I thoroughly enjoyed To Tell You the Truth by Gilly MacMillan and read it over the course of a day. I really liked the plot and it kept me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future!

This book was a disappointment for me. The beginning of the book was very slow paced, and I found it hard to keep engaged. The story didn’t really work and felt very far-fetched. The ending was rushed and a disappointment.

I would rate this book 3.25 out of 5 stars.

This was an enjoyable thriller but I felt that it was a little farfetched and left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

I have to admit, this one sounded good and had great promise but ended up being a borderline three-star read for me as I pushed through the book hoping it would get better it had a lot of potential but just fell flat for me as it felt disjointed the storyline and a tad on the odd side. The book starts with introducing us to Lucy who we learned had a younger brother called Teddy who when they were children - vanished without a trace. His body was never found and he has remained a missing person. It was Lucy's fault he went missing, but she never revealed the real truth of his disappearance and one of the reasons she never told the truth was Eliza. Eliza was her imaginary friend as a child and now Lucy has captured Eliza as the main detective in her popular thriller series. The thing though is that Lucy has had enough and wants Eliza gone, so she takes a giant risk. Meanwhile, Lucy's husband has a surprise for her, he has brought them a new house and it happens to be in the same area as Lucy's childhood house the woods where her brother disappeared are her back property. I have to admit, I really hated Dan - Lucy's husband with a passion, he was a real jerk. The thriller part comes to a past/present state when Dan goes missing and Lucy finds out that he has been researching bunkers and her brother's disappearance. Does Dan know more about Teddy's disappearance than she does? Can Lucy tell the truth this time and will they believe her? 

Find out in Gilly MacMillan's 2020 release "To Tell You The Truth".

Gilly is one of my favourite authors but I feel this wasn't her best - I just can't connect with characters who let themselves get treated like a doormat and I always get frustrated by this which spoils my enjoyment of a book - the ending was average also and don't think loose ends were addressed - average unfortunately

This book was so good. I had to read it km one sitting. I literally could not put it down. I liked the way it went between the present with chapters setbim the past and trying to link it all together. It is def one for everyone to read

A fast paced, suspense fuelled thriller that keeps you gripped from start to the shocking conclusion.
An absolutely must read

EXCERPT: 'Your work is compromised because it's commercial. You gave up any integrity your writing might have had when you decided to write for this market. It's so disappointing. And don't even get me started on Detective Sergeant Eliza Grey. She's a cliche if I ever met one.'

'Are you finished?' I asked.

'Do you not see it? How can you not see it? Don't you ever despair that you've sold out? Or perhaps you can't see it. I wonder about that sometimes.'

I stared at him, hoping there was a way those words could just retreat right back into his mouth and down into his stomach where the acid would fry them. I was outraged that he would sit here in this house, that he'd bought with my money, and suggest that writing thrillers was any easier than any other kind of novel, that I was a lesser writer because of it. That I was inferior to him. That Eliza was inferior. That my readers were.

I stood and picked up my plate. It gave me sweet pleasure to hurl it at the wall. Dan ducked out of the way dramatically as it flew past him, though it would never have hit him, I'm certain it wouldn't.

My towering outrage flew through the air with the plate, frisbeed alongside it, helped it create a deep dent in the plasterwork before shattering on the floor beside it, creating an unaccountable number of tiny shards like sharpened grains of spilled rice. The steak landed on the kitchen surface with a dull smack and peppercorn sauce dripped down the handmade tiles. I watched, with satisfaction, and thought, if this was in a book, depending on the scene, I might describe those as 'glutinous rivulets' and that would be okay with my readers and me.

I hated Dan so very much in that moment.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: To tell you the truth . . . everybody lies.

Lucy Harper’s talent for writing bestselling novels has given her fame, fortune and millions of fans. It’s also given her Dan, her needy, jealous husband whose own writing career has gone precisely nowhere.

Now Dan has vanished. But this isn’t the first time that someone has disappeared from Lucy’s life. Three decades ago, her little brother Teddy also went missing and was never found. Lucy, the only witness, helplessly spun fantasy after fantasy about Teddy’s disappearance, to the detectives’ fury and her parents’ despair. That was the start of her ability to tell a story—a talent she has profited from greatly.

But now Lucy’s a grown woman who can’t hide behind fiction any longer. The world is watching, and her whole life is under intense scrutiny. A life full of stories, some more believable than others. Could she have hurt Teddy? Did she kill Dan? Finally, now, Lucy Harper’s going to tell the truth.

Cross her heart.

And hope to die.

MY THOUGHTS: This is my first encounter with Gilly Macmillan, and it won't be my last! I read this over two nights - it would have been one had my three year old grandson not kept me occupied all day - my mind spinning, wondering, is this woman mad? Did she kill her little brother? Did she kill her husband? Are we ever going to know the truth? I didn't know if I could trust what she was telling me, or if she lived in the fantasy world where she creates her books.

The inability to trust plays a huge role in this book. People Lucy thought she could trust, turn on her. Even Eliza seems to be playing games with her. And those neighbours...they all seem to have their own agendas. 'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you.' Sometimes it seems like everyone is watching Lucy. And just who is #MrElizaGrey?

Gilly Macmillan can certainly create atmosphere. To Tell You the Truth is an excellent piece of writing. The ending is unexpected and well done, the chapters short and taut.

❤❤❤❤

#ToTellYoutheTruth #NetGalley

We humans like to look at the dark side of things, don't we? At the most twisted things. We like that feeling of shock and horror. It makes addicts of us.

THE AUTHOR: She grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California. She studied History of Art at Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Gilly lives in Bristol, UK with her family and writes full time.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House, UK, Cornerstone, for providing a digital ARC of To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Another corner from Gilly, this was a great read and I got through it in no time at all; like most of her books, wasn’t too keen on the main character but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book, 5 stars again!

I found this book to be a bit flat for me, which was disapointing as usually I am a big fan of Gillys books. It ended badly which really reflected the way I rated this book.

This was a wild ride of a book, telling the story of a writer who had experienced a horrible tragedy in her past and is now a suspect in her husband’s murder. A wonderful whodunit by the talented Gilly Macmillan.

3.5 rounded up!

Thank you author, publisher and netgalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an easy suspenseful read. I was hooked throughout. I love stories with an unreliable narrator and this one took it to a whole new level. I felt for Lucy and was rooting for her. My only issue is with the ending which I felt was rushed.

Overall, a good read and I would recommend it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for a copy of “To Tell The Truth” for an honest review.

I have enjoyed other books by Gilly MacMillan but .on the whole I found this a disappointing read
It started well, but as the story developed it became a little confusing , it didn’t help that the characters were all so unlikable ,and I just hoped that the ending would save the book .Unfortunately it didn’t have a satisfactory finish , and left many loose ends unanswered.
Overall an average read

This was a competent thriller, that I mostly enjoyed. But I had a few problems with it.
Like other readers, Lucy annoyed me greatly. I can't stand characters that don't stand up for themselves and are basically a doormat to the people around them, and Lucy did this in spades. Her anxiety about her situation did shine through, but other less important actions made me want to shake her, and I struggle to feel bad for them, or really root for them if they let things happen without objection.
This definitely overshadowed my enjoyment, but it was a good story and I would still recommend it to readers that aren't put off by issues I have described.

Not yet finished so this is only a wee update,

So far I'm loving this book, look out for my review on Goodreads

#ToTellYouTheTruth #GillyMcMillian

"The door of the den is open wider than you left it. You go in. The lamp is still on, and everything is as you would expect it to be except that the little nest on the floor where you left Teddy is empty. Your body shakes. You take the lamp outside and search for him, ignoring the tearing thorns and scalding nettle stings, but he is nowhere to be found. It's as if the night has swallowed him up whole. The next thing you know, you are running home through the woods and praying that Teddy will be there and Eliza's voice is on a loop in your ears, saying, 'Don't tell them about the den. Don't tell them you left him alone.' And you didn't tell."

In this suspense novel, the narrator is Lucy Harper, a bestselling thriller writer. What people don’t know about her is that her main character, Eliza, is based on an imaginary friend she’s had since childhood. But Lucy wants to escape Eliza and kills off the character in her next novel, much to the horror of her publishers and the imaginary Eliza. But Lucy wants freedom from Eliza, because she reminds Lucy of her past.

When Lucy was nine-years-old, her little brother Teddy disappeared in the nearby woods. Lucy was the last to see him. But when police question her she holds back some information, because Eliza tells her to. Teddy’s never found.

Then, to her horror, Lucy’s husband, Dan, buys her a house on the same street where she lived when the tragedy happened. And he is also acting strangely. Then, he too goes missing. Could it be linked to Teddy’s disappearance more than 30 years prior? Is Lucy misremembering things?

Lucy is a bit of an unreliable narrator, partly because she listens to Eliza too much. But that makes the book all the more intriguing and disquieting as the reader tries to figure out what’s the truth and what are the lies.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. I have enjoyed this authors previous books.

Cleverly written and compelling ,this is a great read.

The words weave a mystery to be solved with twists and turns aplenty.

Tense and thrilling and completely unpredictable .

Published 25th June in hardback

This was a reasonably good psychological thriller. The author creates a sense of unease and confusion which I absorbed during my reading. Who to believe. who is trustworthy, what really happened to Lucy's little brother and how is that impacting the present?

A good read
Plenty of secrets within this family
It will definitely have you hooked
A book you will not put down.
Thanks NetGalley

This was a great read!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book after reading the reviews but I ended up enjoying it a lot (probably because I had lower expectations).

The main character is not someone you can relate to but it was interesting to learn her backstory. I understand why a lot of people didn't enjoy the ending but to me it was OK (and perhaps realistic).

I'd say this story is about the main character's psyche and how she deals with it and her past, more than a "cold case" type of story.

Overall a nice read!!

goodreads.com/booksireadandliked
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader copy of the book. This is my honest review