This book had a great premise. Unfortunately, the execution was a little slow for me and I found it hard to continue reading the book. However, Trust Me When I Lie is great for readers who like mystery/thriller stories and are up for a twisty game of truth and lies.

Trust Me When I Lie shines a harsh spotlight on true crime television series like Netflix’ Making of a Murderer while also containing a twisty mystery.

Jack Quick is the creator of a true crime television series in Australia. The series digs into the kidnapping and strangling death of Eliza. By the finale, it has proven to the public that Curtis, the man convicted of the crime four years earlier, deserves a new trial. When Curtis is subsequently found innocent and freed, Jack wonders whether he helped a guilty man.

While there is a mystery to solve, Trust Me When I Lie is mainly a screed against the media retrying criminal cases in the press. The book shows that the media often has differing goals from the law. Entertainment, and subsequently high ratings, are the reason why true crime tales selectively present the facts. My issue with that belief is that prosecutors and defense attorneys do the exact same thing. Because I didn’t buy the whole premise of this book, I didn’t enjoy it much. Even the twisty ending seemed forced. 3 stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

A four-year-old murder, a true-crime docuseries and a retrial that sets the convicted killer free. Wow! The lovely cover and the intriguing description made me hit the request button on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Benjamin Stevenson and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

I’m not quite sure how to review this one. The story starts out with a lot of promise. But....at times the writing was precise and entertaining. At other times it was confusing, choppy and slow. It felt like two versions of the same book were poorly merged. For me, this was an over-hyped debut that I struggled to finish.

<b>My Rating: </b> 2.75 ⭐️’s (rounding up 😊)
<b>Published:</b> August 13th 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark
<b>Pages:</b> 352

I couldn’t finish this book. I got really bored and I don’t care about the characters enough to keep reading. It seemed promising at first but the director guy just kept obsessing and talking about the same thing over and over.

As someone who loves TV shows, documentaries and podcasts about murder and true crime, the synopsis of this book was right up my alley! The story, intrigue and suspense built like it would in any of those mediums and it kept me turning pages, trying to figure out who did it and how! There were quite a few 'sub stories' - things that you knew were important to the overall plot but couldn't figure out how until the very end. This was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone that loves true crime and any sort of docu-series about them!

3 1/2 ⭐️‘s
Stevenson’s story is quite good for a debut. Set in a small grape growing town in Australia, it had a great premise, although sometimes was a bit muddled in the delivery. Jack Quick has a podcast type TV show and after finding a case that look like the convicted was railroaded, he quickly rewrites the story, no matter who he steps on in the process and without thinking about the consequences of his decisions. When there is a second trail and Curtis Wade is acquitted and released, the story takes off. It is an action packed read with many twists and turns. Quick should have done his homework first before ruining so many lives in the process, but he does come to some life alternating changes in his own life before it’s all said and done.

This book was an amazing debut! Jack creates a true crime docu-series that highlight the case of a young girl who was brutally murdered, Eliza Dacey. However. There is someone who was seen guilty of her death and sentenced to jail, Curtis Wade. Jack is able to weave his story so that the viewers see what might have been bad police work.
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This allows Curtis Wade to end walking out of jail a free man. But did he do it? Or did the police find the easy way out and point the finger to him? Soon after his release someone else dies and Jack begins to unravel.
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Did Jack unknowingly allow a killer to be lose? Who is lying? Secrets on top of secrets. Nothing is how they seem. I really enjoyed the layers in this story!
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Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my review copy.

Pros: Good writing, loved the idea of the podcast helping solve a murder, characters seemed realistic.

Cons: Story was boring to me at times, couldn't get into it.

Overall: I had a hard time *really* getting into this book and sticking with it. Maybe I've just been in a weird slump lately and nothing seems great, but it wasn't the book I wanted.

This book was just ok for me. I was repeatedly bored by it and didn't want to finish it, which means I just didn't connect with it. Might be better fit for others.

Most times when you have a true crime podcast it is hosted by a journalist, but not Jack. He seems to just know how to tell a story. He repeatedly says he is not a journalist, and maybe that is the problem. His "documentary" is full of holes, not based on facts but just making everyone involved in the original case look like a fool. Causing enough doubt to get the killer in question a new trial. When he does get out a new murder happens which makes Jack question everything he did. Just about everyone in this story is guilty of something.

The ending did start to make up for the very slow beginning and middle but it wasn't enough at that point.

Jack is a very flawed man. He is trying to right a wrong by trying to solve a crime. The plot of the story takes shape around several individuals who are hiding truths. It is twisted with several layers of deception. The author leads the reader in several directions. You will be surprised at the culmination to see who the real bad guys were.

The messy writing makes this book very tiring to read, and with lots of mostly unnecessary descriptions, strange characters and plot, I did not enjoy it at all.

Did Jack and his crime docudrama free a killer? That's the question he's facing after his series examining the murder of Eliza resulted in the release of Curtis Wade, a winemaker who was convicted off the crime. The murder was especially brutal. Jack, however, believed Curtis, although there was one thing that should have changed how his film went- and would have changed the course of several lives- but he held it back. And now, Curtis is free and another woman is murdered. What responsibility does Jack bear? Honestly, he's not that reflective of a character and not that likable either. This is quite topical but what sets it apart is the terrific descriptions of Australian wine country. Thanks to Netaglley for the ARC. A great debut and I'm hopeful future novels by Stevenson novels also will be published in the US.

The book summary and most of the reviews I skimmed tell about a murder, an accused man being released, and another murder. In the middle of this is Jack, who created the docuseries that got the accused man released from prison. Theoretically the story is about the fall out from his series, the subsequent murder and tracking down who did that crime and why. On it's own, this story line was terrific and well worth the reading. What puts this book over the top was the addition of Jack's story: the accident that permanently disables his brother, Jack's continuing guilt, and the resulting mental and physical impacts on Jack. Again, a fully developed stand alone story on its own! Having both story lines in the same book resulted in a rich reading experience. Bring on the next book from Mr. Stevenson!

I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This author was new to me and I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written. The characters were easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone!!

The concept behind this book is a great idea, especially with the growth in popularity of crime podcasts and crime documentaries. Sadly, the story didn't involve these nearly as much as I expected.

The book is a bit like a jigsaw where the final image doesn't come together until the last piece is inserted.

I felt the book was a bland throughout with a rush to inject some interest and excitement in the last few chapters.

The main character is borderline annoying, he gets in everyone's way and the crime really happens because of him.

Eliza Dacey was murdered and star producer Jack Quick produces and a story to free Curtis the killer that was found guilty.

When Curtis gets out Jack has his doubts and decides to re investigate the case.

Good read highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley.com

Trust Me When I Lie had a really interesting premise, but it never quite lived up to it’s potential for me.

Jack was a popular true crime podcast host that got his big break investigating the trial of Curtis Wade. Curtis was convicted of killing a young woman with very little actual evidence. Jack creates a tv show chronicling the many errors of the case. He doesn’t really seem to understand there are real world implications to what his show produces and is only after telling a good story. When he comes across a piece of evidence that doesn’t fit into his narrative, he doesn’t share it. When Curtis eventually gets released from prison, Jack begins to worry that maybe he really is guilty and sets out to prove it.

I was disappointed that the tv show didn’t really play that big of part in the story. I expected more excerpts and interviews and “making of” moments. However, the story mostly takes place after the show has aired and there is very little shared about it, other than that Jack ruined people’s careers – and made others – and edited statements to his own purposes. The story mostly followed Jack bumbling around trying to figure things out and wasn’t as suspenseful or mysterious as I was hoping for. From very early on in the story I had a theory that ended up being right. There were a couple of red herrings throughout where I thought maybe my original theory was wrong, but it wasn’t. It made the “twist” really anti-climactic for me.

Overall, Trust Me When I Lie had enjoyable moments, but did not live up to my expectations. It didn’t involve the show as much as I wanted it to and the mystery held very few surprises. However, I enjoyed the dark humor and thought the characterization was really well done. I would be interested to see what Stevenson does in the future.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3 Stars

This novel takes place in Australian wine country and is very atmospheric and suspenseful. True crime fans (me) will enjoy the plot immensely. Very intriguing and thought provoking.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A brilliant thriller which brought a shiver down my spine. The story was quite different from what I have read in recent times.

A documentary made by Jack Quick investigating the case of Curtis Wade where going through the evidence got him a shocking discovery, and the documentary itself got Curtis's conviction overturned. But the story didn't end here. A murder brought Jack to the forefront when he realized height have made the biggest mistake of his life. And his real investigation began

Benjamin Stevenson's story had me excited from the get-go. The characters were well developed but flawed. Curtis appeared to be cooperating and kept reiterating he was innocent but was he? Jack too was a dubious one with a dark past. He seemed to be genuine, but was he?

The book had great twists which kept me thrilled, the turns had me dizzy which it's curves, and an absolutely gripping end had me gasping. I was completely astounded. A brilliant read.

This book was gripping and catches you from the beginning. The true crime pod cast was an awesome idea as it speaks to today’s true crim readers and what they are following. Just when I thought I had it figured out it threw another twist taking a different turn. I did not see the ending at all and was a gasp ending for me. I would have liked more development of the characters but overall it was a great book. I would highly recommend this book.