Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
This novel is brought to us by the same author who wrote The Husband's Secret - see my review here - which I absolutely loved. Like her previous novel, Big Little Lies is set in Australia and is based around a mystery that ties together a group of friends.
Pirriwee is a small Australian town, where the Mums all look a certain way and know the ins and outs of each other's lives. When the death of a parent occurs at the local primary school's trivia night, the town is throw into tailspin. The book follows the story of Jane and Ziggy; a mother and son who move to Pirriwee, and have a secret. She is shy, reserved and plain - and as a result stands out like a sore thumb from all the other mums. Ziggy is a kind, quiet boy who gets caught up in playground nastiness - but we don't know who to trust. I really warmed to both of their characters and wanted to know more about them.
The mystery is a good one - who dies? Who did it? Was it murder? What actually happened? We don't actually find much out until right near the end of the book where threads get woven together and the picture becomes clear. I don't think I found it as enthralling as The Husband's Secret - a little drawn out, but I did enjoy it. A light hearted read with a little mystery, characters which you can empathise with and some themes that leave you thinking. Like in The Husband's Secret there are loads of characters which at the start is a little intimidating. As you read further the 'core' characters become clearer, but is definitely one of those books you need to read in big chunks to keep tabs on who is who!
