Member Reviews
Heidi Perks knows how to deliver a stunning thriller! I love her style of writing. The story is mainly about the lives of three women. At the beginning we do not know how their lives connect, but it becomes clear, little by little, through each chapter. Laura is married, just had a baby, and is going back to her old job, she thinks. Mia has , Laura thought, temporarily taken over her job till she returns. But when Laura returns Mia is still there. Janie is the boss’s wife, who has her own secrets and does not mix with her husband’s staff. The office building burns down, who did it?
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Following the burning down of an advertising agency in Britain's southern coast, one which resulted in a individual leaving the building in a body bag, the police have a surplus of suspects.
Laura: Just back to work after a six-month maternity leave, Laura is dumbfounded, and deservedly ticked off, that her main account has been reassigned to the woman temporarily covering her job. As if leaving her newborn baby to work long, grueling hours isn't enough, Laura also finds herself feeling pushed aside and out of place in her once happy work environment. She vows to get to the bottom of her boss's very controversial decision.
Mia: Ulterior motives abound with this gal. After blatantly lying during her interview to temporarily gain access to Laura's desk during her maternity leave, Mia has a crazy, hidden agenda.
Janie: The wife of Laura and Mia's boss, Harry, Janie, a former defense barrister, has many secrets of her own...and a lot to feel guilty about.
Three women. Endless secrets. Much deserved revenge.
Told from alternating perspectives, including those of the three women, the story also depicts the police interviews with various employees following the devastating fire. The characters were very well fleshed out, and the misdirection was brilliantly written, yet something about this story didn't come together for me. It wasn't a story I was excited to pick up and read, although I was intrigued about the identity of the arsonist. I had a vague idea of how the story might go, and I was partially correct, but I was never able to fill in all the blanks. So that's a win.
Overall, I'd rank this book as fairly average, but that book cover is freaking fantastic.
**Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my review copy.**
Another addictive psychological thriller from Heidi Perks. Drawing you in to a whodunit tight plot. Three women watch as a body is pulled from an office building fire. All three women have secrets. It appears to be twisted game of office politics but takes a dark turn. Lies and secrets are laced throughout making way for a late-night-read. I was sure I knew what had happened who was lying and why but was completely wrong. When the ending is revealed you realised how cleverly this story has been told. Already looking forward to Heidi's next novel!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.
Three perfect liars who absolutely bored me. I didn’t care too much for the three narrators. Laura’s entitlement, or anything about Janie. Mia wasn’t too bad, but there wasn’t anything that struck me about her as memorable. And because they bored me, I didn’t get into this one like I hoped. Just lots of back and forth office drama.
Three Perfect Liars covers mainly the topic of women in the workplace and the adjustments between home and work that must be made. The book was slow to gather steam making me anxious for things to be wrapped up more quickly that they were. I have no idea if this is a fair representation of working mothers but I found I did not like any of the 'three liars'. I can also say I'm glad I never worked in the corporate world and had to deal with the cutthroat shenanigans that go on!
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with a copy to review.
I enjoyed this excellent thriller very much. The storyline was exciting and kept me entertained all the way. Highly recommended!
Perfection! Truly perfect! This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers.
Three Perfect Liars begins with a fire. A witness watches the fire from afar. What does she know,? Did she set it? Why? Flashback weeks before the tragedy and the scene is set. The author presents all the main players and delves into their stories. The momentum builds until the truth is revealed in bits and pieces. I was wrong about who was responsible for what. It was a decent read, but there was a lot going on and sometimes it was easy to get lost.
Overall, "Three Perfect Liars" was a decent book. Some of the main characters are passive-aggressive and one of the main characters, Laura Denning, is rather whiny at times, which can be grating. At times I wanted to tell certain characters to gather up the courage to say or do what needed to be said or done. However, I enjoyed the overall story. The book opens with a fire destroying the advertising agency of Morris and Wood and possibly resulting in loss of life, something the arsonist had not intended. The story alternates between interviews by the lead Detective Emily Marlow with various staff members of Morris and Wood and the events in the eight weeks leading up to the fire. Laura Denning, the only female executive in the agency, returns from maternity leave to find that Mia Anderson, the woman she had recruited to be her replacement while she was on leave, has no intention of leaving and has been put in charge of the firm's biggest account, which had belonged to Laura. Harry Wood, the owner of the firm and boss, does not like conflict or dealing with problems, preferring to ignore them in the hopes that someone else will deal with the issue or hoping he can soothe hurt healings with platitudes. However, Laura is convinced that Mia is out to steal her job and that she is not who she claims to be. This brings up comparisons to an incident a few years earlier where Laura thought a female employee was out to get her, resulting in a mental breakdown and temporary leave of absence. As a result, both Harry and Laura's husband, Nate, believe she is obsessing and don't take her concerns seriously. This causes turmoil at work and at home, as Laura puts in long hours trying to re-establish her position and find a way to get rid of Mia. Mia Anderson does have her own secrets and a specific reason for wanting the job, although not for the reasons Laura assumes. Also in the mix is Janie Wood, Harry's wife, a former barrister turned stay-at-home mom/housewife, who is not satisfied with her situation or her marriage and continues to dwell on the events that resulted in the family moving from London to Lymington and building an office for Morris and Wood. As the interviews proceed, focus turns towards Laura, Mia, and Janie as suspects in the arson, especially because of incidents involving them just days before the fire and because all three of them happened to be near the offices during the fire.
The author has created interesting backstories for the main characters, explaining their motivations. There are unexpected connections between some of the characters. The ending has quite a few surprises.
I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.
4.5 Stars!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Three Perfect Liars and got hooked from Chapter One. The story line is wholly original and unique, and I found that to be a refreshing change from the usual thriller tropes.
Laura returns to work after maternity leave to discover that the temp filling in for her has been made permanent and taken away her job. Laura is left in office limbo, but can't quit the company since she's the sole provider for her family. I empathized with Laura and found myself becoming angry on her behalf. Her stay at home husband, Nate, vacillated between the role of supportive stay at home dad and harried nag. Laura seemed to be alone in her struggle and I shared her frustration.
The writing and construction of this novel is top notch and well done. I shaved half a star from my rating because I would have liked an ending with more punch, especially after all the angst among the cast of characters and the build up to the conclusion. I felt the confrontations needed to be more explosive.
Many thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an ARC to read and review.
I wanted to enjoy this but unfortunately it was really convoluted. I felt like the main character was just an awful person and I felt no empathy for her. The other two “main” characters you didn’t really get to know. And the ending was such a stretch and I was left with a lot of questions.
Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy!
Three Perfect Lies is a perfect thriller. It is fast paced and keeps you guessing until the very end. Plot lines are timely and authentic. This would be a good book club pick.
I received in advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review
Really fun, few good twists, great summer reading
Three Perfect Liars is a psychological suspense novel that really held my attention. I found the characters to be complex and realistic, with secrets and goals...motivations and conflicts that are easy to relate to. The book starts off with a woman watching a building burn, and later we find out is the ad agency owned by Harry Wood- boss, mentor, husband and father.
So right away I start looking for clues within the interviews with the detective and the changing narratives. So many questions, most of which I can say are honestly answered by the end of the book, and so many clues! Mia- what is her secret and why is she really working at the Ad Agency? Laura- how can she balance home with her career and what sacrifices will she need to make? Janie- yeah what is her secret and why so negative about Harry? Who is Miles and what has he done? Who started this fire???
What I really like about Three Perfect Liars is the women- the three main characters that really tie in to each other in different ways and how one huge fire sets them free in so many different ways. I felt like I got to know them and their strengths inspire me and their weaknesses were things I could relate to (but also made me cringe a little.) Laura is the one I related to the most- the balance of work and home is so hard, even today on women where we feel so much pressure.
Thank you to NetGalley, author Heidi Perks, and Gallery Books for this temporary, digital advance review copy for me to read and enjoy. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for a free galley in exchange for my honest review. Three Perfect Liars is a perfect little whodunit told from the perspective of three women recounting their stories to a police investigator after an office building goes up in flames and a body is pulled out. Think Big Little Lies plus The Whisper Network! But which one would want to seek revenge on Harry Wood the CEO? Janie, the wife? Laura, his former right-hand go-to gal before being replaced while on maternity leave? or Mia, Laura's usurper? Each have plenty of reason to be angry with Harry and even more secrets of their own that they don't want unveiled, but does that make any one of them a criminal? Three Perfect Liars is a dark and thought-provoking book suited for a quick weekend read.
Look at the smoke!! You cannot stop coughing, right? Somewhere is burning. Oh no! Morris& Wood’s building which was only built five years ago is on fire! Could it be arson? Or could the old time protestors who were against the modern complex from the beginning be responsible of the fire?
Three women stood at the quay: Eminem’s “I love the way you lie”song plays in my head : just gonna stand there and watch me burn”, mixing with “Disco Inferno” lyrics: “Burn baby” and of course but three women are already singing: “We didn’t start the fire”
Three women: one of them is CEO Harry Wood’s wife Janine who resigned from her rising courtroom career because of her husband and now they’re drifting apart after all sacrifices she made. She is not happy and for her daughters’ sake, she’s trapped in her marriage.
Laura, one of the ambitious, rising star of the company, returning back to her office after her maternal leave and she finds out her precious Coopers’ account she’s worked for years were taken over by Mia: the same girl who was her replacement but it seems like Laura has been replaced by her.
She knows she is not the person who she’s and she’s after her job even though her sweet pie, lovely husband Nate thinks she’s overreacting AGAIN! Yes, at the past she had another tantrum with a woman colleague that started shit storm and which ended not to so good for her mental condition. And Laura might be angry to Harry who ignored her hard work and sacrifices she’s made for the company by replacing her with younger and inexperienced version of her.
And Mia, has her own secret agenda, she takes care of her sister and mother, she’s friendly, social, most of the people love her at the office which makes Laura more agitated and jealous. Is she a sweetheart as like people think about her or is Laura right about to be suspicious? Why she’s so keen to keep her job and stay connected to Wood family?
Three of them are lying about the fire. They might be protecting someone or some big secrets can change all of their lives? Who has died at the fire? Who is responsible?
This is quite emotional, thought provoking , thriller and women’s fiction. Especially Mia was my favorite from the beginning. I also empathize with Laura and her reactions about her replacement because her work is the only way to express herself like Janine who got jealous after finding out her best friend’s returning to her job.
But Laura’s obsession about getting back her position and exaggerating ambition irritated me as her sweetheart husband did everything to support her. And her lack of interest with her baby’s condition and selfishness also pissed me off.
Janine was neutral character for me. I could her Switzerland character: I didn’t like her or hate her!
The pacing was great. The story telling technique by presenting us police interviews and three women’s POVs brilliantly hooks your interest and you cannot stop reading to learn more about the secrets of these women.
Overall: I loved the powerful conclusion of the story. I loved the author’s approach to the sensitive subjects such as abuse, rape, inequality in work space.
So I’m giving four fiery, volatile, burning stars! This is fast, intriguing, captivating, exciting reading for me!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sharing this riveting ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.
An amazing mystery of three amazing women who are faced with explaining about the origin of a fire.
It's a very smartly structured mystery which is fast paced.. The plot was mesmerizing. She is definitely on my must read list.. One of the best finds of the year!
This is my kind of thriller! It starts with a deadly fire and the police investigation and works backwards from there to discover the culprit...and there are several suspects. Laura has just returned from maternity leave and assumes her temporary replacement, Mia will be leaving. She's shocked to discover that Mia has been made permanent and given the large account that Laura has been looking forward to taking back. Janie, wife of the boss has her own problems as her husband is rarely at home, she suspects he's had an affair with Laura, and she's not sure she's even in love with him anymore. And this is just the beginning. Lots of great twists and turns, head-spinning moments that you'll enjoy if you like thrillers!
This is a beautiful written and gripping book about three really interesting and different women and a fire at an office building that connects them. Told from each of their POV’s along with chapters from the police investigation, it’s starts a few weeks before the fire and brings us finally to the night of the fire itself. I actually loved this book all the way until a rather uninspired and flat ending. It’s a shame as it’s a five star read until about 90 per cent through.
If you want an office mystery or a business related mystery, this is for you. It wasn't for me. I was confused because I felt like we were introduced to far too many characters at the beginning. I felt overwhelmed.