If you’re looking for a new crime series to sink your teeth into, then look no further because here it is!

You may be familiar with Caroline Mitchell from her much acclaimed Ruby Preston series but now she’s back with a brand-new series. Featuring DI Amy Winter, let me tell you this first instalment packs one heck of a punch!

Because Amy Miller isn’t your average detective. Oh no! She is in fact the daughter of one of the most notorious serial killer couples in history. How’s that for a resume? With such a refreshing take on the crime fiction genre, Truth and Lies had me hooked from the outset.

A young girl goes missing from her home. DI Amy Winter and her team quickly find themselves in a race against time to find her before it’s too late. But Amy has a lot more on her plate when her biological mother Lilian, who is currently in prison, reaches out to her. Not in the loving, motherly sort of way, mind. Think more taunting and playing games that made my skin crawl. Amy is forced to face her past, whether she wants to or not, and it’s not pretty. Fabulous childhood straight from the fairytales, this is not.

Amy has no choice but to play along with Lilian if she wants to discover the location of three more missing young women. But as with all psychopaths, Lilian doesn’t exactly play fair. She is so insanely unpredictable, you just never know what’s going to come out of her mouth next.

And as if all that wasn’t enough, there is one absolutely massive cliffhanger! Good grief! That’ll make you want to have book two in your grabby little hands immediately!

Truth and Lies is refreshing and original. With plenty of twists to keep you glued to the pages, this one is utterly tense and compelling and I just couldn’t put it down. It has one of those despicable characters that make you feel rather dirty and in need of a nice, hot shower and yet, I was fascinated and intrigued. In a perverse sort of way, I’m actually quite looking forward to more of their evil games.

This is the perfect start to a new series. Caroline Mitchell knows how to draw a reader in and keep them coming back for more. I thoroughly enjoyed this serial killer crime thriller and I can’t bloody wait for the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Caroline Mitchell for an ebook copy for review. As always, an honest review from me.

Truth and Lies pulled me in right from the beginning. I was so engrossed in the story that I hardly stopped to take notes for my book review. The character of Amy, a Detective Inspector, made the entire book work. She’s the daughter of a serial killer and is being contacted by her imprisoned mother. Forced to unearth haunting memories of her childhood to solve the case.

I really enjoyed the creepy multilayer story. It reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode but set in the U.K. And Criminal Minds is my favorite TV show, so that’s good all around. The evil from Amy’s mother was so far reaching. It impacted many people and made for a great novel.

At the beginning I had trouble figuring out which police personal were which. As the story went on, it made more sense. Also, I wish the characters were more developed. Now this isn’t always possible with an intense police procedural. I really want to get to know Amy better and find out what happens to her next. I hope there’s a sequel!

An excellent beginning book to a new series that is sure to be a winner. Amy Winters is a complex and flawed character that sucks the reader into her life. Lillian is my new love to hate favorite character. The twisted mind of this woman is written brilliantly. The case the detectives are trying to solve is interesting and fast-paced. The entire book is full of twists and action. The ending left me wanting the next book right now. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this book, which is the first featuring Detective Amy Winter. Amy discovers that she is the birth daughter of a pair of serial killers, reminiscent of the real life Fred and Rose West. When her birth mother calls her from prison and says she'll reveal the burial sites of some of their victims, Amy knows that this information won't come for free. I don't want to give away any more of the plot, but it's a real page turner with some good twists, Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell is the first book about DI Amy Winter and I cannot wait for the next this was such a great read. Amy is a detective inspector leading a task force that deals with major crime and as the book opens she is recovering from the loss of her father, another very well respected police officer. Out of nowhere she receives a letter from the notorious 'Beast of Brentwood' and suddenly everything she thought she knew about her life was wiped away as her nightmares become her new reality.
Caroline Mitchell's writing is masterful, there are all the elements a reader would expect from a psychological thriller but put together in such a way as to draw you in and keep you on tender hooks, right to the last line in the book. This novel had my emotions on edge from start to finish. Who to believe ? Who is telling the truth? What piece is a lie and can truth be different seen from someone else's perspective.
Thank you for allowing me to read the arc and I look forward to reading more of DI Amy Winter.

A great crime thriller should keep the reader on the edge of their seat as they anticipate what is about to come next - this is where Caroline Mitchell excels and she never lets me down.

DI Amy Winter hopes to be a highly respected police officer just like her father before her, but when she receives a letter from the infamous Lillian Grimes, her whole world promises to fall apart. Grimes is one half of the psychopathic husband and wife team of serial killers. This letter wasn’t sent at random though because Grimes informs Amy that she is her biological mother!

Grimes is willing to reveal the burial sites of her final 3 victims, but only if Amy will play along with her twisted little games. Grimes is a manipulative person and, who cares if her daughter is a DI, she won’t treat her any differently to anyone else. Amy finds herself in an impossible situation, creating a conflict of interest on the one hand, but on the other, Grimes insists that only Amy can have this information! Running alongside all of this is a kidnapping case involving the young teenage daughter of a TV personality which leads to a surprising twist!

Truth and Lies was a deftly constructed narrative that touched all the bases appreciated by readers of this genre, without reducing them to tired clichés. Caroline Mitchell has all the necessary experience needed via her former career as a Metropolitan Police Detective to portray the darker aspects of contemporary British life, from our fascination with violent crime to the compulsion to share anything and everything on social media.

Oh boy this was a terrific read that raced along at quite a pace, and was completely and utterly engaging. The first in a new series is always welcomed with a degree of reticence- will it live up to other offerings from the author? Well fear not, Caroline Mitchell has done it again, absolutely brilliant, and I loved DI Amy Winter - looks like the start of a great new series !

* Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for my Arc in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

I’ve loved Caroline Mitchell’s previous books and was very excited to read the blurb for Truth and Lies. The author’s previous psychological thrillers and police procedural novels have all been dark and packed with suspense and characters you wouldn’t want to meet on a lonely street! I had high hopes for Truth and Lies.

Lillian is the epitome of evil. A manipulative puppet mistress. Professing her innocence but if she’s that innocent why keep quiet for so long? She pushes all the right buttons with Amy. Caroline Mitchell has perfectly crafted this woman; she gave me the heebie jeebies. I couldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her which isn’t far and I was willing Amy not to be taken in by her!

Amy is the subject of bombshells from the start and her head spinning throughout the story. It doesn’t help matters that she’s only just buried the man who has influenced her life the most. She’s a tenacious detective following her late father’s example, determined to get justice and peace for the victims of this evil couple which could be likened to some of the recent real life serial killing couples.

Caroline Mitchell has written a brilliant tale of cat and mouse as Lillian plays Amy to give Amy what she needs. Unbeknownst to the DI, Lillian has an agenda which is yet another deafening blow in Amy’s life. This left me shocked and in disbelief. I found this book seriously addictive, devoured it in a day.

Just as everything seems to be all sewn up, Mitchell packs another punch into the tale leaving me reeling and wanting more from DI Winters. I so need to read book 2….stat!

DI Amy Winter is a strong, resilient and respected police officer. She wants nothing more than to make her recently deceased police officer father proud. Then she receives a letter from Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious and prolific serial murder duo, claiming she is her birth mother.

This book had some serious cat and mouse action going between Amy & Lillian. I enjoyed their back and forth push and pull. Lillian is pure evil. She is a master manipulator, excelling at mind games. Amy never backs down, despite the turmoil she endures as her childhood memories begin to resurface. Amy must face her past in order to uncover the location of long hidden bodies and possibly save a young girl's life.

The story took some well crafted twists & turns and left us with a very enticing cliffhanger. Mitchell certainly has an excellent start to a series here. I look forward to seeing what book 2 has in store for Amy.

What a stunning start to a brand new series by the excellent Caroline Mitchell. It is not unusual for detectives in crime fiction to have an interesting backstory but DI Amy Winter has more baggage than one person should have to cope with! To say any more would give away the twists and turns, the secrets and shocks of this superb novel. I cannot wait for its sequel!

As usual this author wrote a blinder of a book.
Iv read all of this authors books and as usual this was 100%
So many twists
Well written and so easy to follow.

Warning***** once you start this book beware you will be unable to put it down so clear your schedule

Whenever I’m in the mood for a smart, super fast paced thriller that is guaranteed to shock me I grab a Caroline Mitchell book. While I love her psychological thrillers I really am obsessed with her series and while I was sad when her trilogy ended late last year, I was thrilled to find out Truth and Lies is the first book in a brand new series, and let me tell you, it’s one hell of an introduction!

The premise of this is fascinating, you have Amy (great name 😜) who is a dedicated police officer who finds out her biological parents are notorious serial killers. She knew she was adopted, but she repressed all her memories of her life with her evil parents and when her mother comes back into her life she begins to slowly remember some harrowing events from her childhood. The past chapters were my favorite aspect, there were only a handful but to see what Amy had endured as a young girl was simultaneously heartbreaking and interesting. It was so crazy to think the daughter of two heinous killers was such an admirable officer of the law with strong values and morals, brings up the whole nature versus nurture conundrum which is always something to think about.

As always this was a fastidiously plotted police procedural that kept me guessing all the way until the end. I always say Mitchell’s books are fast reads and that’s because once you’re hooked you’re not eager to put it down until you find out the truth. I absolutely loved the final chapter, it sent chills down my spine and set the stage for the next book so perfectly.

Truth and Lies in three words: Gripping, Relentless and Clever.

This is definitely a case of the old phrase ‘you can’t choose your family’. Amy is already struggling to come to terms with the death of her beloved Dad when she gets a letter from a depraved convicted serial killer, one half of the ‘Beasts of Brentwood’, who claims to be her biological Mother. Not content with up-tipping Amy’s life with the revelation that she is related to murderers, Lillian is determined to make Amy play her sick games in order to get the details of where the last few bodies of her victims are. Unfortunately that isn’t the end of what Lillian expects Amy to do, but is she that desperate to protect her real identity at the expense of the family that brought her up…

I loved the writing of this story. It flowed brilliantly with the little nuggets of explanations throughout, working up to the big reveal that I, to use the much hated phrase, definitely didn’t see coming!! Great characters and a few separate storylines that weaved together really well by the end.

This was my first by Caroline Mitchell, but I am looking forward to reading more from her, especially Amy’s story.

Gripping, twisty, and sophisticated!

Truth and Lies is an intelligent, suspenseful, police procedural that introduces us to DI Amy Winter, a resilient, determined young woman who finds herself immersed in the investigation to find a missing teen, while also struggling to come to grips with the knowledge that her biological parents were serial killers and three of their victims still need to be found.

The prose is intricate and absorbing. The characters, including the sinister, despicable villainess are intriguing and multilayered. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine into a compelling tale full of deception, abuse, deprivation, manipulation, mayhem, violence, and murder.

Overall, Truth and Lies is a dark, entertaining, creepy read that has all the elements you look for in a thrilling mystery and is an excellent start for the new DI Amy Winter series by Mitchell.

This is a great start to what I hope will be a new series.
I was gripped from the word go and desperate to know how this would end.
DI Amy Winter has one very big secret that she needs to keep hidden but as the book progresses, this becomes harder and harder.
Lilian Grimes contacts Amy from prison and asks to see her and this leads to a number of requests being made in order to reveal the burial sites of her victims many years before.
Alongside this story is the kidnap of a young girl and her cat. There is a real race against time to find them and with Amy’s boss going off in a different direction, it’s down to Amy to try and work out where she is.
I loved Amy’s character and can’t wait to read more books with her in them.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I was gripped from the onset I read this in a day. Truth and Lies has a multi faceted plot with numerois twists. A fabulous book. I am delighted that this is the first in a series. Highly recommend to lovers of crime, thrillers, and mysteries.

Now I have been a fan of Caroline Mitchell for quite some time. Never being great at reading in order my first read was The Silent Twin and from there I was hooked and I have raced through every title she has released. When I heard that she was releasing a new Detective Series I was doubly excited. Not that I didn't like the stand alone thrillers - I did, they are fab and you should read them - but because Caroline Mitchell has great experience in the world of policing and detecting and this really shines through in her work giving that extra edge of authenticity to an already gripping storyline.

Truth and Lies is an absolute cracker. In this book we meet DI Amy Winter at a very difficult time. Having just buried her father she is faced with an awful truth from one of the most reviled killers in recent history. Unwillingly, she is brought in to bring closure in the case of a pair of serial killers whose final victims bodies were never recovered. But being involved comes at a price. Is it too high a price for Amy to pay?

From the very beginning of this book I was caught, hook, line and sinker. It is quite a dramatic opening, a newspaper report on the crimes perpetrated by the pair - Jack and Lillian Grimes -  giving us the bare outline of what has happened and the direction this story may take. The author then leads us to 1986, and the incident which was the beginning of the end for this pair of brutal killers. And once you have read these two chapters you will be hooked. I started reading while I was waiting for my train to Edinburgh and I had to pack the kindle away when the train was nearly due or there was every chance I would have missed it as I was so engrossed in the reading.

In essence, the story boils down to mind games on the part of the sole remaining murdered, Lillian Grimes, who seems determined to suck Amy into her twisted world, no matter what. To complicate matters, Amy is faced with a personal dilemma. Does she reveal the very personal link she has to the killer and potentially damage her career and the case, or does she keep it a secret and face the consequences? Now Amy is a highly principled Officer, very meticulous and good at her job and I really liked her, but sometimes I did find myself frustrated as I wish she had been more honest from the start. I get why she wasn't, and to be fair as a plot device it is a far more dramatic premise, but she risks being compromised by her silence. Still, despite all of the truths she uncovered, she remained unwaveringly resilient and determined and I couldn't help but like her.

Caroline Mitchell really does create great characters, and people you love to hate. Lillian Grimes is an example of this, someone as dark and twisted as you could expect from a serial killer. Or is she? There are one or two moments which may give you cause to doubt. Was she merely caught up in Jack's crazed state of mind just like everyone else? The trouble is that it is, for the most part, her word against the evidence, as the fractured memories of Amy only slowly begin to return. There are times when it is clear that Lillian may well be another innocent victim and there is much uncertainty over the evidence against her adding another layer of doubt and unsettling you as a reader and your surety of what is going on. Aside from the two central characters, you have those who circle around Amy's world, DCI Hazel Pike and DS Paddy Byrne amongst others. All richly drawn characters they add texture to the story. Paddy in particular I liked, although he has his own demons to battle which will have you in two minds about him too.

Being part cold case and part new, the pacing in this book varies but the tension never ceases and the atmospheric nature of some of the scenes will give you chills. The story is told over a dual timeline. Most of it is told in the present day, shadowing the investigations in real time but on occasion we are fed the slowly returning memories of a little girl, the only person strong enough to make a stand against the murderous duo, albeit a reluctant and not entirely conscious one. You will feel your heart break for little Poppy, her emotions divided and her will uncertain as she is removed from the only reality she has ever known. Caroline Mitchell has done an excellent job of presenting the truth through a child's eyes, one who sees everything but does not have the benefit of age and experience to understand all that she is seeing.

My only regret about the whole book? They never did find Hammy ...

I started this book not realizing that it was part of a series, but I’m so glad it is because I was not ready for the story to be over! This was a great crime thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was a bit unsure about the book when I read the blurb as it had similarities to the West Murders and I thought it may have been gruesome. I'm glad to say that I was wrong and this is an amazing read. I started reading it on Sunday morning and couldn't leave it down until I was finished. The author managed to get across the mindset of all the characters very well. I do hope that there will be another few books with Amy Winter. I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the book to review and my opinions are entirely my own personal opinion and not influenced by anyone else.

After the death of her adoptive father, Detective Chief Inspector Robert Winter, Detective Inspector Amy Winter is forced to finally acknowledge the details of her adoption and that her birth parents were serial killers known as the Beasts of Brentwood, the latter being a well-kept secret from her employer and co-workers. The bodies of three of their victims had not been found, and it was reported that her birth father was just about to divulge their whereabouts but died two months before his trial and before the reveal. Her birth mother, Lillian, was convicted and is incarcerated. Lillian now takes this opportunity to contact Amy with promises to reveal the locations of the bodies if she will do certain things for her. It is at this time that Amy's investigative squad is also searching for a victim of abduction. Could these cases be related? You will have to read this for yourself to find out.

This well-written story will draw the reader into the flow of the action. The reader will admire the independence of DI Amy Winter, as she really has no one in whom she can confide. This is another fine work by talented author, Carolyn Mitchell, and I look forward to reading more in this DI Amy Winter Thriller series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 enjoyable stars.

This was an enjoyable book, if a little slow to get going.

I found the Poppy flashback chapters the most enjoyable but the rest of the book lacked a little something.

About two thirds through the book really picks up however I didn’t like the end.