I started reading this book on three separate occasions before I was actually able to sit down and get into it. The story line is filled with suspense and had lots of twists and turns I really did enjoy. In Chapter 1 we meet Alex, Tony, Kyle, Scoot, Lily, Hugh and Bill and Dan. All well defined, stand alone characters, but where's Sid ???? You know..... Sid Gammage.... the guy we met and spent the prologue reading about and getting invested in. Yup that's the one, disappears until way later in the book leaving the reader to wonder what the heck is going on.

The author wrote in what I would describe as an "English flair". I found this style distracting and difficult to follow. A sentence like "Pinging from the side room where the fruit machines held court didn't diminish." HUH???, and "It took a bit to twig what had happened." These are only two, but there are several of these types of sentences and slang usage that left me unsettled.

I always enjoy a book where a very clear picture is painted of the surroundings and I can actually feel myself there. I have no clear picture of the The Black Dog, supposedly a pub, but then it's referred to as a restaurant, and then people are sleeping there and renting rooms, and then there are meeting rooms. Sounds like a Hilton Hotel, not a quaint little pub. Just one example, but the description of the locales never came clear for me.

The story line was good and deserves 4 stars on its own merit, the writing style used by the author reduced the book to 3.5 stars, but the last page was a total failure of an ending brought the book down to 3 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lies That Bind

by Stella Cameron

Lies That Bind is a complex mystery with strong threads. Throughout the book is the underlying story of Sid Gammage who struggles to support his two sons alone. Alex Duggins is the landlady of the pub The Black Dog, where all the locals gather to gossip in Folly-on-Weir, a village where little goes unnoticed.

Author Stella Cameron provides strong characters in Alex and her boyfriend Tony, the village vet, as well as Dan and Bill, tight lipped law enforcement agents who are sent to investigate a murder and end up with so much more. Cameron peoples her book with supporting figures who are interesting without being stereotypes. This is a good mystery that moves along quickly. Although there are some personal aspects to the story, the suspenseful plot takes the lead. There is a surprise ending as a minor thread emerges assuming major importance.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery

Notes: #4 in the Alex Duggins Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone

Publication: June 1, 2017—Severn House

Memorable Lines:

The other man, going back and forth between Mr. Nice and something vaguely threatening, unnerved him.

Never mind the game of pass-the-parcel, this was the age-old copper pastime of pass-the-blame—to anyone farther down the food chain than you. Dan O’Reilly didn’t usually play that one but this time he had a list of inept culprits to skin.

A long arch of crooked branches, reaching for each other across the road, closed her in. The bicycle lamp bounced off one tree trunk after another in an eerie ballet that sucked her through a moving, low-light tube enclosed in darkness.

These are nice little mysteries, great characters, enjoyable read. Look forward to Alex Duggins #5

This was my first visit to Stella Cameron's Cotswold village Folly-on-Weir and I am hooked. There was an overarching sense of tension from the very beginning of the book and it didn't let up. Even after finishing it, the tension and shocking ending remains with me. All of the characters were engaging to me, with real life problems and characteristics and I want to know more about them. I look forward to more with Alex, Tony, Lily, Doc, Hugh and Dan. I highly recommend 'Lies That Bind'.

A body of a female is found in the village of Underhill. Discovered my a young man called Kyle Gammage who works for the local vet. Alex Duggins, is the owner of the neighbouring village Folly-on-Weir’s pub, and decides that this time she will not get involved but she is drawn into the case.
Unfortunately I didn't find the story or the characters particularly interesting.

You can count on Stella Cameron for a British village mystery that isn’t formulaic.  Her mysteries are well composed and immensely satisfying.  They are cozies, but they are not designed for humor.  If you like Midsommer Murders or Rosemary & Thyme, you will definitely enjoy Cameron’s novels.  The residents of Folly-on-Weir feel real, as opposed to being stereotypes.  Also, her novels are never straightforward murder mysteries.  There are murders of course, but they are simply part of the larger scenario.

Lies that Bind begins with the discovery of a woman’s body in a neighboring village.  Alex is drawn into the fray because the young man who discovered the body is the brother of one of her employees.  The boys have been staying alone while their father, a lorry driver, is off working.  The boys are afraid for the police to discover that they have been living unsupervised.  Scoot doesn’t want his younger brother to be taken into care.  Alex, Tony and the rest of the villagers are determined to help, but it leads to Alex keeping important information from the police.  Alex and Tony begin their own investigation.  

The one aspect of the novel that is at times frustrating is that Alex continues to be profoundly stubborn.  Compromise is not a word that has a place in her life.  Her relationship with Tony continues to be rocky because of her being unwilling to make a commitment and her reluctance to communicate.  It isn’t so much that she is stubborn that bothers me.  It’s more that she doesn’t develop as an individual despite all that has happened in the previous novels.  

Despite this personal quibble of mine, I really enjoyed Lies That Bind and recommend it to anyone who enjoys British village mysteries,

4 / 5

I received a copy of Lies That Bind from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Alex has hired a young boy to be a bus boy for her pub. He works hard, does what he's asked to do, and helps wherever he can. He responsible and trustworthy. When his younger brother busts through the kitchen door to tell Scoot he found a dead body, Alex listens carefully. Kyle is only thirteen and she asks them where their father is. He's a long haul driver is on the road. Come to find out, the boys are on their own a lot. He's trying to earn enough money to send them to college. But right now, he's gone and they need help...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this ebook for review (thank you). It will be published June 1st.

This turns into a mix of more than one crime. Murder is one, the other is illegal trafficking. As Alex and Tony try to keep the boys safe and taken care of, they are also trying to figure out where the father is and why he is gone so much and who killed the woman. There are no easy answers. Then someone kidnaps the younger boy while he's at work at Tony's veterinarian shop!

It seems there one more crime that was shoved under the rug in the past. When another young boy turns up dead, they're afraid it was Kyle but it wasn't. Who killed this young one and why?

The ending on this story is abrupt and alarming. There's no closure after the shocking ending and I'm not sure I liked that. It did get my attention, though. Tell me what you think about it...

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for a review. When police cars speed through Folly-on-Weir, Alex Duggins breath s a sigh of relief as they continue on to the next village. She had already been involved in several investigations, but was now content to run her pub, The Black Dog. Her relief is short-lived however. A body has been found by Kyle, a young boy whose teenage brother Scoot works for Alex.

Kyle and his brother have been living on their own. Their father is a long-distance truck driver who is often away for extended periods. Rather than leave them to child services, Alex and her mother claim to be their guardians in his absence. Fearing that Kyle could be in danger with a murderer on the loose, Alex and her boyfriend Tony get involved with the investigation. Then Kyle disappears.

Alex and Tony have a close relationship and often work well together. They have both been in prior marriages, but while Tony is ready to move on, Alex is still unsure, often causing tension between them.

Stella Cameron populates Folly with a variety of characters who are charming, supportive and sometimes curmudgeonly. It is a village that you are reluctant to leave at the end of the story and look forward to returning to in the future.

I haven't read the other three books in the series but I will be. The book can be read as a stand a lone. It was a very engaging read. Lots going on throughout the book. I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the ending. It was very abrupt for me left me and left me feeling disappointed and wanting more.
***I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from NetGalley.****

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

Typical cozy mystery story. It is centered in a small village with its’ main characters being an uncommitted couple, one being a doctor and the other owning a business with the complication of another love interest, the local cop. The usual mother, pets and wily elderly sisters are all included in story. The book was a quick read like all cozy mysteries.

Book 4 in a series, this does very well as a stand-alone. There are a few sentences here and there that refer to something that happened in an earlier book, book no actual spoilers. As always, I recommend starting at the beginning of any series.

Once again Alex Duggins finds herself involved in a murder investigation. Kyle Gammage finds the body of an unidentified woman. He and his elder brother, Scoot, are besides themself with worry. Their father is a long-haul truck driver and leaving his boys alone for weeks at a time is a secret they all keep.

But now that the boys are involved, Alex, her friend Tont the veterinarian, her mother, and several others in the small community unite in keeping this information from the police.

But her silence may not be the best thing ... someone abducts Kyle. Are they afraid that he may have seen the killer? Is her silence putting those she loves in danger? Who is the murdered woman? Where is the boys' father? So many questions ...so few answers.

I liked the mystery .. the story premise is very good. It's not exciting, as something surprising popping up on every page, but it is engaging and kept me reading. The characters are credible and makes me want to go back to the beginning to read this particular series.

Many thanks to the Author / Severn House / Netgalley for the digital copy of LIES THAT BIND. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

For once, pub owner, Alex Duggins has no interest in getting involved in solving a local murder. Of course, the one time she vows to stay out of police business, she’s pulled into the investigation by young Kyle Gammage, the boy who found the body. Alex knows Kyle from his work with veterinarian Tony, and both she and the vet decide to help the boy and his brother in any way they can. Unfortunately, in her effort to protect the boys, Alex withhold vital information from the police and puts her relationship with Tony in jeopardy. On top of that, there’s still a killer running loose in the village. Cameron writes character driven British cozys for intelligent readers