A good solid mystery/thriller with an interesting plot. And it's the start of a series featuring the main character Nora McTavish who has a tragic backstory herself. I'll be checking out future installments. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for review. All opinions are my own.

I am a big Joe Hart fan, having read all his books so far, and happily surprised at how he can jump around in different genres and still write thrilling stories. I'll admit this one was not one of my favorites of his but that probably stems from my dislike of Nora, the main character. She is so moody and angst-y, and goes above and beyond what a CPS agent would ever do to learn about what happened to foster children she had placed.

Kaylee and Justin Volk are only in their 20's and yet they are supposedly stellar foster parents, willing to take in abused and neglected children. Kaylee is social content creator- influencer- who features her "happy" foster family as her topic. The next couple of sentences are not much of a spoiler, since it is revealed in the short first chapter. A private plane crashes into the ocean, and a witness observes people fighting at the controls through the window. That plane belonged to the Volk family: Kaylee, Justin, Andrea, Bethany, and Mason. Only one family member will survive the crash. Sounds intriguing, right? It is absolutely something of a thrill ride, suspenseful. Unfortunately I was able to guess most of the ending (maybe because I live and breathe thrillers and mysteries and have gotten pretty good at guessing story outcomes). It still didn't take away my interest in the story, and my need to see how the plot would be tied up.

I see that this is the first in a series featuring Nora, CPS agent/child advocate. I know I've said that I didn't care for Nora that much. She seems to have PTSD from what happened in her miserable childhood and dwells in her head much of the time. She takes every case of abused foster kids seriously (as she should), but she then becomes an amateur sleuth who takes reckless chances with her own safety. Regardless, I will definitely read the next book in this series, as I enjoy Joe Hart's work and it is always worthwhile to read.
Recommended, 3.5/5 stars, rounded down but hopeful about enjoying the next one..
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy of this for review.

An influencer's family is murdered and secrets dark secrets are exposed in Where They Lie, the first book in the Nora McTavish series by Joe Hart.

Kaylee Volk liked to vlog about her happy family with her loving husband and three foster children. She painted a pretty picture of their perfect life. Then their private plane crashed, and Kaylee was the only survivor and said that one of her foster children, Andrea, caused the crash.

Nora McTavish, child protective services agent, is familiar with the family and Andrea's troubled past. She can't help but wonder, did she miss something?

The beginning of this book instantly grabbed my attention. That is how you start a book! I couldn't help but be drawn in and wanted to see where the book was heading. As I was introduced to Nora, I felt for her as she has a very tough job, and she was looking inward to see what she missed.

This book went from gripping to good. Although this book was good, it failed to wow me. The middle slowed down greatly, but things did pick up and the ending was very good.

This was a solid 3 stars for me. The beginning and ending were shocking and intense.

The first in a new series revolving around Nora McTavish, a child services officer. The character, the troubled back story that led her to child services and her less than perfect personal life are an excellent choice for a series lead. Joe Hart has given us the foundation story, leaving lots of room for some great stories ahead.
WHERE THEY LIE starts with the death of a family. After their plane goes down, the mother, the only survivor, tells the investigators that the crash was caused by their eldest foster child. Enter Nora McTavish, the child services officer that placed the three foster children in this family. What the world sees is the perfect family of a social media influencer that has been destroyed. What Nora sees is a surprising number of questions that have no answers. As she investigates, the questions multiply. The reveal comes after a fast paced build up that places Nora and those around her in danger. Not many will be able to predict THAT ending. A great start to what looks to be an excellent series.

EXCERPT: Roger scrambled for his binoculars, which had fallen dangerously close to the boat's edge, and jammed them to his eyes.
The aircraft rose once more, a bird catching a powerful updraft, then it banked hard to the right and angled down irreversibly. It seemed to hang there for a split second, an image of its bulk suspended over the expanse of rough sea forever seared into Rogers's mind, before plummeting through a swath of rain into the ocean. A spume of water cascaded up silently in the distance and fell, the rough sea resuming its indifferent rolling.

ABOUT 'WHERE THEY LIE': Family is content for Kaylee Volk. Her vlogs celebrate a happy home with her husband and their three foster children, Bethany, Mason, and Andrea. Everything is perfect until the day the family’s private plane plummets into the ocean. Only Kaylee manages to survive—with a shocking revelation: Andrea did it.

This is particularly devastating for Nora McTavish, a child protective services agent who is already familiar with Andrea’s troubled history. Given Nora’s own traumatic childhood, how could she not have sensed the profound darkness festering within the girl? What did she miss? Could she have stopped Andrea?

As Kaylee struggles to cope with the crushing loss, Nora’s investigation begins. But her guilt soon turns to unease. Secret by secret, Nora pieces together a Volk family puzzle that’s more twisted than anyone saw—one far from the picture-perfect life Kaylee sold to the public. And the closer Nora looks, the more disturbing it gets.

MY THOUGHTS: When 'Where They Lie' is good, it's very, very good, but when it's not . . . it failed to keep my attention.

The beginning certainly grabbed my attention with a private jet crashing into the ocean, a child's terrified face pressed against a window.

Then, it's a bit of a seesaw ride. There's ups, and downs, and occasionally it gets stuck going nowhere. There were several places I skimmed pages until something caught my interest and I would start reading again.

I didn't find Nora particularly likeable or relatable, although I did admire her devotion to her charges.

There's a particularly good suspenseful section towards the end of the book that had me holding my breath and furiously flipping pages.

Where They Lie isn't a bad read, but neither is it anything special. Not special enough for me to want to continue with this series.

⭐⭐.7

#WhereTheyLie #NetGalley

I: @joe_hart_author @amazonpublishing

T: @AuthorJoeHart @AmazonPub

#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #mystery #suspense

THE AUTHOR: Joe Hart was born and raised in northern Minnesota, where he still resides today. He’s been writing horror and thriller fiction since he was nine years old. When he’s not writing, Joe enjoys reading, working out, watching movies with his family, and spending time outdoors.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Where They Lie by Joe Hart for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Where They Lie by Joe Hart is a psychological thriller and the first in a series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Thomas & Mercer, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Nora McTavish is with the child protective services.  Her own history of an abusive childhood makes her an ideal agent.  She really cares about her clients.

When the Volk family's private plane crashes, Nora worries.  She always thought there was something wrong in the family.  Kaylee Volk (a vlogger), and her husband Justin (investment broker) have three foster children.  Bethany, Mason, and Andrea.  Nora had been called to the school when 17 year old Andrea beat up her younger brother, but both assured her everything was okay.  She had followed up with the required instructions and plan to make sure nothing happened again.  She never heard anything more from the family.

But now, Nora is concerned.   What did she miss?  Apparently someone saw a struggle in the cock-pit, and there was no MAYDAY call.  Only Kaylee is alive, and she says Andrea crashed their plane.

Nora is determined to figure out what really happened to this family, even if she gets fired for trying.

Meanwhile, she is also trying to help another mother in need, and still dealing with her own traumatic past.


My Opinions:
This was a really amazing read.  It was fast-paced, and well plotted, with a number of twists.  It was hard to put down, and hence was a very fast read.

The book truly showed how rough some families have it, and was therefore rather depressing.  It touched on children in foster care, mothers in abusive situations, and the fact that often children get the bad end of the stick.

I loved Nora from the start, and kept thinking she would make a great protagonist in a series.  Much to my pleasure, I found out that this is indeed, going to be a series.  Now I can't wait for the second book!

I am definitely going in search of other books by this author!

I've added Joe Hart to my automatic list. I see his name and I buy the book. Where They Lie was almost a skip for me because I am so tired of reading about "influencers" and I hate that the time is given to this ridiculous trend. I found myself glad to meet Nora. She joined CPS because she knew what the system could be like. She'd been there. Even so, the job is wearing on her. When a family dies and it may be the fault of one of the children she placed in the family, it pushes her over the edge and she goes way beyond to try and find out what happened.

I am of two minds here. It was fairly obvious what was going on at times and it was frustrating to wait for Nora to catch up. However, there were some truly tense scenes that were written so well I could look past that. I was truly creeped out. The anticipation and the feeling of being watched were perfectly written.

This is the second book I have read by Joe Hart and I enjoyed it. Looks like it is the first book in his new Nora McTavish series, and I always like to get into a series at the start - not that I need another series to follow, but I'm putting this one on my list to watch for the next book.

Description:
Family is content for Kaylee Volk. Her vlogs celebrate a happy home with her husband and their three foster children, Bethany, Mason, and Andrea. Everything is perfect until the day the family’s private plane plummets into the ocean. Only Kaylee manages to survive—with a shocking revelation: Andrea did it.

This is particularly devastating for Nora McTavish, a child protective services agent who is already familiar with Andrea’s troubled history. Given Nora’s own traumatic childhood, how could she not have sensed the profound darkness festering within the girl? What did she miss? Could she have stopped Andrea?

As Kaylee struggles to cope with the crushing loss, Nora’s investigation begins. But her guilt soon turns to unease. Secret by secret, Nora pieces together a Volk family puzzle that’s more twisted than anyone saw—one far from the picture-perfect life Kaylee sold to the public. And the closer Nora looks, the more disturbing it gets.

My thoughts:
Not a bad beginning of a series. Nora McTavish is a social worker for child protection services. She has some issues from her past she has to deal with herself, but she tries to help others due to her past. I did like the character. The plot centered around Kaylee Volk who is an influencer, and the social media aspect here is currently relevant although I wouldn't like my life posted all over the place for just anyone to see. The loss of her family was tragic and the plot was interesting to follow. The ending was kind of unbelievable though.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on May 1, 2023.

I have read a few of this author's books - The Dominion Trilogy and the Liam Dempsey series, as well as a couple of stand alones - so I was quite excited when I saw he was off again with a new series featuring Nora McTavish, a child protection officer.
Kaylee Volk is an influencer, she vlogs about her "perfect" family - husband Josh and three foster children Andrea, Mason and Bethany. One day their private plane goes down, crashing into the sea with Kaylee the only survivor. When she wakes up she proclaims that it was Andrea who caused the crash.
When Nora hears this she is devastated as she was the one who placed Andrea withe the Volks. She starts to wonder what she missed, whether that last session could have gone differently, what could she have done to prevent what happened? So much so that she starts her own investigation...
I do love an amateur sleuth book. Especially when the protagonist is somewhat green at it, or has a quirky job. This book ticks that box with Nora being a CPO. This gives her some access to information and also access to people. Her reasons for being a CPO stem from her own childhood, which we learn more about as the book progresses. After this series opener I am still undecided about my own relationship with Nora but I have a suspicion that we have the potential to grow closer as the series goes on.
The writing is tight, the book isn't that long but it is long enough to get the story across to the reader without padding or waffle, which is refreshing. The story is a bit ott and I did have to accept a few things, rolling my eyes a bit too, but, on the whole mostly credible. And delivered a shocking ending.
All in all, a good solid foundation of a series opener. Looking forward to the follow up. My thanks got to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I really enjoyed this one. I just wish there was more character development. Loved Nora and the child services backstories. Excited for book two!

An engaging, fast paced and brilliantly written book that I could not put down! Will definitely be checking out more from this author.

Hart's writing is undoubtedly impressive, but this book didn't quite hit the mark for me. I had to suspend my disbelief right from the start and found some of the plotlines a little too convenient. As a seasoned thriller reader, the story felt predictable. Nora, the protagonist, wasn't unlikable, but she wasn't exactly likable either, and I remained indifferent towards her throughout the book. I'm also getting tired of the influencer storyline, and I value my privacy too much to share everything online. The ending left me feeling incredulous. Fortunately, the book was short, and I finished it quickly. While I didn't love it or hate it, I'd say that if you read a lot in the thriller genre, you can give this one a miss. I'd give it 3 stars.

I've read several sci-fi books by @joe_hart_author, but this was the first straight thriller, and I really enjoyed it! It was quick, and kept me completely engrossed throughout. Thanks to @netgalley and @thomasmerceruk for the early copy!
*
This is the first in a new series, following Nora McTavish, a CPS agent. In this book, a girl in foster care causes an accident that kills her entire foster family except for her foster mom, leaving Nora to wonder what she missed that could have led to this.
*
This was such a solid thriller, I absolutely flew through it and couldn't wait to find out what happened. I loved Nora as a character, and the glimpses into her background. I also really enjoyed all the side characters, and thought they all had an impressive amount of depth for such a short book.
*
The story kept me guessing, and while the ending didn't completely blow me away, it was still really fun to see how it unfolded.
*
I'm definitely looking forward to the next in the series, and also plan to look up more of Joe Hart's backlist!

I loved this book! The main character, Nora, is a child protective services worker who has a haunting past and wants to right any and every wrong in the world. She has ties to a case of a family with three foster kids that encounters tragedy in a plane crash. There’s lots of moving parts to this story that is great from beginning to end!

I’m not one to normally really mention ‘trigger warnings’ but since Nora McTavish, the main character in Where They Lie, is a social worker focused on investigating foster kids (often having to remove them from abusive environments) I’m not going to lie and I’ll say that for some this might be an uncomfortable book to read. Nora is a fantastic character, and given her own troubled past understands what the children she looks after have gone through. But I think the fact that Joe Hart does such a great job with the her, making her feel real, making the uncomfortable situations feel real, makes the story totally compelling. I mean, we’re supposed to feel uncomfortable about what is happening, right? So in that he’s definitely succeeded. Nora’s current case is focused on the plane crash of an influencer, Kaylee Volk, who also happens to be a foster parent. As we see in the opening of the book, through the eyes of a witness to the crash, there appears to have been a struggle going on as the plane went done. Kaylee survives the crash and says Andrea—the oldest of her foster kids, who has a troubled history—is responsible for the crash. Nora sets out to uncover what happened and why. This is a quick read, fast paced, intense, totally engaging. And while I already mentioned at the start of my review that it was uncomfortable at times, I enjoyed the heck out of it. This is just the first Nora McTavish book and I’ll definitely be looking forward to the next. I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Where They Lie.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2NPG6XSQOLB9F/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Kaylee is a vloger. She documents her daily family life and that the content she's creating. Perfection in imperfection. Family of 5, with three foster children is sharing almost every detail of their reality. Or it was just an illusion, cause when their private helicopter is carshing, the curtains went up reveling the secrets that shadow this image creating in social media.

But there is someone who feel a need to investigate this accident further and undermine the offical version of kaylee, the only survivor who claimes that her oldest, Andrea, was the one who did it. Nora is trying to reveal the truth, and piece by piece discover what exaclty was happening in this family just before the accident.

This book is so up to date. We all see that we can sell everything on social media. Perfect family? Done. Extraordianary connection? Of course. But the true portrayal always come out and this family was hidding the secret that can destroy them all.

That was just perfect! Not like the insta feed, but so well written that I was totally flattered and cannot put it down even for a second. Great combination of psychological thiller and some daily life elements makes an excellent mix for this story.

5/5

An enjoyable thriller that flies with lighting speed. The plane of an influencer and her foster children crashes. The influencer has a shocking message that one of the foster kids was responsible. What follows is an investigation by the child protective agent who placed the foster daughter. There are many twists along this journey as secrets are exposed on the way to the truth. A fast read filled with twists and turns and a somewhat unique plot. Wooden dialogue and weak characterization taint it slightly, but if you are looking for a plot driven, twisty thriller-you will enjoy this!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first book of a new crime thriller series, Where They Lie by Joe Hart introduces Nora McTavish, a state child services agent. An influencer blogger, Kaylee Volk is the only survivor of the aeroplane accident that kills her husband and their three foster children - Bethany, Mason, and Andrea. Nora McTavish is a child protection worker who had previously assessed the children’s placement with the Volks. When Kaylee awakens, she blames Andrea for the crash and Nora is keen to understand why Andrea would do such a thing. As Nora investigates the closed case, she is placed on administrative leave and yet finds disturbing secrets that place her in grave danger. Given its child protection focus, this crime fiction series may not suit all readers but its nuanced, all-too-human protagonist, accompanied by nicely building tension and twisted climax, makes this a four stars mystery read rating. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

A fast paced (and it's short) thriller about Nora, a social worker who feel remorse for placing Andrea, a foster child into a family which later dies in a plane crash she allegedly caused. Kaylee, a vlogger, is the only survivor of the crash but she's got secrets- secrets that Nora will discover, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is more than a little implausible but it's an entertaining read,

NetGalley Review — my rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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Where They Lie by Joe Hart was a solid read! 3.5, really but I don’t do half stars.
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Nora is a social worker for Child Protective Services. Follow her personal story, a story of an influencer’s tragedy, and a story of a mom and son trying to escape an abusive husband.
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I think I would’ve gone up to a 4/5 if there had been a little more character development and guessing games within the story. It was missing a little something but was still enjoyable.
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I would still recommend. This novel is set to be published May 1, 2023!
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Big thanks to Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!
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#netgalley #joehart #wheretheylie #thomasandmercer #advancedreaderscopy