While scrolling on Goodreads I saw this book with a 5 star review from a popular reviewer. The cover instantly drew me in and I found myself reading the synopsis and then searching on Netgalley for it. Wow, what a gem of a book I discovered!

Frances Ashley, famous author of the book "Kitten" which was a very highly controversial book and is coming up on it's 40th anniversary and her daughter Megan Ashley are the main characters. You get a small chapter from the book "Kitten" from decades earlier interspersed with all the "Meg" chapters, a book within a book. Meg and her mother aren't very close, Meg feels that her mother has always let her down and has never really been there for her as a mother should. Behind the novel "Kitten" is a decades old murder. It is believed that there are many truths to this book. Megan goes to the island where the book was set in search of answers. She stays at the same place her mother stayed many years ago and meets the woman on whom the book is based. Is she the killer of the little girl? Is her mother involved?

This book was so cleverly done. I loved the atmospheric feel to it. I didn't know who to trust and who was trying to harm Meg. Very well written and suspenseful. This is my first Emily Carpenter book and I was so very impressed. I will most definitely be looking for others from her. I thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an early copy of this book, very appreciated!

Good story! Looking forward to reading more by this author. Highly recommend!

Loved it! Kept me guessing up until the end. Did not see the "twist" coming.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Interspersed with snippets from her mother’s horror bestseller called “Kitten” this book tells the story of Megan “Meg” Ashley’s coming to age and to terms with her own and her mother’s past.

The book is interspersed with quotes from Frances Ashley’s book, “Kitten.”

Convinced by her mother’s secretary, Meg decides to write a “tell-all” book about her life with her mother. Without a doubt, Meg feels that her mother has ruined her life with her lies and untrue stories. Not only does Meg want to tell the truth about her life, but she decides to learn the truth about her mother and what really happened on the Bonny Island, Georgia where she wrote her bestseller. That there was a murder of a child is true. What is not true are the circumstances that led her readers to draw their own conclusions about one of the only four inhabitants left on the island.

Meg ventures to Bonny Island to investigate not only the forty-year old crime, but also to look into what lies her mother has told her. There she meets Koa, the gardener with a secret past. She also meets the cook and the maid who is her mother. Most importantly, she meets the woman on whom the Kitten child in her mother’s book is based. Is she the killer of the other child? Is her own mother somehow involved?

This book is very well written and plotted. The characters are believable and somewhat brittle – as they should be in this kind of a book. The quotes from the book “Kitten” at the beginning to each chapter is a brilliant method of cranking up the tension in the story. The suspense builds slowly throughout the book, but comes to a startling head all at once. This is my first Emily Carpenter book, but I will most definitely be looking into her other novels.

I want to thank Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

This book started out as the type of book you can't put down and must finish in one reading. The way the author inserts a copy of Frances's book between the modern day chapters was very interesting and draws the reader right in. There was a lot of buildup of suspense as Meg pondered and researched the murder that had taken place previously. However around 3/4 into the book it became more ponderous to read. Constant back and forth between "who done it" became a bit tedious and as we find out more about Who done it the whole plot became more unconvincing.

Emily Carpenter's second novel The Weight of Lies is a masterful creation of suspense, with unbelievable deception and dangerous lies that had my heart pounding. Megan Ashley, wants to solve the truth behind her mother's astounding murder mystery novel written 40 years ago. She is sought by an agent to tell her own side of the story in a memoir. Her relationship with her mother has been one of cold, hurtful, unforgiving events that are unfathomable. Her journey back to Boone Island, Georgia in search of answers, finds her meeting the folks who knew and followed her mothers novel, as Kitten cultists. Therein the mystery within the chapters from the novel Kitten deftly plays along with this novel in the present. Meg meets folks she hopes may have answers but instead finds herself surrounded with lies, and does not know who to trust. The story is written so brilliantly keeping one guessing about who was the murderer; it takes you on a roller coaster ride, holding your breath. The characters so well developed, scenes described so vividly, you feel like you are watching them in a movie. The build up to the ending holds you spellbound, the twists and turns so cleverly fast paced you just won't believe what happens. Thanks to the author, I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book!

How do I love thee Lake Union Publishing? You rarely fail me with a book choice. This title was a mystery with a bit of southern gothic thrown in. The narrative alternates between the present and chapters from a book of the past. I was literally back and forth guessing how this would turn out, and I couldn't figure out how I felt about many of the characters. This kept me up last last night, and I was weighing out whether to read faster or stretch it out. I couldn't stop...so there you go. I received an ARC of this book for my honest review and I thank Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for that. This author is going on my "to watch" lists.

Meg Ashley grew up with everything her heart desired. Money was no problem after her mother published a blockbuster horror novel based on a real life murder. While Meg never lacked for physical possessions, she was often shunted aside and ignored, and now as an adult, to pay her mother back for years of neglect, Meg agrees to spill the beans and write a scandalous memoir about her family. As Meg explores her mother’s past, her research takes her to a small island off the Georgia coast and the odd woman who Meg’s mother based her book upon. Meg also begins learning things about the murder, things that someone wants to stay buried, things someone is willing to kill to keep quiet. I could tell from the description of this book I was going to like it and I was right. A creepy southern Gothic is always a welcome addition to my bookcase

This book will grab onto you from the first chapter and never let go. This is a book that I will remember for a long time. It is part Southern Gothic and part murder mystery. It will take you a ride that you will not soon forget. Emily Carpenter has a way of weaving a story that is full of complexities and drama. She knows how to pull you into that story and keep you there. There are some very strange characters and you just will never know who is telling the truth and who is weaving lies. Megan's mother had written a book 40 years ago called "Kitten" that was about a psychopathic little girl. The book is about to launch its anniversary and this is when Meg is approached to write a tell all book about her childhood with her mother, Frances, the author of Kitten. This book of her mother's is what made Meg want to tell her story of a mother who was famous and never there for her child. She goes to Bonny Island, Georgia to do research for her book and to find out more about her mother's book. I can't say more, you will just have to read the book.
This story is so well crafted and I was simply enthralled from beginning to end . The characters are complex and richly developed. I felt as if I were involved in this story as I was so immersed in this book. It is absolutely mind blowing! I felt so filled with the suspense of it all. My mind was scrambling to figure out what the truth was and I was hooked. I love a good mystery and this is one of the best that I have ever read. The further I got into the book , the more I just had to know what the truth was. You will never in a million years guess the truth. You will be biting your nails and screaming in your head. This book is amazing! I can not even express the way this book made me feel. It took me on a roller coaster ride that is filled with twists and turns. You have to order this book. It is so, so good. I could go on and on about it, but you have to read it for yourself to understand. Hang on for the ride of your life!! I give this a zillion stars!! Best mystery ever!! Make sure to read her first book, " Burying The Honeysuckle Girls" for another great read. Great author, great plot, great book!!!

The Weight of Lies is a book so full of Lies, that as a reader I did not know which character to trust! The suspense is heart throbbing edge of your seat!

I had the amazing pleasure to read Emily Carpenter’s upcoming novel The Weight of Lies, and the only bad thing about the experience was that I had to put it down a few times to work and sleep. Ms. Carpenter deftly weaves a tale that spans decades. The main character, Meg Ashley is on a timeline to unearth secrets left in the wake of her mother’s 40-year-old novel Kitten. Interspersed between the chapters are excerpts of Kitten, which tells the tale of an impish young girl that makes you think she might start wishing things away to the cornfield. Frances Ashley, Meg’s mother, wrote Kitten based on her real life experience on a resort island off Georgia’s coast. 40 years later, the book’s success granted Frances wealth and fame, but that doesn’t keep the past quiet. What I love most about this book is the journey I took with Meg toward the truth. Layers peel away like the layers of an onion to uncover lies upon lies. I highly recommend going on the journey with Meg. Make sure to watch out for wild horses. –Julia Jones, owner, Beautiful Madness Book Case

I couldn't put it down! Even the minor characters are fleshed out and interesting. The layers of lies and mystery will keep you in suspense until the end. I loved the construct of the "fictional horror novel" being interspersed with the current events. If you love suspense, you will love this book.

History has repeated itself and the result is Emily Carpenter’s second gripping and surprising novel. Much like her debut Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, Lake Union, 2016, The Weight of Lies is a fascinating story filled with twisted characters and intense action set against a deliciously dark backdrop.
There is a reason Meg Ashley hasn’t spoken to her mother in three years. Aside from the “Mommie Dearest” method of parenting Meg suffered growing up, there’s that pesky bestselling horror novel Kitten her mother wrote forty years ago that has controlled their entire lives. Faced with an enticing offer to write a tell-all exposing the disturbing truth about her mother, Meg is inspired to find out more about the murder on which the book is based. Whipping through her quest for the truth with an angry urgency, Meg’s enlightening and confusing uncovering of facts leads her deep into a disturbing past she never could have imagined.
The intensity with which Carpenter writes propels the reader forward at breakneck speed and left me reading long after I should have called it a night. A present day version of Mommie Dearest meets The Bad Seed, The Weight of Lies invokes feelings of intrigue mixed with dread throughout this unpredictable adventure of a story. Carpenter’s beautiful prose aligns with her compelling plot and the result is nothing short of chilling.
I received a free copy of The Weight of Lies from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Weight of Lies is a spell-binding, heart-pounding story about a young woman who, after deciding to write a tell-all book about her famous mother, becomes embroiled in dark secrets, lies, and murder…
Megan Ashley has lived a privileged life, the daughter of best-selling novelist Frances Ashley; but Meg has spent years being neglected and rejected by her mother. Digging into her mother’s past takes Meg to Bonny Island, Georgia, the setting for her mother’s most famous novel, Kitten, about the murder of a young girl; an island with a sordid history, and still home to Dorothy, who is the inspiration for the main character in the book. As Meg digs deeper into her mother’s past, she finds herself in danger, never knowing who to trust, who to believe, and who she should fear. The story takes us on a journey full of twists and turns, as Meg unravels the truth. A cast of characters so vivid, so dark, that even readers will be shocked when the truth is finally revealed! Intertwined with the story are scenes from the book, Kitten; as life imitates art, or is art imitating life?? This book is a whirlwind of emotions; at the heart is a story about a young woman seeking and searching for a mother’s love; and the chilling, dark reality of devastating truths. A truly riveting, compelling book. One of my favorite passages is this: "None of the good in life was purely so. None was untainted. It was all a mix. Dark and light." I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.