Let Me Lie

LET ME LIE is a dark and clever psychological thriller, and the perfect cure for my reading slump. This is the third book by Clare Mackintosh that I’ve read, and I always enjoy her writing. She has a talent for creating emotional, character-driven suspense with amazing twists that really mess with your head. She makes you love/hate/sympathize with characters, and then bam! A big twist comes along to make you question everything.

Anna Johnson is a daughter grieving over the suicides of her parents the previous year. Then she receives something that makes her suspicious, makes her think that maybe they were murdered instead. The story alternates between Anna and other players in this twisted tale, including a retired detective named show more Murray who checks into the Johnson’s case. I loved Murray’s character, and his relationship with his troubled wife was heart-rending. The book goes from a slow-burn in the beginning to a thrilling roller coaster ride at the end, and I enjoyed it all.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

There are SO. MANY. thrillers out on the market these days. Some are good. Some are bad. Most are okay. The thing is that when there is a glut in any market, it takes a lot for one particular story to rise above the rest. The odds of that happening with every thriller you read are not very good; for that reason sometimes it is okay to temper your expectations. It is perfectly acceptable to hope for a thriller that will mostly keep you guessing with mostly believable characters and plot and decent writing because they are still entertaining and fill a need for decent books that will get people excited about reading again. This is how I feel about Clare Mackintosh and her latest novel, Let Me Lie.

It may seem that I am damning Let Me Lie show more with faint praise, but I assure you I am not. Her novels are never going to be Gillian Flynn big. She doesn’t have that flair for the dramatic that splashy thrillers tend to have. What she does have is a consistency to her story-telling with careful pacing and characters that are not larger than life in any way. They are simply ordinary people in rather extraordinary circumstances, and that makes her stories more believable, more relatable, and in a way more interesting.

One of the best things about Ms. Mackintosh’s novels is the fact that she does not rely on plot twists to shock the reader or create tension. Rather, she excels at the use of misdirection, allowing readers to believe one thing before adding a piece of the puzzle that changes your perception of the entire story. She puts this to particularly effective use in Let Me Lie. This sets her apart from the masses of other thrillers because it is a subtle effect that can have even greater reactions than a plot twist. With a twist, you see it coming or you don’t; either way, it is something that shocks you once and from then you move on with the rest of the story. With misdirection, it sneaks up on you no matter what, and instead of being able to move on with the story you find you want to go back and read certain passages again now that your understanding of them is different. Misdirection resonates more and longer, and it requires a special skill to be able to create it.

The unfortunate thing about misdirection is that it is so easy to spoil. Just one wrong word or sentence could be enough for new readers to pick up on clues earlier than intended or to guess the misdirection from the outset. When this happens, the story loses its magic because all of the suspense is built upon the misdirection. Once that is gone, it becomes just another story without the benefit of plot twists or cliffhangers to keep your interest. For this reason, Let Me Lie can never be another Gillian Flynn novel. People would simply not be able to keep the secrets while expressing love for the story and to read it without the secrets is just an exercise in disappointment.

However, reading it with the secrets intact is an exercise in fun. The clever shift in perspective does force you to go back and reassess your understanding of certain clues. It also keeps you from guessing the big mystery, which is always a good thing in a suspense thriller. Even better, the shifts in perspective force you to rethink your understanding of certain relationships and the assumptions we all make based on very little information. This is my third novel by Ms. Mackintosh that I have read, and I do believe it is the one I enjoyed the most while reading. Ms. Mackintosh is honing her skill with every novel, and I look forward to seeing what she has next for us. show less

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna Johnson is struggling with the death of both of her parents only moths apart to suicide. She misses her mother especially as she has recently become a mother herself. Her therapist partner, Mark, worries that she is not coping.

On the anniversary of her mother's death, she receives a card that simply says "Suicide? Think again." The police still insist it was suicide, Anna thinks it was murder, but they are both wrong.

Told from multiple points of view, readers gain enough insight to be engaged and vested in the story and characters themselves. Mackintosh treats the secondary characters with as much care and development as the main characters show more and this pays off as I was equally enthralled, if not more, in officer Murray Mackenzie's storyline. He has a complicated relationship with his wife Sarah who struggles with mental illness. Murray cares for her as best as he can and loves her unconditionally amongst the ups and downs. This was unexpected and adds another layer to this already enthralling read.

Mackintosh spent 12 years with the police force and this experience enhances her writing. The story was sharp, and paced appropriately to build suspense and intrigue. There were enough twists that I was always one step behind and did not have it all figured out. This was refreshing, as of late this genre has been letting me down with too many books being overly predictable.

Family dynamics are a paramount theme to the book as well as secrets and lies. Mackintosh explores just how far one will go to keep those they love safe. The book is riveting and will have you guessing right up until the last page for one last twist! show less

Anna Johnson lost both of her parents. Her father, Tom, was the first to commit suicide by jumping from a local cliff. He texted his wife, Caroline, to tell her that he couldn’t continue living the way he was and that he was sorry. A few months later Caroline decided to follow suit and also committed suicide by jumping from the same cliff. Anna was unable to console herself, confused why her mother would choose this path, knowing how abandoned her father’s suicide had made them both feel.

Since the deaths of her parents Anna has tried to console herself. She’s now in a relationship and has young baby. Anna is slowly trying to rebuild her life, but lately she can’t help feeling her mother’s presence. When an anonymous note show more shows up on the anniversary of her mother’s death Anna quickly begins questioning if her parents were murdered. Were Tom and Caroline’s suicides staged? What really happened to Anna’s parents?

LET ME LIE is a slow burning thriller crafted in a methodical and deliberate manner. Every line Clare Mackintosh writes serves a purpose and draws the reader closer to the truth. This is not an intense, quick read, but a sharply crafted story of family secrets with unveilings about several characters that create a mood of unease and tension making the reader anxious to get to the end of the book. The use of alternating narrators constantly keeps the reader guessing what will happen next. This writing style also allows for multiple aspects of the story to be observed and the reader to form their own guesses for what the truth is. While some parts could be considered a bit predictable to an avid crime fiction/suspense/mystery reader, I don’t believe that stops LET ME LIE from being a truly entertaining read. This was the first time I have read a Clare Mackintosh novel and I can assure you, it won’t be the last! show less

Let Me Lie is a true psychological thriller. The suspense, the mystery, the secrets all feed into the story keeping the reader guessing as to what will happen next. There were so many twists and turns that I found myself wanting to skip ahead and see where they were heading. And oh the lies… so many lies. Lies on top of lies on top of lies. Sounds like it could get confusing but it was just the opposite. They all played into the story perfectly.

The story is told from multiple points of views. I loved that one of the points of view was unidentified. This kept me guessing as who was telling their story without revealing themselves. From the different voices it was fun to try to tell who was lying, who was telling the truth, and who was show more telling the story as they knew it whether truthful or not.

If you are looking for a psychological thriller full of twists and moment that will make you stop and think…Let Me Lie is the book for you. show less

Since I had to get this back to the library this week, I moved this up and am wrapping up my "Watchers" read as well. I have to say that I could not put this book down last night! It was insanely good and the twists I didn't see coming well expertly done. I also like how Mackintosh plays with POVs via some of the narrative choices she chose. I thought this worked from beginning to end and I have to go back and read some more of her thriller/suspense novels.

"Let Me Lie" follows 20 something year old Anna Johnson. Anna is a new mother in a new relationship mourning the loss of her parents (Tom and Caroline Johnson) the year before. Both her father and mother committed suicide and Anna has always thought that someone has murdered them. show more When she gets a post in the mail that alludes to something sinister happening she goes to the police hoping they will re-investigate her parents' suicide. From there "Let Me Lie" follows not only Anna's POV, but someone close to her (no spoilers) and a retired police detective who finds himself intrigued about Anna's parents' case.

So I really liked Anna and felt for her. She had a great upbringing with her mother and father and feels a bit adrift after having her daughter. Once she receives the anonymous post in the mail about her parents she starts going back over her family's history and meeting with her father's brother and wondering if she ever really knew her parents. When her long-time family friend Laura trying to help Anna let go of the past, she starts to wonder if she's just looking for a reason behind her parents suicides or if there really was something more sinister going on.

I thought that Anna's boyfriend Mark was kept underdeveloped on purpose. You have Anna constantly protesting the relationship internally and saying how it works, but even at times you have her popping her head up and wondering about them being together no matter how many times she protests to her uncle and Laura.

The retired detective Murray Mackenzie's POV was welcomed in this one. I felt so much sympathy for this character. Mackintosh shows how relentless he is in order to figure out the truth and how much inner pain he is due to the constant episodes with his wife Sarah that have caused her to be voluntary committed to a psychiatric hospital.

The writing was really good and the flow works. Mackintosh ensures the chapter headings show us when Anna and Murray are "speaking." And then we get another POV and then a fourth POV that I just shivered in delight with once things get revealed. I went back and re-read those knowing what I know now and just went "ah so clever." I loved the fact that Mackintosh takes a hard look at people's memories of an event and flips it around so many times in this one.

The setting of the book focuses mostly on Anna's family home and how hard she is trying to hang onto it. You get why Mark wants to move since I felt a lot of times that once again Anna was seeing the house in the past (happy families) and Mark was seeing it as it was (place where two people who killed themselves lived and dark aura around everything).

The ending was fantastic! Loved it from beginning to end. show less

On the first anniversary of her mother's death by suicide (which itself took place some seven months following her father's death by suicide...at the same location), Anna Johnson receives an anniversary card with the frighteningly enigmatic message: "Suicide? Think again." Even though she has settled into an uneasy domestic life with her former therapist and new eight-week-old daughter, Anna cannot let go of the memories and extreme pain she has suffered in the aftermath of these twin deaths, and she finds a retired policeman, Murray Mackenzie, who is so moved by her situation that he agrees to look into it. It is a welcome distraction for him from the personal struggles he suffers along with his mentally ill wife. -- Other mysterious show more occurrences follow: a dead rabbit on the front step of the house Anna shares with Mark and Ella, a brick thrown through their daughter's window, whiffs of the scent Anna's mother used to wear. Is someone attempting to drive Anna insane? Or is there more to all this than meets the eye? And who lies behind these events? -- Another page-turner from Clare Mackintosh. I confess that, although there is a startling dramatic twist in the story, I had begun to unravel it on my own. That still does not detract from the author's skill at drawing characters one comes to like and creating a suspenseful atmosphere. The final confrontations and the sad but realistic denouement were somewhat unexpected. On the whole, a book well worth the time! show less