Title: This is Why We Lied
Author: Karin Slaughter
Publication Date: June 20, 2024
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Harpercollins UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One toxic family. Eight suspicious guests. Everyone is guilty. But who is the killer? Welcome to the McAlpine Lodge: a secluded mountain getaway, it’s the height of escapist luxury living.

There are so many triggers in this story. So, proceed with caution. Karin Slaughter's mind went to dark places writing this one.

GBI Agent Will Trent and Medical Examiner Sara Linton have finally tied the knot, and Will has arranged a surprise honeymoon at the McAlpine Lodge. On their first night at the lodge, Will and Sara hear screams and find Mercy McAlpine, the lodge manager, dying in her own pool of blood. They started down the horrific path of tracking down the killer while learning sickening tales of decade-long lies, deceit, and secrets kept hidden by the McAlpine family.

I may have guessed the killer fairly early, but it takes a long time to figure out the 'why?' because there are so many red herrings and layers of suspicions to navigate through. Every little thing seemed to have a purpose, and the plot was well-planned. Karin's development of characters was exceptional, enabling you to create your own conclusions about them based on their shortcomings and standpoint. Slaughter has undoubtedly has a niche when it comes to dark themes and disturbing topics.

The only issue I had was that the book felt unduly long, with constant references to the lodge, weather, cabin, Will's hand, and other details. Though that was just my personal take, I felt that the book was overflowing with descriptions that could have been omitted to make it shorter.

All things considered, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys complex thrillers that will leave you gasping for air and questioning morality.

GBI agent Will & Sara are newlyweds on honeymoon in a remote mountain location. When the manager of the holiday homes gets brutally murdered, Will and Sara get to work on finding the killer. But it isn’t as clear cut as things first seem and a whole host of secrets are uncovered along the way…

Ooh this was twisty and really kept me on my toes! Full of really unlikeable characters and a tragic backstory, I was fully behind Will and his search for the killer. My heart ached for Mercy and what she’d been through.

It is a slow burn and I typically like my thrillers a bit faster paced, but the storyline kept me interested and I was so invested in getting justice for Mercy.

Trigger warnings: domestic and sexual abuse (including that of children)

Another hit from Karin Slaughter, as normal never fails to disappoint, excellent character and storyline and fantastic twists and turns. Thoroughly enjoyed

The story begins with Will and Sara on their honeymoon trekking to a mountain resort miles from anywhere, enjoying the sense of peace and isolation. However, when Will discovers that Dave, who tormented his childhood works at the resort he is bitterly disappointed. He hoped to have left his past behind.

When Dave’s wife Mercy, is brutally murdered, there are various suspects. Mercy had worked hard at the resort, making it successful hoping her son Jon would eventually take over. Unfortunately, Dave, her abusive husband, and father are determined to sell the resort and Mercy’s refusal leads to the crime.

Arriving at the scene, Will and Sara are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible. The story goes back in time before the murder, leading up to the crime. The book is about families and relationships, some toxic and abusive. Characters are well drawn, all have secrets in their past which are graphically explored. The story deals with childhood abuse and domestic violence, which is graphic and compelling. I felt empathy for Mercy, who was working hard to provide for her son Jon, also Sara and Will are strong, positive characters, though others are self-serving and deceitful.

This is a brutal, hard hitting page turner which had me gripped from the first page. Karin Slaughter is expert at delivering suspenseful, gripping thrillers, and this is one of her best.

Will and Sarah are enjoying their honeymoon when it’s suddenly interrupted by a deafening shriek. This is the start of unravelling the mystery of who murdered Mercy. The story goes back into the pov of Mercy, which made me feel quite connected to her along with the letters she has written. This is a very dark mystery that exceeded all my expectations.

Many thanks to Net Galley & Harper Collins for this ARC.

Another excellent book by Karin Slaughter. I have read all of the Sara and Will series. They do not disappoint and would highly recommend them.

This is why I love Karin Slaughter!! She takes a hard hitting story line of domestic and child abuse and mixes it with romance and humour. Ever since Triptych i have been a huge fan and this latest does not disappoint.

Loving the development of Will Trent and Sara Linton's relationship. Just brilliant.

If you like your thriller with a side of character development then this series is 100% for you!

Gosh this is a page turner, very dark, very twisted and utterly unpredictable. It’s my first Will Trent but it won’t be my last although I did have to shut my eyes at some of the descriptions of abuse and slaughter. A very good plot that worked.

This Is Why We Lied is the twelfth book in the Will Trent Series by best-selling American author, Karin Slaughter. Atlanta medical examiner Sara Linton organised their wedding. GBI investigator Will Trent is taking care of the honeymoon and, to his surprise and Sara’s delight, has got it exactly right: a luxury cabin at a family-run, off-the-grid mountain lodge that offers hiking, biking, fishing, canoeing, gourmet meals and sunrise yoga. If only their first night swim hadn’t been interrupted by a blood-curdling scream and the discovery of a stabbing victim, dying even as Will tries to give aid.

Mercy McAlpine, currently managing the resort, has been stabbed multiple times and left on the lake shore. Neither Will nor Sara can stand by and do nothing.

It turns out that, hours earlier, Mercy reacted very badly to the plans her father has for the resort: threats flew back and forth, and quite a few of those present at the family meeting would have a strong motive for killing her. And something Mercy has not shared with anyone else, but one of the guests also might have a serious issue with her.

When a wild storm cuts off road access, Will sends an SOS to his GBI boss, and Faith Mitchell has a locked-room situation she’s always wondered how she might handle. An added wrinkle is that one of the McAlpine family turns out to be the fellow inmate at the children’s home who made Will’s life hell. Dave McAlpine, first adopted then married into the family, and now Mercy’s ex, is known to have often been violent with her, and the prime suspect in Will’s book.

Would that it was quite so cut and dried. People grieve differently, but even for such a dysfunctional group of nasty people, Mercy’s family are behaving very strangely, and when Will and Sara reveal they are not a mechanic and a high school chemistry teacher, the reactions of both hosts and guests are not exactly benign. Of course, they aren’t the only ones who have lied about who they are, or what they do.

My oh my, pre-book a chiropractic appointment before you start this one: there are so many twists, turns, red herrings and surprises, you’ll need it. Before the final, shocking reveals, suspicions of murder land on quite a number of people; Will barely escapes a burning building and going over a waterfall; Faith has an unwanted equine experience; another person dies; to their detriment, people do a lot of drinking; and Will and Sara end up with a honeymoon dinner party story to beat all.

The narrative is carried mainly by Will, Sara, Faith and Mercy, with some back story provided by Mercy’s unsent letters to her son. Faith’s inner monologue offers light relief, as does any dialogue with Amanda and, in fact, any scene that features Faith seems to border on slapstick. Karin Slaughter never disappoints.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

Karin slaughter does it again and I’m not sure how she can make so many books with some many ideas that have me hooked. If you haven’t read the rest of the will Trent series then I would a suggest to do so but it’s not essential. I loved the slow paced of this novel and how it the characters develop throughout the story. The ending had me gripping my seat in anticipation. Loved it

“This is Why we Lied” is the very definition of a page turner. Great pacing and an excellent mystery made it very difficult to put down.

The story is at times horrific and sad and Slaughters character work really makes you hate them or feel sorry for them…..or both on occasion.

Fans of Will and Sara will know what to expect but i think it works as a good jumping on point for newcomers also as any backstory is well explained.

I think any fan of a good thriller will enjoy this book immensely.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the ARC

Once you get over the ick of Sara Linton and Will Trent being ridiculously loved-up and unable to believe their luck at snaring each other, on their honeymoon, this is a fine read.
A crazy family who own a lakeside resort and their mysterious guests are the suspects in the murder of one of the family. But whodunnit?
This is really twisty and turny and it’s also well-characterised: I just wish Slaughter hadn’t layered on all the lovey-dovey stuff…
Highly recommended: a masterful thriller.

Amazing, gripping read that kept me guessing. Twists and turns round every corner. Would highly recommend.

Brilliant! Fast paced, multi-layered with plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked! Couldn't put it down and one of those books that I couldn't stop thinking about when it ended.

A locked room type mystery with a difference.
The action of this story takes place over a few days at an isoltated outdoor persuits resort in the US Stateof Georgia. It's run by a highly disfunctionalfamily who allave secrets and things to hide. Similarly, the guest couples are not being truthful about who they are and their motives for being there either, hence the title that Karin Slaughter has chose.
One of the owning family is found dead and it is obvious that she has been brutally murdered. In the course of the iinvestigation in to the killing, past crimes and atrocious behaviour are uncovered. Throw in incel like activity, lots of red herrings and false leads and you have a really good read as the various lies are uncovered.
I would point out though that it's a long book.

Wow what a thrill ride that was!

I thoroughly enjoyed the latest instalment in the Will Trent / Sara Linton (or should that be Trent?) series. It is very different to the others however. In this book we follow Sara and Will as they begin their honeymoon. So it’s not unusual that they are all ‘loved up’. But for this series… they are really loved up! It takes awhile for that to feel natural when their relationship doesn’t normally play out like this so heavily in the storyline.

Crime seems to find Will wherever he goes so it seems only right that a murder happens on his honeymoon and he is the only person able to (and willing) to solve it. As described in the book it’s a bit of a closed door mystery although I’m sad to say I figured out in the first couple of chapters ‘the mystery’. That said, Karin Slaughter is excellent and character development and situational intensity. The whole book is a relentless steam train of twists, toxic personalities and dark secrets. If you don’t like your crime fiction brutally told then you won’t like Karin Slaughter!

This book flits between being told from the first person and reading letters from Mercy to her son Jon. The more you read the more you realise that appearances aren’t always what they seem and tragedy can be born out of any environment.

Even though I knew the who the figuring out why and how was a reveal that nobody will see coming. The whole premise of the book is tragic and sad but the way in which is told is absolutely thrilling and a real page turner.

It would be Will Trent without Amanda and Faith so rest assured all you hard core fans they arrive just in time for the party to begin!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Karin Slaughter and I must say I really enjoyed it!! The only downside was that I felt it dragged a little bit in the middle, but the beginning had me hooked straight away and the ending, I did not guess the twist at all!! I felt that I’d got to know the characters well even though this is the 12th Will Trent book, it was easy to jump into it without reading any previous books. I’d definitely read other books in this series.

Brilliant book. A alot if detail and information without being too much. Easy to understand and get into. Storyline good and different from the usual thrillers.

I loved it. This is the kind of story that stays with you after you finished it, I cannot tell a lot without spoiling it, but it was amazing reading about Will and Sara again.

I've read and really enjoyed a couple of Karin Slaughter books, but must admit (and I feel embarrassed to do so!) that I hadn't heard of Will and Sarah before so when I realised this was the latest in a long series involving well loved characters I was a bit hesitant about starting. However, it's a well written multi layered thriller and while I didn't know the back stories it was fairly easy to pick up from Slaughter's writing. I'm not sure I would go back and read any previous works, but I will definitely look out for any future ones.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book