A gripping and twisty read, I Know You Lied masterfully blends psychological intrigue with dark family secrets, keeping readers hooked until the final page. The suspense and emotional depth make it a must-read for fans of thrilling mysteries.

If you relish thrillers that are rife with family secrets, then look no further! Lilian is quite the most odious grandmother I've ever encountered in fiction.

1999 - Sarah - madly in love and married to David, she is dreaming of a future with him and possible children. However, David is still studying at university, so they will temporarily live with his mother Lilian, rent-free, so they can save up for a place of their own. Lilian hates Sarah and the feeling is very mutual. She hates living in the same house as Lilian, despite its luxury and large size. She schemes to get out of the house, but her plans take a turn for the worse when she suffers a devastating tragedy at the tender age of twenty-three.

Present Day - Nell - is a busy events manager working in London. She comes home from work one day to receive a letter from a solicitor only to discover that her mother, Sarah, has recently died. Nell is shocked to the core. She was told that her mother died when she was just a baby... Estranged from her grandmother Lillian (who brought her up), Nell now travels back to the seaside Sussex village where she grew up to confront her grandmother about lying to her all these years. She vows to learn more about the mother she never knew.

Once back in the large house where she spent her childhood, Nell is made to feel unwelcome and uneasy. Strange events seem to follow her. Her grandmother, who is now ill, is living elsewhere while her home is made more accessible for her current condition.

Twists and turns, some expected, some not, will keep you rapidly turning pages until you discover Nell's fate and learn her mother Sarah's story.

A cracking psychological thriller that I devoured. Highly recommended!

A good read, although a little slow at times. I did expect it to pick up in pace and it never really did. That said, I still enjoyed it.

It was ok but certainly not worthy of the 'addictive and shocking' description. Felt like I'd wasted time reading in and almost gave up towards the end as it seemed far fetched and a little silly. However , if you're looking for an undemanding easy read then it's fine for that.

I always enjoy the dual timeline books and this one is no exception. Althoughvits a bit of a slow burner to start, the pace picks up well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC and opportunity to provide my honest review.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It was the first I’ve read by this author and definitely won’t be the last. The book did go a little slower than I’m used to but the story, characters, and plot were intriguing and kept me invested. Would recommend!

Absolutely is what you see in this book. Just as soon as you think you have something figured out, the author hits you from the side with a surprise. This was very well written book, will read some more by this author in future. recommended.

I sort of enjoyed this book but it was a little slow to begin with and I expected it to pick up a bit.but sadly it stayed at the same pace all the way throughout. It really didn't fit the exciting introduction it was given.
Saying that it portrayed a story of family and fear and showed that the author had really out effort into t by e characters

A great book that had me hooked! Well worth picking up as it is definitely worth a read. Great storyline and interesting characters!

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

After the last two books I read by Lesley Sanderson I was went into this one a little apprehensive. After all, the premises for the previous two - "The Leaving Party" and "The Birthday Weekend" - sounded promising but ended up lacking something. I simply loved "The Woman at 46 Heath Street" and have yet to read "The Orchid Girls". So when I began I KNOW YOU LIED, I wasn't quite sure what to expect...but I never expected to love it as much as I did!

One word - WOW! It's a simple plot weaved in such a way that ends up being a tangled mess. And I loved every minute of it! Even the parts I hated...lol

Brought up by her controlling paternal grandmother Lilian, twenty six year old Nell Weatherby believed herself to be an orphan, losing her parents in a car accident when she was just a baby nearly 30 years ago. But a solicitor's letter arrives one morning informing her that she was the lone recipient in a will...her mother's. The mother who she thought had died years ago.

She attends the solicitor's firm and is bequeathed whatever personal items are left in her mother's flat and a gold locket...with a photo of her mother and herself as a child. It was all her mother had left and it was her expressed wish that it be given to Nell upon her death. So with the keys to her mother's flat Nell makes her way to where her mother had been living for the past twenty six years. Just a few streets away from her own flat. So close all these years and she never knew.

After clearing our the flat and bagging up the rubbish, Nell knocks on the neighbour's door and is greeted by a friendly elderly man. Tom and his wife Moira knew Sarah, Nell's mother, as well as anyone could know her. She kept herself to herself and refused any help offered as she maintained her pride. Tom and Moira's greatest sorrow was that they never knew how sick Sarah really was...and had they known they would have done more...if she'd let them. They gave Nell their number to keep in touch and let them know when the funeral would be.

Nell had no idea what to do about the funeral and she left it in the hands of her best friend Hannah whose father was a funeral director. She had other things on her mind. Like why her grandmother told her that her mother had died along with her father when she was buy a baby. Why lie to her? Did she not think that she would want to know her mother? That her mother might like to know her? Lilian had robbed her of that chance and now she will never know her. What right did she have to lie to her?

Distressed, Nell returns to the house she grew up in and left at 16 in Seahurst, a small quiet coastal town in Sussex to confront Lilian. But when she called ahead to speak to her, a strange man answered and informed her that "Lil doesn't live here anymore". Since when has Lilian been known as "Lil"? She would shudder at the mere thought of the abbreviated term. And who was the man who answered? Lilian would never sell Willow House. It has been in the family for generations.

Upon arrival, the stranger who answered the phone introduced himself as Adam Harris, great-nephew of Lilian's and therefore, her cousin. But she doesn't trust Adam and he obviously doesn't trust her. He tells her that Lilian is in assisted living but refuses to tell her where. And although he is living at the house temporarily while he undertakes renovations to prepare for Lilian's return, Adam believes that the property will be his inheritance. When he does verify her identity with Lilian, she heads off to visit her grandmother searching for answers.

At first, Lilian refuses to answer her questions but after some prompting it seems she grows a conscience and reluctantly shares with Nell the troubled state of her mother's mind after losing her father, David. Lilian assures Nell that she only lied to protect her...but Nell isn't so sure. She grew up with this woman. She knows how demanding and controlling she is. And how she smothered Nell throughout her childhood and into her teenage years. But for now, she must take what Lilian has told her as truth while she continues to search for answers herself.

Beginning with the library, in which an imposing painting of a former mayor hangs in the entrance, Nell strikes up a friendship with librarian Jenny and starts to research her family tree. Which proves difficult since Lilian tells her virtually nothing of her family and their past. So Nell endeavours to search Willow House for answers. Surely Lilian has plenty of secrets locked away within the walls of that formidable house.

Then mysterious events begin to occur. Things going missing or being moved around the house. Shadows at windows, locked doors to disused rooms and sounds that awaken her in the night. Then Nell's room is trashed, a painting disappears, silent phone calls with no one there and then she starts receiving anonymous threats.

"You are not welcome here!"

But Nell refuses to be driven away. Not until she uncovers the answers to the secrets of her past. What really happened to her mother and why was she living in London without her daughter who, by all accounts, she adored? And what did Lilian not mention that she and her husband were close friends with Sarah's parents, her maternal grandparents? What is Lilian really hiding? And why does she keep lying to her? And who is behind the mysterious happenings trying to drive her out? And why?

Nell won't rest until she uncovers the truth...and someone wants very much to keep the truth buried, doing whatever it takes to keep it that way. Family secrets. Deception. Betrayal. Obsession. Lies and more lies. Everyone seems to be hiding something.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave. And a tangled web is most certainly and most cleverly woven here as we follow the story through the eyes of Nell in the present day and Sarah in the past, with the odd sporadic inclusion of letters penned by Lilian. Each perspective is cleverly told as we sympathise, empathise or are just plain angered. A family drama played out as a sinister tale of secrets and lies turn into threats with a confused Nell puzzling over her family's past and her grandmother deftly manipulating others as pawns.

Although the characters were cleverly portrayed, I hated Lilian with every fibre of my being. She made my skin crawl and just reading about her made my blood boil. I found her character reminiscent of the equally manipulative Annie in Nina Manning's "The Daughter in Law" and she got under my skin in just the same way. Two characters from two completely different thrillers by two completely different authors that were two peas in a pod. They could have been carved from the same stone. It's no secret what Lilian was up to. Blind Freddy could see it. The woman was obsessed, controlling and manipulative. And that made her dangerous. But oh how I loved reading about her! Despite how she made me feel.

I KNOW YOU LIED is a thriller of deft proportions and, although I unravelled a few of the insidious secrets, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey I was taken on and uncovering the source of all the lies.

My only complaints are that the ending was a tad rushed but still satisfying and the fact that there was no real decisive cause to Sarah's death. The only indication we got was when Nell found a letter from an oncologist which suggested cancer. But then in Sarah's narrative towards the end she indicated that she could not attend those doctors appointments she kept had to keep rescheduling if she had no job...because while she had the time, she wouldn't have the money. So it isn't overly clear if it was cancer or not and would have been good if that were clarified. But those were my only complaints and only enough to knock off half a star but not enough to round it down. So in essence, a 5 star rating it is!

I really thoroughly enjoyed I KNOW YOU LIED and every nuance within the pages. It was cleverly written and deftly manoeuvred that I was thrilled to see Lesley Sanderson back on track with to match the expert storytelling and thrills as found in "The Woman at 46 Heath Street" .

Definitely recommended for fans of domestic or psychological thrillers.

I would like to thank #LesleySanderson, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #IKnowYouLied in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!!

Overall a good read, a little slow for my liking but recommended nonetheless.

I enjoyed this twisted thriller. A story of manipulation that had me hooked from the first page. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Nell was brought up by her controlling grandmother in a coastal village, and runs away to London at 16. She was told her mum died when she was very young so she’s shocked to receive a letter from her mother’s solicitor to say she has recently died.

Her relationship with her grandmother has been strained but she decides to travel back to the village where she grew up to see if her grandmother will explain herself. She finds her cousin living there, whom she has never met. Her grandmother is temporarily living in sheltered accommodation while the cousin works on the house so it’s suitable for the grandmother to live in. The cleaner her grandmother employed decades ago has returned to clean the house and keep an eye on it.

The story is an easy read and the characters are ok. The grandmother is a real piece of work and her logic is pretty warped. Her experiences don’t excuse her behaviour at all. I felt sorry for Nell, but her character is a bit underdeveloped for me. I also found it strange how she suddenly became great friends with a woman in the village she’d only met a handful of times.

The story is told from Nell’s point of view in the present day (2019] and the backstory about her mother is told from her point of view from the late 90s onwards. There are also confession letters written by the grandmother explaining her extreme behaviour.

It’s quite a predictable story and the end was quite underwhelming. There are parts that potentially could be quite unnerving, threats are made and there’s an intruder. However, they just weren’t, and lacked the suspense and thrill they could have had.

Overall, the book was alright but lacked tension and it wasn’t as thrilling or twisty as it could have been.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book for review.

When Nell receives a call from a solicitor stating her mom has passed away she is so confused as she has believed for the past thirty years that of her parents passed away in a car accident. Nell decides to connect with her estranged grandmother, who raised her, to find out the secrets that had been kept from her. The story has many twist and turns along the way, the truth just about kills Nell, literally.

It was a decent story, a very quick read, I didn’t feel like I wanted to put it down but I didn’t feel like I was shocked at the end like I like my thrillers to leave me. In my opinion the characters weren’t well establish and kinda blah. Again, despite that I don’t think it was a bad book just a little predictable.

Nell’s mother died almost thirty years ago so when she gets a letter in the post from a lawyer informing that her mother died recently She is horrified as she thinks it must be a very cruel joke but when she realises it is true it throws her whole life into a tailspin.

Her parents died in a car crash when she was only a baby and she was raised by her grandmother Lilian who adored her so why would she lie to her? And why did her mother abandon her?

Nell sets out to discover what happened but when she starts receiving threatening letters and medicines get tampered with and it is clear somebody doesn’t want her to find out the truth!!!!

I found this book absolutely gripping as the story of her past unfurled through the present and the past with lots of plot twists it kept me hooked the whole way through!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Lesley Sanderson for the ARC of I Know You Lied my review is honest and unbiased.

I Know You Lied by Lesley Sanderson was originally titled "What We Hide" and was a good psychological thriller. I just loved reading any new book by Lesley especially as it was about family who have dark secrets However, I did find it a slow start but then once I got into it I enjoyed reading it, so stick with it, it does get better.

Big thank you to the author lesley Sanderson, Bookouture and Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily,

This book is all about secrets . It is told by different characters in different timelines. This tended to be more of a family drama , but having said that I still really enjoyed it.

This book had me on my feet, a little bit of a slow start after Nell found out that she actually has a mom and her grandmother has been lying to her for YEARS. Also, am I the only one that saw that the title of the book changed? Anyway, that’s beside the point. This book took me by surprise, even though there were so many things going on, I loved how it all tied together to end the mystery of Nell’s family. We end up not only finding out about Nell’s family, but also the secrets that her grandmother Lilian was trying so hard to bury, or maybe not just bury, this woman was trying her damnest to keep secrets where they belonged. I loved Nell as a character, because seeing as her upbringing was not as loving, she shows so much emotion, for the woman she never met who was her mother, and even her own grandmother. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Three and a half stars, rounded up.

Nell's world is turned upside down when she receives word that her mother has just passed away. Ordinarily the death of a loved one would do such a thing, however, Nell's parents died in a car accident when she was a little girl. Or so she thought.

Seeking answers, she travels from London to the house in the small town where she was raised by her estranged grandmother Lillian. Once there, she starts to find out that things are not as she thought they were and her life is based on lies.

Were the lies crafted out of love or malice?

Things start to go missing or get moved around the house. Locked doors to disused rooms appear to have movement behind them. And then Nell starts receiving anonymous threats.

Before she is driven away, or worse, Nell delves into her past with a determination to find answers.

All in all, I enjoyed this read. It wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped, which is my main complaint. The book description sold it as addictive and fast-paced, however for me it was almost more of a slow burn. My only other wish is that some of the character's backstories were developed a bit more as they were not quite as compelling as they could've been. Still, it was enjoyable and the ending was satisfying.

Thank-you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy.

Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mystery: ⭐⭐⭐
Thrill factor: ⭐⭐ ½
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐ ½, rounded up

A story told in then and now is always harder for me. I am not sure why, but I did enjoy the writing, the style and the story. However, it is just hard to get past the then and now shifts and changes.