This novel goes against all my pet peeves - there is an unreliable narrator who is hiding parts of what has been really going on for themselves; general eerie atmosphere of something shifty happening; nothing solid to put your trust in plot on. I simply do not like this kind of plot! Yet - having said that, I liked the novel. Because there are my favourite tropes at play, too - authoress who knows where she is taking her novel from A to Z; believable psychological story (yes, one subplot is not so believable, but not impossible and it is vital to the overall arc of the book); believable emotions and even an interesting message! And what this message is, pray tell; the reader of this review of a murder mystery is might ask - so, the message is if you start to build on a lie or even ill intents, your future is deemed to crumple around you like a house of cards. The very last chapter indicates this to happen for the next generation, the circle is continuing. This was what hit me like a stone and this is why I am going for 4-star review. Because the authoress has shaken me with how well she has had her story thought of. So, even with all the unreliability I find this novel being actually standing strong on their legs. Well done.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read Her Sister's Lie by Debbie Howells. I have read Ms. Howell's previous novels and they are all very good.
This is a family drama that centers on two sisters, Hannah and Nina, who had a difficult upbringing and they clung to each other for comfort and support. When Nina dies unexpectedly and ruled as a murder, Hannah must look to the past and find out if the privacy they shared in childhood is linked to Nina's death.
3 stars.

Thrilling story with a plot that kept me turning the pages, really well written with great characters. Highly recommend to everyone who is a fan of this genre.

OMG OMG OMG!! This was the first book where I hated the main character and wanted bad things to happen to her. And I was so glad when it did!! What does that say about the book?!!

Ten years of non communication between sisters Nina and Hannah, ended when Hannah received a call informing her about Nina’s death, first declared as accidental then murder!! Abe, Nina’s son was brought to Hannah’s home, but there was only silence between them. A stalker was soon added to the plot along with letters of truth!!

And they all came to the point, where I was ready to throw the main character down the cliff!! I loved that surge of emotions where I wanted to be a part of the plot. I wanted vengeance!!

I loved the way author Debbie Howells has plotted her main character, Hannah. She was surly, unreliable narrator, paranoid, lousy aunt to Abe, always worried about secrets of the past being revealed, clingy leech of a sister to Nina, and who alienated practically everyone. And an alcoholic to boot!! One would wonder what was her redeeming quality – Believe me, NOTHING!! And I loved this wave of hate and frustration I felt throughout the book!!

The story did end with the secrets being unveiled, and they were all shocking and cringe-worthy. And then justice was meted out!! What a way to get it!! I didn’t like anything what happened in the story of these two sisters, but that was because I was so immersed in their life and I could only read the story with a horrifying silence!!

I loved it!!!

Hannah Roscoe hasn't seen or spoken to her sister, Nina, in ten years when she receives the call that Nina is dead. The sisters have no other family, so Hannah is now guardian to her fifteen-year-old nephew, Abe, a sullen and angry boy whom she barely knows. Abe comes to live with Hannah, and soon they learn that the police are investigating Nina's death as suspicious. Simultaneously, Hannah begins experiencing strange, unexplained events that soon have her questioning both her safety and her sanity. Nina's death seems to be close to exposing secrets she thought were buried forever. Is Hannah safe? And her secretive past?

"I... then stopped myself, pulled by the invisible thread that runs through all of us, that however much we might want to, none of us can ever truly disown. Family."

Well, this was an interesting, albeit frustrating one. I really love Debbie Howells' work and the fascinating stories she weaves. Her characters are always complex and often flawed, and there's no exception here. Hannah is a mess, honestly, and I won't lie, she's not the easiest to like. Truly, there aren't really any likeable characters here. Hannah is an unreliable narrator, which sometimes drives me a bit insane. However, the book does a strong job of making you wonder who to trust or believe and what exactly is going on. I was confused a good portion of the time. The weird, creepy things that happen to Hannah are interesting and crazy, though they sort of stressed me out. (Maybe I get too involved?)

The novel is filled with references of Hannah and Nina sticking to the script and keeping each other's secrets. At first, it's intriguing and you're curious as to what they are hiding. After a while, when Hannah makes yet *another* reference to the script and secrets--without any details being revealed--you sort of want to scream. I get a little frustrated at the lack of any reveal throughout the entire book. Eventually, I basically guessed all the major twists anyway, though I still found them clever.

So, overall, this one is a mixed bag. Unlikable characters, some frustrating plot pieces. Some clever plot twists, though I managed to predict most of them. It's a very quick read, however. 3 stars here, though that rating may be slightly affected by my overall love of Howells. If you've never read anything by her, I would definitely head to THE BONES OF YOU first.

It has been ten years since Hannah Roscoe has seen her older sister, Nina. Then one evening she receives a phone call from the police informing her that her sister is dead, and that Hannah must take in her nephew, Abe as she is next of kin. Abe is withdrawn and moody and not too happy to be moving to his Aunt's home and starting a new school.

Initially, the police believe that Nina died from an accidental fall, but later determine that foul play was involved, and her death becomes a murder investigation. Caring for Abe and dealing with the police, adds to Hannah's stress level. Her boyfriend recently broke off their relationship and now it appears that someone is messing with Hannah. Things are being moved in her home, she hears tapping on her window and strangers in town, seem to know her.

This book began slowly for me and pretty much maintained this pace until the final chapters of the book. The Author gives us glimpses into Hannah and Nina's past but not enough so that the reader knows why the two sisters have not spoken in ten years until the end of the book. Hannah has enough mysterious things happening in her life that kept the book just interesting enough for me to keep reading. The final chapters kicked the book into high gear but not enough to gain a higher rating from me. I kept wanting to know the truth (any truth!) and was underwhelmed by the book. I did enjoy the ending and I can't say that I disliked this book because I enjoyed it, but it was on the slower side and l wanted just a tad bit more. This won’t stop me from reading more of this Author in the future.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This psychological thriller grabbed me at the first page and refused to let me go! I read this in one sitting, as the twists kept coming and "one more page" ended up with me finishing the book. This author knows how to write a thriller!

Wow! What a fabulous read!!!
I can't say enough about it! Two sisters fighting abuse at the hands of their parents. Locked away for days at a time, for so simple an infraction as an average grade. Sisters like that will grow up to have secrets. After all that's all they've known. Sometimes secrets come back to bite you in the back.
I loved the characters. The storyline is exceptionally well written. Excellent!

Last year I read The Death of Her and loved it, so when Her Sister's Lie came out I jumped at the chance to read it. And I was not at all disappointed - I devoured this book in an evening. The story twists and turns so many times you really have no idea what is happening until the very end - just how I like it.

Sisters look out for each other don't they? Hannah and Nina used to be close - but for the last 10 years they have been estranged but we don't know why. Hannah has just been dumped by her boyfriend when she gets a call from the police to tell her that her sister Nina has been found dead in what appears to be an accident. Hannah immediately races to her sisters house and tries to comfort her 15 year old nephew Abe. She brings him home with her but doesn't get an awful lot out of him.

Strange things begin to happen to Hannah in the village where she lives. The police are still looking into Nina's death and it is ruled to be murder - and Hannah is their number one suspect. her past is coming back to haunt her and she has to try to clear her name.

This is a page turning story of an extremely dysfunctional family. Highly recommend to fans of psychological thrillers. Thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

This book really drew me in from page 1. It had all the components of a solid twisty psychological thriller.
I don’t want to give anything away because the twists do come out at you left and right and unexpectedly.
I loved the “POVs” strewn throughout the chapters. Once I finished the book, those POVs made so much sense! And the title too...yes so much double meaning there.
Captivating, thrilling, creepy and intense.
4.5 solid stars.

Thank you #NetGalley, the author and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. Look for this book July 31.

Matt had left Hannah. She has a lot of trouble coping with him moving out. In the meantime, Hannah receives a call from the police telling her that her sister, Nina, has passed away. Hannah hadn't seen Nina in 10 years, however, Hannah was listed as Abe's (Nina's son) next of kin. Hanna knew that Abe had an older brother, Jude, but has no idea where he might be. She really isn't too keen on teenagers unless they are her pupils. So, Hanna goes to London to deal with her sister's death. As Hannah finds out, she has a "forever" roommate in the form of 15 year old Abe. Abe is quiet and contrary with Hannah, but he has no way out of staying with his aunt. As time passes, we learn about the two sister's relationship and that of Nina's children; Summer, Jude & Abe.

Eventually, everything mounts up on Hannah and things get really bad - fast. Matt remains gone to her, her dog is shot, Abe is quiet and quite unfriendly, the police seem to be around all of the time, Hannah is followed and she is in a rather horrid car crash of which she is the one at fault. So, Hannah drinks more, reads personal letters of Abe's, watches pictures change places and has friends belittle her for her drinking. Not to forget that her drinking is posted on Facebook and some of her music pupils stop going to her.

Time passes and eventually Hannah is arrested for her sister's murder. How can that be?

Take a seat and read on! There are numerous twists and turns ahead. Some you can't even imagine!

Many Thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for a thrill ride!!!!!

Not what I was expecting. This domestic thriller was more family drama and selfishness than any deep mystery. I figured out the twist before the big reveal and sadly was left underwhelmed by the delivery.
If only certain elements were withheld this could be a decent unreliable narrator thriller.

Hannah hasn't seen her sister in ten years when she gets a call saying her sister has died and she needs to come pick up her nephew Abe. Since she is the closest living relative, Abe is to live with her. As more facts come out, it is discovered that her sister was murdered. Strange things start happening, and Hannah becomes convinced that someone is out to get her and reveal all of her and her sister's secrets.
I am a huge fan of Debbie Howells' thrillers, so I was so excited to read this one. I was a little disappointed.. Hannah was too disengaged to be realistic, even in her altered state. Abe was incommunicative at best, and angry and sullen the rest of the time. Hannah ran off every person in her life, so there was a complete absence of likeable characters. The story felt flat and it was hard to keep my attention on it.

Pins and needles all the way. I wasn't sure where this was headed, but it was brilliant! The last few chapters I simply devoured. Debbie Howells has a gift for showing the reader the inside of a disturbed person's brain. In this book, we get to see inside several. I heartily recommend this to people who like a good psychological suspense.

Great book! Suspenseful and riveting! I loved it. The characters are unique and interesting. The storyline was really good. It definitely creeped me out at times. If you like thrillers then you'll love this!

This book sounded like something I normally would love: a seemingly accidental death that is eventually seen as a homicide, family secrets between sisters, hints of a missing child. However, this one just never got off the ground for me. It was too slow and plodding, and the characters were more annoying than sympathetic (especially Abe, the teenage son -- HATED him!).

Do yourself a favor and read Debbie Howells' other books instead. They were much much better.

This book started out slow but did get better. It had lost of twists and turns and a surprising ending. Both sisters had a horrible childhood dealing with abuse. This type of childhood is often carried on as the children grow into adults and start their own families.

3-5 star read. It was an okay psychological thriller and had some really great thrilling parts, but was slow paced at some points. I think that it had great writing and character development. I do wish it had a bit more of the suspense and secrets. If you enjoy thrillers and dysfunctional families, this is your book.
Will be reviewing for members of Chapter Chatter Pub, prior to publication!

Enjoyable psychological thriller. I enjoyed the use of the narrative from different characters and the unfolding of the story.. Good ending - although I confess I saw it coming it still did not detract from the overall enjoyment.