What’s it all about?:
The police say it was suicide.
Anna says it was murder.
They’re both wrong.
One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since.
Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to question her parents’ deaths. But by digging up their past, she’ll put her future in danger. Sometimes it’s safer to let things lie…
The stunning, twisty new psychological thriller from number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go and I See You.
What did we think?:
CHRISSI: This is the third book we’ve read from Clare Mackintosh. Did you have any preconceptions before you started reading it?
BETH: I’ve just checked and we’ve read and reviewed all three of her books in this format so I think we’re setting a kind of pattern here! As you already know, I’ve enjoyed both of her previous novels with her debut novel, I Let You Go standing out as my ultimate favorite. With Clare Mackintosh’s writing, I always know I’m going to get a compelling story, a fantastic female lead and more twists than….er….. a very curly piece of pasta! With Let Me Lie, that’s exactly what I got. I always knew I was going to eventually read it but I was delighted that Richard and Judy put it on their recent book club list as where we normally head to “talk about” most of the choices as it pushed me to read it that bit sooner.
BETH: How do you think this book compares to others in the genre?
CHRISSI: I truly think that Clare Mackintosh’s books stand out in the genre. They’re particularly twisty and gasp-y. I also think they’re quite a lot darker than some others in the genre. I definitely think Clare stands out in her own right, for the right reasons!
CHRISSI: Did you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
BETH: As I mentioned in the previous answer, I always enjoy Clare’s female leads. In Let Me Lie, although Anna felt slightly more vulnerable than her previous protagonists, I still thoroughly enjoyed finding out more about her character, what she had been through in her life and as the narrative continued, unravelled the mysteries behind her parents deaths with her. I always find her characters so personable and easy to like and you do find yourself rooting from them from a very early stage.
BETH: What did you make of Anna’s relationship with Mark? Were you optimistic/pessimistic for their future and why?
CHRISSI: I always like to be optimistic if I can. With this relationship though, I’m neither one or the other. I don’t think it was an ideal relationship. They had a child very fast and although that doesn’t mean it won’t work, it’s a huge commitment and Anna was particularly vulnerable at the time. I do think they genuinely cared about one another. However, they don’t really know each other that well, they’d discover new things all the time…so who knows what the future will hold for them?
CHRISSI: Did you think the narration was reliable?
BETH: I had no idea what to think! You never know what you’re going to be getting with a Mackintosh novel, that’s the beauty of it and as a result you don’t quite know who to trust. I tried to keep an open mind and take in all the information that we were being given at different points of the novel and by different people.
BETH: What did you think of the alternative story-line with Murray and his wife Sarah? Did it add anything extra to the narrative for you?
CHRISSI: A tricky one. I did really enjoy the alternate story-line, but I think if it wasn’t there, there wouldn’t be a gap missing in the story. However, I always appreciate when mental health is addressed in literature, so I was super happy to read about this story-line. I think it was tackled sensitively and it was nice to take a break from what else was going on! I also thought Murray was an incredible character. I loved his devotion to his wife- no matter what she was going through, he wanted to be there for her.
CHRISSI: Without spoilers, at any point, did you work out what was going on?
BETH: I love a good “gaspy” moment in a thriller or crime novel. Let Me Lie definitely has that a few different times and the author is a master at leading the reader down a particular path just to trip them up when they least expect it! I tried not to think too hard about what might be going on to be honest, as I really do love to be surprised with this genre. By the end, I had my suspicions but it wasn’t until right at the end. There was still one small surprise though waiting in the wings that I hadn’t anticipated.
BETH: Would you read another book by this author?
CHRISSI: Definitely! She’s one of my favorite writers in the genre.
Would WE recommend it?:
BETH: But of course!
CHRISSI: Of course!
BETH’s Star rating (out of 5):
CHRISSI’s Star rating (out of 5):
