I have come to learn that the GR members that I follow are a great resource for some exceptional book recommendations😊 This was another great recommendation. Besides the 4star rating, it had a couple of things going for it that I love in a story. It had an MC who is a smart, tough, female, police chief in some small town, and it had a murder mystery that involved some long-buried secret in the town/townspeople.

The book summary pretty much lays out the two primary storylines of Maggie and her one deputy, Dale Murphy, investigating the discovery of a dead body of a stranger out in the woods that surrounds the town. Then there is the investigation of Heather, a 16yr old, developmentally challenged girl, who was found coming up on the dead body shortly after its discovery. It’s revealed in the first half what Heather was doing out there, which leads to another discovery at her home, but I’m not going to mention that here because it would be a spoiler.

There are also two secondary storylines: one surrounding the disappearance of Murphy’s mother 30yrs earlier and the other is the burgeoning relationship between Maggie and her neighbor, Steve, and the secrets that they’re keeping from each other. Maggie came to Coyote Cove a few years ago, after a very distinguished career down in Florida, when the case of her brother’s murder drove her out of the force. She came to hideout in Maine. Steve’s secret isn’t revealed until later in the story so I’m not going to mention it because I think that would be a spoiler.

The story flips back and forth between Maggie, Steve, Murphy, and Heather. It sounds like it can get confusing with the all the different POV’s, which is why a lot of readers don’t like stories with a lot of POV’s. More times than not, I truly believe that has more to do with poor execution of the POV’s by the writer than anything to do with the reader. However, Hollinger did a good job of organizing and presenting the different POV’s so that the multiple POV’s didn’t hang up the reader and/or the story. JMHO

By the halfway point, the investigations of the dead body and Heather have taken on some strange directions because of some of the things that have been discovered. Even the investigation regarding Murphy’s mother has Maggie questioning some of the leads and discoveries. I’m feeling shades of Linda Castillo’s Painters Mill creeping into the story (minus the whole Amish thing). It’s this one comment that has the creep factor triggering my feelings:

“We travel slowly down back neighborhood streets to our next stop, passing front yards stilled with kid’s bikes, toddler’s power wheels and mother’s flowerpots. It seems a perfect example of family life, untouched by evil and sin. I wonder how many of the doors we’re passing have ugly secrets lurking behind them. I wonder at the nature of human perseverance, about what breaks us and what makes us stronger.”

Yeah, I don’t think Coyote Cove, ME is the quaint little old logging town it’s trying to portray itself as. There’s something sinister going on in Coyote Cove.

It’s deep into the second half when the different storylines take such a wild and crazy twist and turn, that I am absolutely dumbfounded. I can’t believe what I just read. At this point, I have no idea where this series is going, but it’s too late, I am hooked. I need to know what is #%!! is going on. Hollinger is a good writer and storyteller.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Amelia Sciandra, did a good job with not only Maggie’s character, but several other characters as well. I liked her rendition of the Campton character; he sounded like the obnoxious jerk he was😊 I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #BookoutureAudio #TheGirlWhoLied

This is the first book in a series of crime thrillers from Shannon Hollinger centring around Chief Maggie Riley who has inexplicably left a big City post to come to take a position in a small town where she is hugely over-qualified for the role. The discovery of several bodies leads to lots of secrets being revealed on the parts of those who are potentially perpetrators of the crimes and those investigating them too!
This is a fabulous page turner, told from multiple points of view leaving you reeling as more twists and turns manifest themselves as the story progresses.
It certainly packs a punch as a first book in the series and the characters are well enough developed to leave you wanting more. I am particularly intrigued by Chief Maggie Riley herself and know there is more to be revealed of her story in future books.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did an excellent job of bringing the story to life.
I am looking forward to the next in the series already!
Grateful thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced listener copy of this book. I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

A fast read with plenty of twists, turns and nuisances to keep you wanting more. This excites me for more chief Maggie Riley books in the future. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. Five stars!

The author of The Girl Who Lied, Shannon Hollinger, has degrees in Crime Scene Technology and Physical Anthropology and it shows. The details in the crime scenes and dialogue from the multiple points of view are spot on. This book is part #1 in a series about Chief Maggie Riley, a former hot shot detective, now living in Maine. She has a secret she is hiding from the small town she has run away to, which threatens to become uncovered when a body is found. This story is full of twists and turns and makes the book quite interesting. On audio, it's great, in fact I finished it in less than 24 hours! Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a bit of a slow burner for me but I found myself hooked as the secrets began to spill out. There were some nice twists and unexpected turn arounds that kept me engaged. I really appreciated a strong, complicated female protag who wasn't perfect. Chief Maggie has her own secret history to contend with.

One of my favorite scenes was when Maggie is questioning the hotel owner, Margaret. I *love* how Hollinger describes the two women, so very different and yet so very similar!

I'd totally recommend, and am looking forward to reading more from this series. The only thing I'd note, is this might be more easily digested in written format (I did the audiobook) because there are quite a few POVs which is sometimes a little confusing in audio.

This was good, but not amazing. The story was entertaining and had all the necessary twists to keep you curious. It had the usual tropes for a small town crime read that you've seen before: a not-from-around-here police chief with secrets of her own, annoying detectives who also have secrets of their own, quirky/creepy locals, and of course a dead body. Throw in Heather (the title's "girl") to this mix and you have all the makings for a great better-lock-your-doors-tonight thriller. This is all good stuff, and the group of characters were well written, engaging, came with interesting back stories, and were just odd enough to make you question each one of their motives.

My only issue with this was that it just didn't stand out from other books in this genre. I feel like I've read this same thing multiple times, and the big twist at the end wasn't particularly shocking. It was more like "oh, okay, that makes sense" instead of "holy #*^&!!!" Nor were the mini twists scattered throughout the book, which gave off the same meh vibes. It wasn't particularly creepy. It certainly wasn't scary. So, I'd recommend this for people who are looking for a palette cleansing, very easy-to-read thriller. If you're looking for something that will knock your socks off and keep you up at night, maybe skip this in lieu of something just...more.

Well written with a good pace and plot twist. Content warnings for baby death, faking disability, and generally unlikable characters

This is actually the first audio book I’ve ever listened to. I generally “forget to listen” if I try audiobooks. I was a little concerned that I would not like the narrator, but I was very pleasantly surprised! She was great! She spoke clearly and articulately. Her voice was calm and pleasant to hear abs while she did a great job expressing the tone and mood of the book, it wasn’t over the top.

The book itself was great. My first book by Shannon Hollander and I was happy to see that she has other books to read! If I had any complaints it would be that at parts it was a little wordy. But, overall, I didn’t mind it. I had a suspect in my mind for the first crime. I have to admit I was surprised, not so much by the actual murderer but, by the twist surrounding the confession.

This is a very clever crime thriller. The audio version was a perfect way to experience murder in small town America with many deeply flawed characters. The drip drip drip of the characters back stories continually ramped up the tension. I look forward to finding out more about the secrets of Chief Maggie Riley in future books. Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Maggie goes to investigate a murder in this new series by Shannon Hollinger. Heather comes out of the woods looking shaken when Maggie is at the murder scene. What happens next is a lot of twists and things you would not see coming. I'm starting to feel like all these books are the same. They are losing interest for me, but this book was good and you will not guess the ending!

I’m a bit torn on this one. Overall, I liked the story, but it wasn’t very gripping for me at first like police procedurals usually are for me. I had a hard time following along, so I think it might be better served being read as opposed to an audiobook. I think part of the problem is that the narrator, although fantastic, did not match with the protagonist. What I mean by that is that Chief Maggie Riley is supposed to be in the same age range as her boyfriend, who is old enough to have silvering hair. That means Maggie is probably in her forties to fifties. The narrator sounded like a twenty-year-old girl to me, and I had a really hard time getting past that. (That and every bad male stereotype ever got rather annoying.) With that being said, aside from a few inconsistencies and repetitions in the story, it wasn’t all bad. The storyline itself was a good one. I think if it had been told solely from Maggie’s perspective it would have been much better. I will warn other readers though, you will hate Heather at first. Stick it out though, the ending will throw you for a loop!

Huge thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

Chief Maggie Riley has moved to the small town of Coyote Cove and is hoping to escape her past, but it all starts catching up with her when she finds a body.

There are some great characters in this book and they all seem to have secrets, some of which start to come to light throughout the book, but Shannon Hollinger has cleverly held some back for the next instalment in the series.

There were some slow parts where not much seemed to happen, but then the pace picked up and I was really rooting for Maggie and her boyfriend, Steve, as the twists kept coming! It was tense at the end!

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Shannon Hollinger and Bookouture for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Chief Maggie Riley relocated to Coyote Cove a few years ago to start her life over again. She is the chief of this small town where not much happens. Her life restart is going well and she even has a boyfriend. Things change one night when she is returning home and comes across a dead man. The man is not a local. Maggie now must investigate this crime. She has to call in state police and even contacts from her previous life. During the investigation, Maggie uncovers many things that would have been better left hidden. There is a local teenager who becomes entangled with the investigation. Should Maggie consider her a suspect? As Maggie digs into the murdered victim's past, she learns that he may not be the person he presented himself to be. The investigation ends up revealing not only secrets from the victim's past, but Maggie's and her boyfriend's. Who is the murderer?
This book has lots of secrets and twists. It is hard to put down (or hard to stop listening). It is told from multiple points of view. This gives you glimpses into what each character is hiding. The narrator did a good job bringing the characters to life. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

What a good story, about a woman trying to escape her past only to get caught up in a small town's mystery of who killed who. The characters were easy to follow and I couldn't help admiring Maggie & Steve for their cautious love story. But the whole plot of killings and burying in the back yard not only by one but two people brought you right back into the "back country" of this small town.

There was just the right amount of twists and turns and I loved how the actual killer gets revealed, another twist. Thank you Shannon Hollinger for writing this and for Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read it first.

I enjoyed this audioARC which I downloaded from NetGalley.

It was a little on the dark side for me - especially the ending - but it was very well-written and atmospheric, and I liked the main characters Maggie and Steve.

I could imagine this making a great film or TV series - I'd certainly watch it.

Three Word Review: The Girl Lied.

Absolutely loved this book. Can’t wait for next one. Very cleverly written, giving nothing away. Lovely character development.

I find it hard to rate books like this. The bottom line is I disliked every character....and that makes the book hard to like. BUT the writing was phenomenal, the audio narration is great, and the story was creative.

I'm curious to delve into the rest of the series. Maybe there's a Redemption arc?

I was chosen to review the audiobook version of this book.
We all know small towns often hold secrets, and in this story, the small town of Coyote Cove may hold more than most. I was intrigued right from the get-go and dove into the mystery with both feet. I found the introduction of characters and atmosphere rich in detail, which really engaged all my senses. This mystery thriller involves multiple points of view as well as murder, missing persons, and kidnapping themes. All explored with great detail.
I often listen to audio books at a speed of 2.5 while doing other activities, and the narration by Amelia Sciandra was still perfection. I was able to clearly hear every detail without pausing to replay. Amelia does an outstanding job bringing the story to life through every twist and turn.
After devouring this title, I instantly replayed it as I enjoyed it so much, and I am honestly looking forward to the next two in the series. I would easily award 5 stars for overall entertainment and engagement. Excellent WOW value!
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to listen to and review this title.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

The Girl Who Lied
Shannon Hollinger

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the first book I've read by this author and the first in the Chief Maggie Riley series and I am obsessed.

When Maggie comes across the body of an unknown male and finds young Heather wandering the woods alone at night, suspicions run high and the investigations begin.

There were literally so many twists and turns in this story and I honestly have up trying to work out any theories (although I still had some ideas).

I loved that this was set in a small town where supposedly everyone knew everything about each other, but there were so many secrets and lies flying around and I just didn't know who to trust! ...but this really added to the tension and excitement of the book. I'm not even sure that there were any non- morally grey characters!

The twists at the end were just brilliant and left things open for further development in later books perhaps.

The writing style was perfect. Fast-paced and intriguing and it just fed parts of the story in small chunks which built up the tension and suspicion throughout.

I cannot wait to get hold of book 2 and will be keeping a close eye on any new book announcements by this author - this was just my perfect genre and I flew through this in just a day!





💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

3/5 stars for me on this one. While I admired the twists throughout and the plot, it was almost a DNF for me about halfway through. If anything - stick it out until the end. With all of the characters and similar names, I would read this one in a hardcover format instead of an audio - but that’s just me. The narrator did a great job reading through it and creating voices to distinguish the large spectrum of characters involved. There were a lot of story lines converging in this one. I would be interested to see how the next books unfold since it said this was a Maggie Riley #1 book.