Obviously she was deeply affected by Amber's death but we also get the sense that her insecurity existed before that, that she always had a feeling of not belonging.
This is partly why she was attracted to Riley, who was a foster kid from the 'wrong' side of the town and grew up in poverty with foster parents who didn't care for him. But she's also been filled with self-doubt and anxiousness because for 15 years she has wondered whether Riley actually killed her sister, and has put up with various people in her community suspecting her of knowing more than she lets on.
On top of this, she has a mother who seems to not care for her at all and is being consumed by alcoholism that has developed following Amber's death. Following the death of her father, Lex basically has no one to rely on.
It's clear from the start that Lex has a secret. She won't reveal where she was or what she was doing on the night Amber died. The story is told both in the current time and from flashbacks from the past, which is a great way of letting the reader get to know the characters better while also deepening the plot.
The description of Lex and Riley's relationship is very sweet, and helps us feel a lot of sympathy with him as a possible wronged man. As the book progresses we feel like Lex does - that the killer could in fact be anyone and that there's no one that she can truly trust. And there's a brilliant twist at the end.

A slightly implausible story of a sister-Lexie-trying to find out who killed her younger sister Amber fifteen years previously. Lexie’s ex- boyfriend ,Riley, had been convicted of Amber’s murder and is due to be executed in a few days’ time in the state of Ohio. Riley contacts Lexie who then wonders if someone else was the murderer.
It is a simple story of a woman speaking to others in her homecoming school year and to people who remember the night of the murder.. Some of the characters are clichéd and lack depth so the story doesn’t feel authentic. It is entertaining but disappointing in comparison to Nordin’s first novel “Where Ravens Roost”, a book that I loved..

I really enjoyed this! I like how unexpected the ending is and how the author drew me in within the first few pages. The story moves at a good fast pace. This is a really solid thriller that I would recommend! Special Thank You to Karin Nordin, HQ Digital, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Sweet Little Lies" by Karin Nordin is a disappointing thriller that promises much but ultimately delivers very little. From the outset, it's clear that the author is trying to create a web of misdirections and surprises, but what we end up with is a convoluted mess that strains credulity at every turn.

One of the biggest issues with this book is the sheer number of misdirections. It's as if the author is trying to keep the reader constantly off balance, but instead of creating suspense, it just becomes tiresome. Every chapter seems to introduce a new plot twist or reveal that is so far-fetched that it's impossible to take seriously. It feels like the author is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, and the result is a narrative that lacks coherence and depth.

Furthermore, the random and unbelievable surprises in the story only serve to highlight the lack of a well-thought-out plot. Characters make decisions and take actions that are completely out of character and defy logic. It's as if the author is more interested in shocking the reader than in creating a story that makes sense.

In the end, "Sweet Little Lies" by Karin Nordin is a frustrating read that falls short of its promises. The abundance of misdirections and random surprises may appeal to some, but for those looking for a well-crafted and believable thriller, this book is a letdown.

This was a great book and really kept me on the edge of my seat. The first few chapters were a little slow, but by midway in, it really picked up!
I was provided an ARC copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of Sweet Little Lies, a stand-alone psychological thriller set in the fictional town of Braxton Falls, Ohio.

Fifteen years ago Lexie Wicker’s sister, Amber, was murdered after the school dance and her boyfriend, Riley King, was convicted. Now he’s about to be executed and contacts Lex as she is now known maintaining his innocence and asking her to investigate. The problem is she knows more than she told and she’s still not speaking.

I should know better by now than to read psychological thrillers as they tend to annoy me with their less than realistic premises and frequently unreliable narrators. Sweet Little Lies is no different with the action set in the week before the execution date and Lex keeping secrets that involve blood with no further explanation until much later in the novel. So, is the late investigation date designed to ratchet up the tension? If so, it didn’t work for me as the novel is very slow for most of it. She doesn’t make a single discovery in the first 40% of the novel. Instead it examines her poor excuse for a life in the present and goes back to 2007 to cover the events in the run up to Amber’s murder. I found it hard to keep my attention on the plot as I found it quite uninteresting and it took me days rather than hours to finish.

The novel picks up in the second half with more reveals, secrets unraveled and a monster final twist that deserves 10/10. Still, it was too late for me to really care. I didn’t find the characters appealing and even by the end of the novel had no real understanding of why Lex stayed in Braxton Falls, when she had a chance to leave and parents who would have supported her. It feels contrived.

Sweet Little Lies is not for me, but it is a well executed psychological thriller, which I think will go down well with genre readers.

In Braxton Falls, Ohio, a teenager is murdered, and her sister's boyfriend is found guilty of killing her and is sentenced to death. Fifteen years later, Riley's execution is scheduled, but is he the real killer?

This book is so good! The story just flows along, and it is such a pleasure to read. It is a psychological thriller but also a story about the secrets teenagers keep from their parents and even from each other. At first, I didn't like the main character (Lexie, the dead girl's sister). I thought she was too timid and didn't stick up for herself, but all that changes as she tries to prove her ex-boyfriend is innocent.

I kept changing my mind as to who the killer was. There were many twists, which is something I love in a thriller. Some things I saw coming, and some plot twists were a complete surprise.

This was an easy read in that it kept my attention on every page. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a great thriller.

I can now draw the breath I have been holding during the last chapter of this excellent book. Brilliantly written and with twists and turns galore - a really great read! The characters are well rounded and believable. A ‘must read’.

This was quite an interesting read. The suspense was ramped up slowly and you didn’t know who to believe! A good ending also. #SweetLittleLies #NetGalley

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily


Sweet Little lies is a standard mystery thriller set around the death in a small town America where Amber was murdered on the night of the homecoming dance, 15 years ago, by Riley the boyfriend of Amber's sister, who has just got the date for his execution.

Lexi, the murdered girl's sister has always been unsure of the verdict but is that because of who Riley was to her or the evidence.

This could have turned into the standard mystery thriller which involves a two timeline examination of a murder that happened 15 years ago involving highschool students, however Karin Nordin takes Sweet Little Lies, above this run of the mill storyline, that can work well and takes it above that.

Firstly there is a number of discussions about the death penalty and the methods used mainly concentrating on nitrogen in addition to how the victims family and friends feel about it,

Nordin also did in my opinion a reasonable task of telling in the story how the individuals are affected by the events the crime both leading up to and after the crime in the short term in flashbacks as well the 15 years since, this in my opinion gave Lexi and her mother a much better character development then it could have been.

For me the only weakness of the novel was the ending I know with Sweet Little Girl being a thriller any twists and turns may seem a little out of the blue, or even just annoys the reader.

To me, as the review on finishing the novel, this book definitely had an annoying ending, having said that it did not diminish my enjoyment of this mystery thriller.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. The first half was slow and I nearly gave up. The last quarter was much better but the main plot was predictable. Lexie, the narrator was not a likable character so I had no sympathy for her.
This is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

I absolutely loved this author's previous books in the Det Kjeld Nygaard series and I do hope there is another in the pipeline. In the meantime, this standalone filled the gap nicely, being of the quality I would expect given what had gone before.
We start with sisters, Lexie and Amber. They are only 10 months apart in age and are very close. Sadly, at the age of just 16, at a Homecoming dance, Amber was murdered and Lexie's then boyfriend Riley convicted of the crime.
Fast forward 15 years and Lexie's life is well and truly in a rut. She never left her hometown. She has a menial job as custodian in the high school she herself attended and is the subject of what could only be described as ridicule and tricks. She has a bit of a rubbish life all told. Compounded, if that is at all possible by her alcoholic mother.
But everything is about to get a whole lot worse for her as Riley is due to be executed for his crimes. Did I forget to mention that he is on death row. His date is only days away and he is still protesting his innocence. A position he has maintained forever. Lexie has always had her doubts and time is running out for her to air them, to act on them. Until she gets a bit of a nudge...
And that's all I am saying. Apart from, as much as possible try and go in as cold as you can. If you trust me, just stop reading any more reviews and just get the book.
what I really liked about this book was that I wasn't drawn to be completely sympathetic about Lexie, or Lex as she is now called. I thought that maybe she was a product of her own making and that she was allowing what had happened to really define her way too much. But then given her mother, it's not too wide a leap to believe she didn't get the help she might have needed... I was also very much on the fence about Riley...
Amber herself was a bit of an enigma all the way through. Obviously those who die young also tend to die more as angels, and the good that has been lost outweighs the bad that might have been bubbling up. But there is little to point the reader in either direction. Neat trick, kept me guessing!
It hit the ground running for me and help my attention all the way through as it flitted between past and present seamlessly. As the narrative progressed, I tried to second guess but fell foul of the author on more than one occasion. And then there's the ending. Which spoilers prevent me from saying any more about apart from - WOW!
All in all, a cracking stand alone, which I thoroughly recommend, now give me more Nygaard please !!!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I'm still reeling from the ending of this book. Wow, just wow. If you like atmospheric thrillers, I can't recommend this one enough. It follows Lexie Wicker 15 years after her high school boyfriend was accused of brutally murdering her sister and everyone in town thinks she must have known he was plotting it. But what if he's innocent? This is a propulsive book just days before the execution of Lexie's former boyfriend Riley as she tries to put puzzle pieces together about what really happened. It's on a dual timeline, allowing readers to see the characters as high schoolers, around and after the time of the murder, and in the present time. There is also an exciting element of a local legend called the Wynwood Witch that I thought was a clever addition.

The pacing could be slow at times, and sometimes I felt like I was having to wait too long for bits of information, but otherwise, it was a page-turner and I enjoyed the wild ride.