I listened this whole audiobook in 1 DAY! Shannon Hollinger kept me wanting to tune out the world so I can find out what was going to happen next which rarely happens because you know… life and all. BUT LIFE BE D*MNED - no one was going to talk to me until I finished this book!

Everyone in Coyote Cove has a secret, but it seems one person will go as far as committing murder in order to keep theirs. The narrator does a great job making the twists and turns even more captivating by giving each POV a depth to their personality that can only be expressed through their “voice”.

Maggie Riley, is an infamous detective with an amazing closed-case track record and a heavy burden of secrets. Three years ago, she left everything behind to become Chief of Police in a small town named Coyote Cove where she met her love, Steve, with secrets of his own. As you can imagine, being a woman Chief of Police is no easy task but it is even harder when she stumbles across a man stabbed in the woods lying in his own blood with a young woman named Heather standing next to him. Heather is unable to explain how she came across the man’s body in the woods without revealing her individual secret as to why she was in the woods. Chief Maggie Riley needs to use her detective skills to quickly preserve the body and the evidence before a storm rolls through and destroys everything. Of course, since her past life is a secret from the small town - every action she takes as Chief is scrutinized not only by her peers but by other men of the law who have come into town to assist with the murder investigation (and of course, thinking they can handle it better than she).

Not only will you, the reader, want to find out who the murderer is, but you will also be reading as fast as you can so you can figure out who the victim is and what on earth is everyone trying to keep secret?! The end of this book had me running to see when the second book will be released because I was ready to start it right then and there! Sadly, I will be waiting until August 2 to continue Chief Maggie’s series but all other books will be on hold that day while I quickly consume the next book.

Book one in a new series about a female police chief in rural Maine

I didn't feel this one. I listened to the audiobook, which may have contributed. This story is told through several different POVs. I like when books have multiple POVs, but there are times where I feel like it is too much. This was one of them. It is also harder to keep track of the POV changes (and characters) in an audiobook. ESPECIALLY when only one narrator is used.

So, anyway, I considered DNFing after struggling to pay attention, but I did not. While the "twist" did not surprise me, it did help me reconcile some issues I had with the plot. There are plenty of clues. Just don't dismiss them like I did. I think I'd have figured it out if I hadn't drifted so many times. Instead I just thought there was something guilty about the killer and also that the killer's speech was off.

The ending got better. Enough that I am curious enough to look out for book two once it is released.

Amelia Sciandra narrates the audiobook. Most of my issues with it come from the many different POVs, but some of her dialogue was annoying.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC.

This book tells a story from several different point of views. We get our main heroine Maggie Riley, a detective turned chief in the small town of Coyote Cove. We get Heather, an innocent teenage girl who has had a hard past, We get secondary characters, Riley's coworker Murphy and her boyfriend Steve's POV as well.

Overall, I found the story intriguing. It was well paced, and I never felt bored. If you like crime thrillers this one will fit in nicely. I enjoyed the character of Maggie Riley and felt that she was relatable. The twist at the end was interesting but its not something I could say really surprised me.

The things I didn't like were the narration of the male characters. The narrating was done by a female and her voice for Murphy was nothing but distracting to me. I wish they would have found a male narrator to narrate those chapters. I also find it annoying when they try to make male characters sound different than their regular voice. I don't understand that.

Overall this is worth a read or listen if you are into this type of book. It was a fun way to pass the time for me.

Ok… I absolutely finished this book in one sitting. My six year old almost lost his mind because I couldn’t put it down, lol.

I wont lie.. about halfway through I felt like it started to drag, and then BOOM.. a whole other twist popped up and the entire rest of the book I was like “who are these people? What are the secrets? WHATS HAPPENING?” I did *not* see those endings coming. It’s action-packed, stupidly interesting and so well done.

I enjoyed the multi-pov. I really enjoyed hearing from both Steve and Maggie.. I thought their relationship was just brilliant and I was rooting for Heather the entire time. There was some interesting development with Murphy, but he was the one character I just didnt like. Not because of how his story turned out, but I just couldnt get behind him. It was almost like the author didnt know if she wanted to make him an anti-woman a-hole, or if she wanted a redemption arc for him? Was he someone that got stepped all over or was he someone who had a backbone? Did he only get that backbone bc he mentally snapped toward the end of his arc? I just didnt quite get it… and I thought he could have been a secondary character without a POV honestly.. I would have been fine if his story had been told just through Heather and Maggie’s POV’s and it would’ve worked fine. But thats really the only thing I wasnt a huge fan of in this book.

Otherwise, the story was unreal, the twists were great, I was so glad it just kept knocking me off my feet because thats exactly what I want from a thriller. I’ll absolutely be reading more from this author.

I thought this book started off strong, I’m a sucker for small town murder mysteries and strong female characters. I liked how the relationship between Maggie and Heather progressed, but I thought the end took awhile to wrap up because of everybody’s secrets.

I listened to the audiobook and was not a big fan of the narrator’s male voices, especially one of the state police officers.

I would probably continue to read the series because I liked the setting and Maggie Riley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a detective story with a plot full of secrets so entrenched in the mists of darkness that it will last for several volumes. This is the first book about Chief of Police Maggie.
The plot and the characters' connection is amazingly created. I loved the way the author structured the chapters, they are short and always end in a surprising way, and that robbed me of so many hours of sleep, because I couldn't put this story down .
I only point out as a negative point, the loose end that was left at the end of the book, I would like this case to be closed, as it was left open it left me unsatisfied, because I do not know if the story will start from here in the next volume, or if it will just follow the course of the dark secrets that remained to be unraveled. Netgalley thank you so much for this fantastic book. I will wait for the next one, I can't stay without knowing what Maggie's beautiful eyes are hiding.

#t#hegirlwholied, #shannonhollinger, #mystery, #detectivestory, #netgalley

This is Chief Maggie Riley book one and the way it ended made me excited for book two.

Chief Riley finds a bloody body on the side of the road and she sees a local teen, Heather standing next to the body.

This is an example of how mysteries should go. The book was filled with a lot of twist and turns. Every character seems to have some deep dark secrets, even Maggie which was unexpected for me.

While I loved the structure of the story I didn’t love the arc of some of the characters and the resolutions they got. This is what makes me want a book two even more

The Girl Who Lied is absolutely incredible. I could not stop thinking about it. I can't wait to read the next two in the series, Five stars are not enough for this novel.

The Girl Who Lied by Shannon Hollinger - when I first started listening to the audiobook, I thought that there was no way I was going to get through it. I usually listen at 2x speed and something about the narrator's voice at that speed made it sound not very pleasant and almost robotic. But then I realized that it could have been due to the author's style - she uses shorter sentences and present tense so it's just a bit different.

So anyways, once I got over the narrator, I thought that the story might just not be compelling. It didn't grip my from the very beginning. But then I really started to become interested in Heather and her poor little life! I started to really want to know what happened. I ended up really enjoying the book. I liked how there were several points in the book where I thought that the story is over, they figured it out! But wait! There is MORE! It's not over yet! I liked that aspect a lot. It kept me interested. I did kind of see the end coming though... Even though I changed my mind 5 times going through the book.
All in all, it was an interesting quick book and I would be interested to read more books in this series!

This book was a solidly entertaining thriller that kept me interested throughout the whole book. I listened to this as an audio book and for the most part I enjoyed the narrator. My only complaint is that I do not enjoy when females do males voices on audio and vice versa. It irritates me for some reason!

Anyway, the book is told from multiple perspectives. I absolutely loved the stories of Maggie and Heather. Murph's was less entertaining. Police Chief Maggie Riley is a big city police officer that has had personal tragedy causing her to relocate to the small town of Coyote Cove and take the role as police chief. She has her own past life that she is trying to forget. She is out walking in the woods and discovers a man's body and a local teenage girl named Heather. Heather comes from a poverty stricken family that may or may not care about her. Her life is grim and she seriously wants out! This book has many twists and turns and lots of deceit! I recommend the audio version as a quick, engaging thriller! Looking forward to reading more of the Chief Maggie Riley series!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Shannon Hollinger for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinion. My opinion is my own and has not been influenced in any way.

I am very torn on this book, which is why I’m giving it 3.5 ⭐️. The premise of it started out very exciting. A dead body, a female police chief, and a teenage girl in shock.
This took some very strange turns in the storyline and at times felt like there was just too much going on in different places. I did really enjoy the MC Maggie, and the ending was the twist I felt coming since the beginning.
Perhaps crime/detective thrillers are just not my genre, because I know that many others enjoyed this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the early audio copy in return for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the author, publisher, narrator and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio of this book in exchange for my review.

I'll admit I don't usually go for police/crime thrillers like this one, but the summary sounded like a good mystery, so I decided to try it out. It really wasn't an enjoyable story. The changes of POV were just too much for me. The "small town, backwoods town" and male chauvinism were a lot to swallow, too. Felt more like it was written in the 1980's than a current day book. I know that's often the mentality of small towns, but really, too much.
The character of Heather didn't work for me, either. Her voice really seemed to change a lot from a tough, get things done type small town teen at the beginning of the book to a child in a teen body type of character later on. The added story line of Heather and her mom and sister was really unnecessary.

The narrator really seemed to TRY to give each POV a different voice, but it didn't work for me. Some of the accidents were annoying, and this narrator can't do male voices.

2 stars for 'it was ok'

Chief Maggie Riley moved to Coyote Cove for a quieter life after personal traumas. One stormy night she discovers the body of a man stabbed to death. Then a local girl, Heather stumbles onto the scene, what is she doing out on a night like this?
There are secrets to be uncovered and investigations into possibly more than one death.

Well written novel and very good narration (I listened to the audiobook). Complex characters, fast paced and pasts that impact the present and the future.

Really enjoyed and highly recommend.

Thank youuuuu, NetGalley! This audiobook is fantastic! I have to admit, however, I couldn’t stand any of these characters. All of them felt a little shady and pretentious, but that seemed to keep me curious. Hollinger did an incredible job at building suspicions and keeping you guessing throughout the mystery.

The narrator of this audiobook also ROCKED the povs while reading. The inflections of the various characters helped in following the dialog exchanges.

I will be recommending this one to my book friends who love thrillers and mysteries. That twist at the end had my jaw on the floor.

This book was twisty and I did not see the end coming. It was a good introduction to the series and I am interested to see how the author develops the characters. The subject matter of the book was very dark but not too graphic. Can’t wait for the next in the series.
I was given a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

It’s the first in the series of the Chief Maggie Riley series. It started off strong but it kind of lost its way and the plot jumped around a bit. It was a little like it was in fast forward and it lacked the suspense and build up to the outcome. I loved Maggie and Steve as characters and think they have great potential as a duo. Heather was also a little fire cracker. Unfortunately this one didn’t do it for me and I lost interest a bit.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheGirlWhoLied

I just listened to The Girl Who Lied by Shannon Hollinger, and I've found a new favorite mystery-writer author to follow! I don't know how long Ms. Hollinger has been published, but this book had polished, self-assured writing with a gripping storyline full of mystery and surprises. But they were the good kind of surprises, ones that don't feel like a cheat on the writer's part, just a big old "pull the rug out from under all your suppositions" kind of surprise!

This is the first in a series of Chief Maggie Riley books, and at the end of this story we are left with plenty of questions about the background of both Chief Riley and her boyfriend, Steve. They both have mysteries in their past that drove them to live in a little two-bit town like Coyote Cove, and though some of these questions are answered, there is still more to be revealed. In this story we see that Chief Riley is a thoughtful, methodical detective, most likely over qualified for the position she is holding, a job she took for her own personal reasons.

We also meet Heather, a mentally disabled teenager who we are introduced to under very unfavorable conditions. The author gives Heather such a strong voice, as she reveals layers of her personality and we come to see her as a person, not just a caricature of a country hick.

I was not familiar with the narrator, Amelia Sciandra, but she did a great job and I especially liked her rendition of the character Heather.

I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series! Five big stars from me! *****

Thank you to Bookouture Audio, the author Shannon Hollinger and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to thank #NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a huge Castillo fan and when I read about Holliger's character, Chief Maggie, I was intrigued. At first, I wasn't all that impressed, I think it had to do with the narrator. If I'm going to listen to a book with multiple characters, I'd rather the voice not sound horrible because one person is doing them, or for this matter, doing all of the voices! Regardless, the story was great! It was thrilling, mysterious, a little bit of romance, and all the makings for a great series! I cannot wait for the next one!

Chief Maggie is the first woman chief in Coyote Cove in Maine. She’s out and about and comes across a dead body. She’s trying to prove to herself and everyone else she’s a great chief. She has secrets herself. I listened to this as an audio and it did keep me interested for the most part. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy. To be published August 2023.

Very fast paced with lots of twists and turns. You think you've worked it out and then something else occurs that gets you thinking you're wrong!