It's hard to write a review that does justice for this book. It is a murder mystery, written in 2 time lines. One is 1995, taking place on the day the victim dies. The other is 2020, a police officer taking over a cold case. The police officer happens to have been the victim's best friend and also the one who discovered the body.

Unbelievable twists and turns. A number of likely suspects. Just as I think it is one particular character the tide turns and I think it is someone else. In the meantime I have met most evil, devious, creepy character that I have ever encountered in a book. (I never read Silence of the Lambs) She happens to be the sister of the victim.

About 2/3 through the book a bomb drops in my lap. Non stop action and twists from there to the end.

Murder mysteries are not my favourite genre but every once in a great one shows up.

Exciting, well written, and entertaining. I can see it becoming a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.

Interesting but not terribly original story of Maggie, a pregnant police officer who is trying to solve the murder of Eve, her childhood friend. Suspicious characters include a crazy sister, abusive boyfriend, too nice to be true male friend of Eve's who is now Maggie's boyfriend. The ending was not quite the surprise I had hoped. Still, it was a fast and enjoyable read. It is not my favorite by this author but good enough that I will pick up her next book.

I always enjoy Heather Gudenkauf's books, and this one was no exception. Maggie has followed in her father's footsteps and is a detective in her small hometown. She is married and about to have her first child. It is twenty years since her best friend and neighbor, Eve was murdered in the caves not far from their home. The case was never solved by Maggie's father years ago. However, new evidence has come to light and Maggie has been given the case. Through many twists and turns, you end up trusting and distrusting so many characters. You have no idea who really murdered Eve. I read this book very quickly because I was dying to find out who was really responsible. Well done!

Must read!!! I just finished This is How I Lied and this book has officially and completely wow’ed me! This domestic thriller is chock-full of crazy twists and turns that even the seasoned mystery/thriller fans won’t see coming. I had so many theories on the what, where, how and who and I am not ashamed to admit none of them were correct lol! Heather Gudenkauf will keep you on the edge of your seat as well as keep you up way past your bedtime!! This is How I Lied is a 5 star book that I highly recommend to everyone!!

“This is how I Lied” by Heather Gudenkauf Reviewed March 28, 2020 4+ Stars
This is only my fifth Heather Gudenkauf novel. I gave “Before She Was Mine” 5 stars and I give very few 5 stars rating ~ I save 5s for very very special books. I did give the other three Gudenkauf novels 4 stars which of course means GREAT!
I have been looking forward to her latest novel.

This story is narrated from the POV of three characters and jumps back and forth between now 2020 and 1955.

POV ~ Eve Knox. In 1995, Eve was a 15 year old who was found murdered in the cave near her home town of Grotto, Iowa.
POV ~ Nola Knox. Both 1995 & 2020. Nola Is Eve’s sister and was 13 at the time of the murder.

POV ~ Maggie Kennedy-O’Keefe. Maggie was Eve’s best friend. Maggie and Nola found Eve’s body back in December 1995.
Now in 2020 Maggie is now married, 7 month pregnant and also a police office in this same small town. She has been assign to investigate the 25 year old cold case of Eve’s murder when one of Eve’s boots was found.

This small town seems to be full of secrets and there are twists and turns as to who is lying to keep secrets a secret!
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WOW Ms. Gudenkauf did not disappoint.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Park Row Publishing for this early release granted in exchange for an honest review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 12, 2020

This is a very well written thriller. I enjoyed the fact that it took place in a part of Iowa I've been to (the only cave-filled, hilly part) and the fact that it really felt like a small Iowa town, both now and in the 90's flashbacks. I related to the characters, even the dead girl whose story is told in pieces throughout the book. I did figure out the killer, but I generally do and it was a tiny piece of what unraveled. There were twists I didn't see coming and the language is well crafted. There was one bit of criminology science that broke the bubble for me and at times towards the end I needed to suspend a lot of disbelief, but it was an enjoyable romp with mostly fully developed characters. 4 stars for "really liked it," which is high praise from me for mysteries. :)

I read a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Wow! I have recently gotten into reading thrillers and this one did not disappoint. The book follows Maggie who is now a police officer tasked with taking a fresh look at her best friend's murder when they were teenagers. Maggie's friend Eve was discovered by Maggie and her freakishly strange younger sister Nola. The author does a fantastic job of casting suspicion on an array of characters so I was unable to guess what the outcome was until the very end. This is my first book by Heather Gudenkauf but it will not be my last. Definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre. The only criticism I have at all is that for the first half of the book it seemed the main character Maggie had to constantly remind everyone that she was a police officer. That got a little annoying but other than that this book was great!

This is How I Lied is the latest psychological thriller by Heather Gudenkauf.  Lots of twists and turns and be prepared, there will come a time when it's impossible to put down! I want to thank Net Galley and Harlequin for an early copy to review.

I love many of Heather Gudenkauf's books, so this was a thrill to read and review. This one definitely had the creep factor, and my brain shifted from character to character trying to figure out "whodunit." I thought one of the characters didn't quite get what was coming to them, that's why the 4 star review. Otherwise well done!

I very much enjoyed this novel, with its wonderful cast of characters and gorgeous prose. The storyline was engaging and flowed seamlessly.
Highly recommended!

Ladies and gentleman, we have another WINNER!

As soon as I saw Heather Gudenkauf’s name, I requested this book without reading its blurb, because “Before She was found” was one of my last year’s favorite, underrated books and I believe her new book will be also another surprising, twisting, heart throbbing, gripping thriller. And yes, I don’t have to be clairvoyant to know I’ll get something fresh, mind numbing, well written with impeccably crafted, complex characters. It is already at my top ten favorite thrillers list of this year.

The story is told by 3 narrators: Officer Maggie Kennedy O’keefe, investigating a 25 years old cold case: her best friend Eve Knox’s brutal murder. A woman officer investigates the brutal murder when she is expecting gives us Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson vibes from Fargo!

Eve Knox, victim, 15 years old, is living her sister Nola who is showing sociopathic tendencies and her hard-working, strict mother. We’re going back and forth between her murder day and present time to catch the parts of her story and getting a clue about whodunit. These parts are heart wrenching because Eve also suffers from abuses of her boyfriend Nick, dealing with family problems and her best friend Maggie gives her cold shoulder who seems like keeping a terrible secret from her. From the beginning till the end, Eve’s story confuses our minds and gives so many perpetrator candidates, pointing fingers to the different people.

And Nola: describing her as “weird” could be wrong because her animal dissecting practices, hoarding tendencies and transcriptions of her séances with her psychiatrist tells us she could be twin sister of Dexter.
And when we go back and forth between past and present we see that her mother might have lied about her whereabouts at the murder time. She is the most irritating, disturbing character of the book. From the beginning you get suspicious about motives and she can easily surprise us with her unexpected actions.
The case is reopened after a new piece of evidence: victim’s shoe is found by little kid. Now forensics technology improved and DNA results could help them to get better results.

Maggie is 7 months pregnant. This is her miracle child because she and her husband Shaun tried too many times to be parents and now they have to be more cautious. Maggie needs to stay away from stressful situations. But when the case reopens, she also knows she already reopened the can of worms because there are so many secret will be resurfaced. Her father Henry who was also police officer conducted the investigation 25 years ago but he didn’t find a suspect. Now he suffers from amnesia and he forgets what you tell him a few minutes later. But Maggie thinks her father keeps to himself something secret about the investigation. Something deadly crucial and important.

Maggie also keeps secrets that can change everything about the case and her own life. She already gets death threats and somebody put their barn into the fire to give her a message. If she shares with her husband, it can destroy their marriage but she finds out, her husband was also friend of Eve and he was one of the last persons who has seen her before getting killed. Why Shaun didn’t mention it to his wife!

So who killed Eve Knox? At the last third: The author throws a bomb into our laps! A shocking revelation! And after this revelation, you start to read action packed, heart pounding, blood freezing, high tension last quarter while you’re sitting at the edge of your couch and getting sick of biting your nails and starting to bite your couch pillows and your mouth keeps getting filled with feathers.

Overall: Pacing, story development, characterization are perfect. I couldn’t put it down and turn into home quarantined couch potato and I never regretted! It was one of my best reads of the year!

Special thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN/Park Row for sharing this powerful ARC in exchange my honest review. And special thanks to Heather Gudenkauf for writing this remarkable, moving, gripping novel.

I always really enjoy Heather Gudenkauf books and this was no different. In fact, I read the entire thing in a day! I loved how rather than just telling a police procedural story she threw in a twist with the detective being pregnant and knowing the original victim. I was kept guessing throughout the book and was thrown off with the ending. I did love that ending though! I will recommend this book. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

I could not put this one down!? Twenty-five years ago Maggie lost her 16-year-old best friend, Eve after she found her body in the nearby caves they often explored. Forever haunted by her vague memories of that day, Maggie is now pregnant and a detective, following in the steps of her father, the former Police Chief. Reopening the case, Maggie finally has a chance to track down her friend's killer and the more she digs, the more secrets she uncovers about her neighbors. Someone knows more than they are letting on about what really happened to Eve 25 years ago and as you read through this incredible book, you can't help but question everyone. Heather did a fabulous job of keeping me on the edge of my seat from page one - I highly recommend this book!

What was your last five star read? For me, it was THIS IS HOW I LIED by @heathergudenkauf ! She’s one of those authors that I say screw all responsibilities and upcoming pub dates when I get my hands on her new book and drop whatever I’m doing to read it! If you’ve ever asked me for a book recommendation, I’ve probably mentioned THESE THINGS HIDDEN or BEFOFE SHE WAS FOUND (or let’s face it, any of her books) - she’s just that talented of a writer! ⁣
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In her latest, we get multiple POVs, timelines and transcripts/articles - one of my favorite storytelling styles in a book. Police officer Maggie is asked to reopen a cold case murder from 20 years prior - of Eve Knox, a girl who happened to be her best friend. In a small town, lots of secrets lurk behind the surface, some that people will do anything to avoid coming out. ⁣

The power secrets hold over us.....for years and years. They always come back to confront us.
Full of twisty, suspenseful, and questionable characters, This Is How I Lied is a wonderful story about friendships and betrayals, leaving you guess who betrayed who.

Thanks to netgalley I got to read this in advance, for free. As a thriller, it checks all the boxes. It’s interesting, quick paced, and has intrigue to go around. My only quibble is that the main characters aren’t very likable and some of the main red flags are never really addressed. Still, a good read!

Once again Gudenkauf leads her readers on a suspenseful journey full of unexpected twists. It did take me quite a while to get involved in the book which was unexpected. Her past books have hooked me from page one. The end was totally unexpected so I'm glad I stuck with it.

Another fabulous read from Heather Gudenkauf. Rich characters and a plot that keeps you guessing, you can't put this one down!

Maggie has returned home to Grotto, the town she left more than two decades before after a teenage girl’s body was found in a cave. One of the prime suspects was Maggie’s boyfriend, but with no evidence, the case went cold and was never solved. Now, Maggie is pregnant and a detective in her old home town and she plans on using her new position to find out what really happened to Eve. But the killer has other ideas. Gudenkauf has made a real name for herself in the publishing world in the last few years. She has a real flair for the domestic thriller