A twisty psychological thriller and family drama here, highly readable and very engaging.

I really didn’t like EITHER of the people in this seemingly great marriage and for me that made the story beautifully addictive, also hugely real because we all have our faults and the fault lines in this particular relationship are fascinatingly dark.

Having said that I also came up with random moments of sympathy for both parties as a missing woman, hidden secrets and family loyalties divide the pair into separate warring factions…but are they being manipulated by a force as yet unseen?

This is a clever story, the author messes with perceptions beautifully, mostly within the characters of Roy and Mia, both too blinded by their own stubborn realities to see what’s going on around them.

Will the golden couple survive? Is one of them a killer? Where did Emily go? All questions will be asked and answered in a vividly written and intelligently plotted novel, a classic example of why this genre remains so popular.

Recommended .

Your Truth or Mine is pacey and twisty and didn’t go where I thought it would - which is exactly what I want in a psychological.

To describe the web(s) of lies and deceit on offer here as complicated is to seriously underestimate this plot. I think I’m right in saying that every major character here is lying to at least one other character - as well as to themselves. I am trying to picture a Venn diagram of this and can only begin to imagine the plotting notes and diagrams that went into keeping this all straight. And yet, Ms Sakhlecha is so surefooted that I always knew where I was in the story, whose head I was in and, crucially, what they did and did not know at this point. Quite how she managed this is anyone’s guess!

Something else I really enjoyed was the sense of place. Although most of the novel takes place in London, early on, there is a gloriously evoked sequence in India. Against the backdrop of one couple’s wedding, another couples’ lives begin to unravel - although they won’t realise it for another few months. Ms Sakhlecha puts the setting to stunning use, giving us emotional turmoil and there-but-for-the-grace-of-God drunken lapses set against a kaleidoscope for the senses. You can really see this story playing out as a perfect TV drama series.

As you would expect, the stakes driving things forward here are all emotional. Somebody has what someone else wants. But we don’t always get what we want in this life, do we? And even if we do, will it really end up being everything we thought it was? (Not a spoiler alert: Of course it won't!)

When we meet Mia and Roy they are a couple in crisis with the police in their front room. This offers plenty of scope for questions about marriage and commitment. What makes a good one tick? Is there even such a thing? How can you glue a smashed one back together again? Even if you could, would you even want to? As an innocent bystander (or reader) what should I want them to want? I had definite views on this and will confess that the author had me quite worried for a while there near the end!

I am grateful to both the publisher and Netgalley for letting me have an advance look at this novel.

Super novel - beautifully written in the typical short bust of chapters - her view, then his view of events quickly unfolding after lies and justifications begin in a marriage. While reading the first half I had no idea where this book was going and it didn’t matter, I didn’t even try to guess who was telling the truth or not, just letting it unfold. Loved, loved it. Will be a bestseller when released!