The Night She Lied is a psychological thriller about a historic crime and the subsequent court case. Jude’s mother, Lady Margaret calls her in distress during a night shift at the hospital she works at in London. The following day, her mother denies this causing Jude to question what happened.
The novel is full of twists and moves between the past and present. I found the narrator incredibly irritating and the characters unlikeable which detracted from my enjoyment.

Thank you SO much to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved this!! Such great characters and a great storyline.

My full review is to follow in a few days.....

Ahhhhh im so annoyed with the ending of this book. I really enjoyed the whole thing, the suspense, the build up, the complicated storyline....but the ending just let me down so much!

This had more of a crime element than I expect, with a portion of the story involving a court setting. The exploration of the family past was intesting although I found myself certain it would go on another direction entirely as seeds felt there to grow from.

I was frustrates by Jude's insistence at the end regarding the recording - it almost felt like building up barriers instead of taking them down and removing shame. She really did infuriate me there for a few minutes given the weight of the potential consequences of withholding it.

I enjoyed listening to the narrator and the story, while not going how I expected it to, was interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I enjoyed this audio book and have listened to a number by Lucy Dawson, and equally enjoyed them.

This is a detailed story about Jude, her mum, Margaret and Rik..... and the complexity of the relationship between them - is it by chance? Or planned based on historical events?

The characters were interesting and once I got into it, I was keen to find out what happened and listened whenever I could to find out what happened in the end, the court case was interesting!

Thanks to #NetGalley the publisher and author for a DRC of this book

🎧 Audiobook Review:
The Night She Lied by Lucy Dawson
Narrated by Rachel Atkins
Bolinda Audio, 16th November 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:
It’s midnight in the hospital when Jude’s phone rings, interrupting her precious 15-minute break. When she sees it’s her 70-year-old mother, Margaret, she braces herself for the usual complaints. But her blood runs cold at four words that will change everything ... ‘something terrible has happened.’

Margaret has been accused of an unspeakable crime committed 20 years ago. She insists she’s not guilty, and begs Jude to help her prove it. But as Jude is drawn into the dark secrets of her family’s past, she starts to question whether her mother is really as innocent as she claims to be.

Soon, Jude realises what happened 20 years ago is more entangled with her own life than she could ever have imagined. And as she stands face-to-face with her mother’s accuser, she knows the cost of protecting her family will be someone else’s life ...

Review:
I've included the whole synopsis here because this is what made me want to listen to this audiobook. It sounded so promising, and I'm all for a slow burner, but this seemed to contain lots of chapters that didn't really go anywhere.

Margaret was well written as a thoroughly unlikeable character, but why the more affable Jude put up with her, I have no idea!
The narration was a saving grace, which kept me listening for far longer than I would have otherwise.

*I received an audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley.This is my unbiased review.

Good listen and a few good twists , Margaret the mother is absolutely evil why Jude has anything to do with her beats me but it adds to the story

Mixed feelings about this. On the one Hand this was a compelling story with rich characterization and really interesting social cultural background Which made it a delight to read. On the other hand I was expecting this to be a thriller/mystery And honestly, the only thing that we were wondering about during the entire plot was whether or not she was going be found guilty or not. I recommend it but address your expectations for the type of genre.

Whilst at work Jude receives a call from her mother that turns all their lives on their heads. Margaret has been accused of an historical crime, one she denies and wants her daughter to help her disprove. The story moves seamlessly between the two key characters and two time frames; the present and back to the time of the alleged assault. I was sucked in by this book from the beginning, basically due to the book’s title. I wanted to know who ‘she’ was and why she lied! Was it the mother or the daughter or maybe even someone else! From the outset the mother character, to me, had no endearing qualities and as the story unfolded that didn’t change. The daughter however was an incredibly complex character who had me baffled. Just when I thought I had an idea of her character she did something I did not expect. Another unexpected was the court scenes. I love a crime story, a psychological thriller, a domestic drama I’m up for all of these but courtroom scenes leave me cold. Until now. Wow were these scenes well written! I lapped up the drama which felt true to life without getting either too complex and losing me or too bogged down with detail and boring me. Absolutely perfectly written to give a fantastic pace to the tail end of the story for which the writer should be highly commended.

I have unanswered questions, maybe they were answered and I missed them. Who was the drunk girl who threw up at Richard’s feet and what was her connection to him and the story? Was Margaret, the mother, the only liar? Or was Jude’s barrister correct in her assessment of her client - something Johnny didn’t want to see?

I loved this book it was fast paced and complex. Strongly recommend adding it to the TBR list.

The Night She Lied by Lucy Dawson.
It’s midnight in the hospital when Jude’s phone rings, interrupting her precious 15-minute break. When she sees it’s her 70-year-old mother, Margaret, she braces herself for the usual complaints. But her blood runs cold at four words that will change everything ... ‘something terrible has happened.’
I did enjoy listening to this audiobook even though I sort of guessed. Wasn't sure about Jude. I liked her but then I didn't. I really didn't like her mother. 4*.

I randomly picked this on netgalley purely by the title and cover and I have to say this book was very well narrated but didn't grip me and found it a bit slow moving but the narration kept me pushing through.
Thanks to netgalley for sending me this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Rounded up to 3 stars !

Jude is shocked when her mother, in her 70s with a strained personal relationship, is accused of an alleged historical sexual assault on a volunteer at her stables. To top it all, the person accusing her mother, is now entangled in Jude’s life and is torn with her loyalties. Things go from bad to worse when Jude is then accused of murder. She needs her mothers help more than ever, but will she give it?
A shocking plot but didn’t hold my attention well which led to some confusion over plots aspects and perspectives the story was being told from.

The Night She Lied by Lucy Dawson and Narrated by Rachel Atkins was full of twists and turns, which instantly pulls you in and doesn't let go not until the very last page. This book was so good I didn't want it to end.

Every family has secrets. Would you kill to keep yours?

WoW!!!!

It’s midnight in the hospital when Jude ’s phone rings, interrupting her precious fifteen-minute break. When she sees it’s her seventy-year-old mother, Margaret , she braces herself for the usual complaints. But her blood runs cold at four words that will change everything... ‘Something terrible has happened.’

Margaret has been accused of an unspeakable crime committed twenty years ago. She insists she’s not guilty, and begs Jude to help her prove it. But as Jude is drawn into the dark secrets of her family’s past, she starts to question whether her mother is really as innocent as she claims to be.

Soon, Jude realises what happened twenty years ago is more entangled with her own life than she could ever have imagined. And as she stands face-to-face with her mother’s accuser, she knows the cost of protecting her family will be someone else’s life...

Brilliant and I highly recommend this book another 5 star.

Big Thank you NetGalley, Bolinda Audio and Lucy Dawson for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the storyline and the narration. Fairly well paced with twists and turns that kept me guessing. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the genre. Look forward to the author’s next one. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers.

Great audio book with a fab narrator. Really enjoyed the twists and turns and although there were some arfuw characters and was very sad at times it was hooked from the start and would definitely recommend

A well narrated book but I wasn’t won over by it on any other level. The main character could never be described as plausible and the pace of the whole thing fairly unsatisfactory.

This book, even from the book blurb, really intrigued me. I love unreliable narrators. But the thing with this narrator is that she isn’t technically reliable, her sleep schedule is messed up from changing to night shifts. We see her struggle with what is true and what isn’t.

We also see the relationship with her mother and how that changes throughout the book. I found this part to be the most intriguing part of the book. At first, it seems like this mother and daughter relationship may be awkward, but that they only want what is best for each other in their own messed up world. But in the end, that is the furthest thing from true (at least from the mother).

The trial that the mother is facing is a case from many years ago, but we do get sent back to the past in some chapters to see what actually happened that long ago. I really enjoyed these sections as it is looking at so many characters' back stories, and putting more things into perspective as they come up in the present day.

Jude, the main narrator, finds herself in her own trial after a death that wasn’t meant to happen. In most books, I find that the trial scenes fall flat and leave a lot to be desired. That was far from true for this book. I really enjoyed the trial scenes, and found myself lost in the trial itself. Between the thoughts going through Jude’s mind, to the reactions of everyone around her. I felt that these scenes were fresh out of a real-life trial.

The ending came slightly suddenly to me and I wish that it was more of a subtle transition, but I don’t think that pulled away from my enjoyment of the book. This was my first book from this author and I will definitely be picking up more of their books.

I listened to the audio book of this book, and received a free copy from NetGalley in order to write an honest review.

2.5 stars.

I listened to the audio version of this book and it just dragged on so much, it could have easily been a lot shorter. I couldn’t relate to the characters and I found Margaret to be absolutely vile. Sorry this book was not for me

I was excited by this book when I first read the blurb but I’m going to be honest I kind of lost interest half way through, the overall story was good though and I’m glad I finished it, I just think the overall plot could’ve been tightened slightly with less ‘fluff’.

The blurb had me really interested and sounded just like my kind of read. It started off strong but got a little lost in the middle to the point of being really drawn out. It could really have been condensed a lot more as the extra fluff didn’t add anything to the storyline. The story unfolds through past and present timelines which I found interesting for building the story. I found most of the characters not overly likeable and couldn’t really connect with them. I found Lady Margaret truly detestable but I will admit I really liked Johnny. The narration was excellent as it really brought Lady Margaret to life. The was a few surprises along the way but they weren’t worth waiting for as it was obvious where it was going. It was only ok…

Thanks to Netgalley and Bolindo Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheNightSheLied