This is Why We Lied

This Is Why we Lied is the next book in the Will Trent and Sara Linton series which just gets better and better. There is such depths to these two whose personal journeys I have followed and loved, as a crime thriller the action, excitement, jaw dropping moments and ‘who the heck did it’ are relentless.
I particularly loved how Will has finally found peace and pure love with Sara which glows off the pages. That said this is a hard hitting story of domestic abuse, child cruelty, alcoholism and drug addiction.
Now on their honeymoon Will has booked an isolated mountain guest retreat in a beautiful area for them to explore and be together. They are met by Mercy whose family owns the retreat and she manages it and looks after the guests. After only being there one night Mercy is murdered and Will and Sara are plunged straight into the investigation. There are also chapters where we go back hours before the murder and learn about Mercy’s life and the lead up to the murder which really sets the scene well.
All manner of secrets are slowly revealed, lies corruption and illegal activities are exposed. I really thought I had it all wrapped up and had worked out who the the murderer was but my goodness I was way off. The reveal when it came is shocking, so much so I had to read the ending three times to believe it.
In my opinion this is a masterpiece of a crime thriller with a brilliant plot line and a cast of characters whose depth have your total investment in the story.
My thanks to netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Karin Slaughter always delivers and I have been a fan of her books for a very very long time!

Will and Sara are finally on their honeymoon, having just got married. Unfortunately, a murder takes place and Will and Sara quickly discover not everything is as it seems.

If you are familiar with the series, this is a must read! If you are not familiar, please go back and read the first Will Trent book, you will fall in love!

I stayed until late reading this, it was such a page turner. The author, Karin Slaughter, has written a number of novels and this is up to her usual high standard. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

When I got the email to say I had been given access to this title I literally jumped for joy. I have been a Karin Slaughter fan since lockdown and have devoured the sarah/jeffery and then the Will/Sarah stories. I often think about what makes me love them and in essence it is the characters that Karin has built with all the flaws and the humanity of them that makes them so believable and relatable. Amanda, Faith, Will and Sarah are some of my favourite ever characters and thry absolutely don't have happy, easy going relationships but it works and you can depend on them. My favourite quote from this book sums up what makes Will a great hero character, despite his flaws and his hangups "Will was always going to stand up when everyone else stayed seated"
To the story....interestingly this one begins the prologue with Will and Sarah on their honeymoon in a remote estate in the mountains talking about the people they had met at dinner and doing a bit of late night lake swimming. And that is where the nice part ends. Soon Will and Sarah try to save the live of Mercy who has been viciously murdered. Cue the flashback chapters which work well to give the reader more or less the same information that Will and Sarah get and you are desperately trying to piece together what happened alongside them. Bring in Faith, straight talking Amanda, a wild storm, flooding and they are trapped in a locked room mystery where everyone has secrets on top of secrets. Add in some characters with ulterior motives to being there, overheard conversations, paedophilia, incels and a family who don't seem to care that Mercy is dead and you think you have it all. But no...one of the key characters is the same person who gave Will his nickname when they were in a children's home appears too...a man so badly abused (like Will) and mistreated that he has become like that himself. This character really serves to show what love can do and Will could have ended up like him but for the guidance and love from Amanda (don't tell her I used the L word!)
I eked this reading out over 4 days as I was desperate to keep reading, but also I wanted to savour it. A triumph again for Will and Sarah. Keep them coming!!

This is Why We Lied sees the very welcome return of Will Trent and Sara Linton . Now newly-married and on their Honeymoon at the remote and very beautiful McAlpine Lodge the happy couple are looking forward to a few days of relaxation away from the carnage and stress of their GBI careers in Atlanta.........what could possibly go wrong?
It turns out that while the McAlpine family might live together on a mountain they're very far from The Walton's, more like Borgias with every one of them hiding dark and often disturbing secrets.
When daughter Mercy very publicly threatens to expose the secrets and lies she's shut up permanently and finally,with Will and Sara being first on the scene.
With not just the family but all of the guests,including initially the newlyweds ,lying there's a killer on the loose and everyone but the Honeymooners seemingly with a motive and less than credible alibi.

Karin Slaughter never disappoints and this is well up to her usual standard with her trademark darkness ,humour,an excellent storyline and the very worst of human behaviour.
With the Mountain totally cut off by bad weather the investigation turns into basically a locked room mystery,as one of the characters acknowledges, and there are a couple of Agatha Christie "Easter Eggs" thrown in for good measure.
With a cast of disparate,shady and potentially homicidal characters and the beautiful resort taking on a more ominous and threatening atmosphere as the investigation progresses there's a palpable air of menace that builds up throughout the book.
There are plenty of twists and part of Will's past catches up with him,an excellent addition to an excellent ,and very popular, series.

I love the dichotomy in the Will Trent/Sara Linton stories - the brutal, graphic violence of the work they do and the sweet tenderness they share between them are what makes these books what they are and why I devour them so rapidly. This is one of the best, with a bit of Agatha Christie thrown in and a proper who dunnit mystery.
Will and Sara are on their honeymoon, looking forward to an idyllic break away from civilisation so, of course, a tragic murder occurs and everyone has a motive - it's the solving of the murder that keeps you hooked and the deeply personal and heart wrenching details that come to light throughout.
Flawless storytelling as always.

I'm obsessed with Karin Slaughter and the will and Sara series is one of the best series I've ever come across so I can't even explain how excited a new installment made me!! Its sheer genius. This story is actually a locked room mystery which I usually hate but of course the author made it as amazing as you'd expect. There are layers upon layers upon layers. The characters are pretty familiar by this point but they're still well written and fleshed out for anyone who hasn't met them before. Any relevant backstory is also included but not to the extent it feels like a recap of previous books. It's so well plotted out and paced, there is constantly something happening, the new characters are original and just as intriguing as the familiar ones. The entire book is just sheer perfection! I took the day off work to read this!!!! And I have no regrets. I can't recommend it highly enough. An absolute masterpiece

Another excellent episode in this series. Will and Sara are on their honeymoon. I have to admit that I have really bought into them as a couple over the years and I’m pleased that the author doesn’t make them split up or cheat in each other or anything else that sometimes happens to ‘keep the story interesting’. What does happen to them is a new murder to investigate. They are staying at a remote group of lodges which should be a luxury break but turns into a locked room mystery with an extraordinarily dysfunctional and abusive group of characters. Mercy is found dead right at the beginning and then the story flashes back to events leading up to her death. There are twists, turns and revelations but this book is not for the faint hearted. The abuse described is at times hard to read about and this really pulls in your heart strings. If you haven’t read this book, you could read it as a stand alone but I would definitely recommend going back to the beginning. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.