Ultimately I found this one hard to follow. It was a story within a story within a story. The twist was too confusing and it was full of red herrings

I really enjoyed this book. The author has a way of capturing my attention instantly. I had to keep reading just one more chapter. It was a hard one to put down. Highly recommend.

The Woman Who Lied is a very clever mystery in which a writer starts having things happen in her life that happened in books she's written. Emilia Ward is a successful author who is married for the second time with 2 children, a teenaged girl from her first marriage and a young son from her current marriage. Her popular book series is about a detective who solves mysteries. She's on her tenth book in the series and Emilia decides it's time to kill off her main character. She wants to write something new and fresh. She's already finished the first copy of her tenth book, has sent it to her publisher, a couple of friends, and a few family members.

Emilia is torn about ending the series as she doesn't want to lose her fans. She just can't face continuing the series past 10 books though. As she's waiting to hear from people about the book, disturbing things begin happening. Events that happened in the book series start happening to Emilia. Someone is trying to send her a message, but who? When things escalate and things get more upsetting, Emilia is concerned. The things that are now happening are from her tenth book and only a select few people have a copy of it. Is this person that's tormenting Emilia someone close to her? Why would someone close to her try to scare her? Will Emilia and her family be okay? The threats are getting more serious and a family member goes missing. The suspense builds and builds and I couldn't guess who was doing this!

Stop what you're doing and get this book! I absolutely loved The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas and rate it 5 stars with my very highest recommendation. I was hooked from the start when you find out the things happening are from Emilia's book series. What a clever twist to a mystery! I'd like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for an advanced copy of The Woman Who Lied in exchange for a fair review.
I can't wait for the next Claire Douglas book! #TheWomanWhoLied

3.5 ⭐️ I had a really slow start on this one, and the first half felt very long, but as things picked up at the halfway make with a twist, the ending can quick and was pretty satisfying!

I was riveted by this book! Every aspect of the story is written to keep the reader’s interest, from the “pranks” targeting Emilia to the slow revelations about her book and finally, the revelation of the killer. The pacing was just right and the twists were unexpected and just kept coming!

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas is a recommended psychological thriller.

Emilia Ward lives with her second husband, Elliot, their son Wilfie, and Jasmine, her teenage daughter from her first marriage. She is also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels who is about to publish her 10th book in the series. Then strange things begin to happen and Emilia suddenly becomes aware that the incidents resemble scenes from her books. As it continues, she begins to become concerned for the safety of her family. Once something from her current unpublished novel occurs, she realizes that whoever is doing this is among her trusted group of friends.

The narrative follows Emilia in the present day, excerpts from her latest book, and later, a third story line. Emilia's concern for her family is real. Along the way, Douglas includes plenty of red herrings and clues to follow that point to the guilt of different characters. The multiple story lines all come together at the end, but for me this wasn't a successful plot device. At first the pacing seemed slow for a thriller, but it does pick up. I enjoyed the thriller, but not as much as other novels Douglas has written. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

if there’s one thing I gravitate to in thrillers, it’s a dual timeline POV - and this one worked out so perfectly!

when a crime writer starts to notice events happening around her that are straight out of her books, she immediately goes into panic mode (and tbh, who wouldn’t) on who is out for her 😳 as the story escalates, the reader is treated to excerpts of the book within a book, occurring at the same time as the real events!!

in theory, this would be a fantastic twist and fast paced story. in actuality, the sheer amount of characters that were introduced once by a single sentence and promptly had no effect on the plot whatsoever was astonishing. I immediately lost track of every single person as the characterization was bare minimal except for the main character. the writing itself, when there was characterization, was so simple and juvenile it made my heart hurt - a clear example of telling rather than showing.

my brain physically was spinning in circles when I read this one 😵‍💫 like I couldn’t wrap my head around one topic before it bounced to another one… I think with a little more trimming and editing, it could achieve the same purpose without a ton of confusion on the readers’ end

all in all, the bones of the story were excellent and unique, but sadly, it fell victim to too many stories and characters happening at the same time to feel any sort of impact.

thank you to netgalley and harper collins for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 2.5 stars
wine pairing: australia malbec

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas is a thriller which keeps you guessing till the very end. With two sub-stories running along with the main story, it can be a little confusing at the beginning but everything brilliantly came together in the end. The head-spinning twists keep you engrossed and make it difficult to put the book down. So good. Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Paperbacks for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I’ve read so many cozy mysteries lately, I needed a good thriller, and this was it!!! I didn’t know who the murderer was until the last few pages! Emilia, the mc, is a well loved thriller writer, with 9 books published so far in a very successful detective series. She’s just finished writing her tenth, and final, book. Only a few people in her circle have read it, but some strange things start to happen. Events from her book series begin to happen in real life. First small things, from her first few books, but then things from her unpublished book begin to haunt her. And then someone close to her is murdered. Who can Emilia trust? And time is running out, because only a few people know how the book ends. I loved this one!!! 5 ⭐️

Thank you @harperbooks #partner for the gifted eARC.

Yay! Yay! Yay! This was such a great crime thriller and police procedural! This ultimately follows our main character Emilia who is a writer wrapping up the last book in her “Miranda Moody” detective series. She came up with the ending for it in an unconventional way and now…she regrets it. Shockingly she discovers that someone is copying incidents that she’s written in her past books. And all hell breaks loose when details emerge from her unreleased book! There are only so many people in her small circle that know that information. 😳 So just who is behind this or is it sheer coincidence?

Although several of Claire’s books are on my TBR list this was the first I had read and it made me even more excited to read her others! This characters and the happenings were layered perfectly together. This book felt so real, like maybe something you’d see on a crime show which I think made it even more scary! Claire does a great job building tension and suspense while peppering in some stressful scenes (my fav!) This one was addicting, entertaining, and a thrilling rollercoaster! I simply loved it and will definitely be back for more!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. Based on the synopsis, it had the potential to be a fantastic read. But 1/3 of the way through and the biggest mystery is who showed up on the Ring camera? Next.

Have you read anything by Clarie Douglas? She is a very good author and whenever I see a new book from her, I try to get it. Her latest is The Woman Who Lied.

I liked the premise of the main character being an author whose detective novels are starting to come to life. How creepy, right? It was a great story, written well and I can’t wait to see what Claire writes next.

Emilia Ward lives in suburban London with her husband, their young son, and a teenager from her first marriage. Emilia is an ordinary mom — and she’s also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels.

But when writing her tenth — and most difficult — book, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident mimicking the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, right?

Until it happens again. And again.

Then someone she knows dies in the same way as a victim in the book she’s currently writing.

Why is someone doing this?

What do they want?

How could they possibly know what she’s thinking — and writing?

Is Emilia and her family next?

This book kept me up well past my bedtime. I loved how twisty it was, and the structure was really fun and engaging as well! I will definitely be picking up Claire Douglas again.

Claire Douglas belongs up there at the top of the greatest! Her books have you guessing constantly and her tension is palpable. This was her best to date! If she writes it, I will read it!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was a slow start for me, but I ended up really enjoying it. Several unexpected turns and the letter at the end was perfection!!

DNF at 38%

I really enjoyed Douglas' The Couple at No. 9 when I picked it up last year and the synopsis for The Woman Who Lied led me to believe that I would love this even more! I mean, come on - it's an author trying to figure out who is recreating the plots of her mystery series after she decides to kill off her main character. That is right up my alley!

Unfortunately, the characters and the writing in this one just did not do it for me. Our main character Emilia is super dull and all of the other characters felt immensely one-dimensional. The lack of depth in the characters might have been forgiven if the plot had any tension in it, but we don't get much insight into Emilia's mind and therefore, I have nothing to grab onto in terms of her fear and terror. The book-within-a-book sections were honestly my favorite part, but I don't care enough about it to make me want to push through to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Paperbacks for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Great premise: Emilia Ward, the author of a popular mystery series, had just sent her latest (and tenth) book to her publisher for review when she begins to to be plagued with weird pranks that mirror events occurring in her series. She becomes more and more concerned for her own safety — and her life — as the pranks increase. Her fear and concern escalate exponentially when events occur that mirror those in her latest and yet unpublished book, a work which only a handful of people have had access to and in which she has killed off her main character. This is a very well-written thriller with interesting characters and plenty of twists and turns that keep the reader on a roller coaster ride. All in all, a very good read!

THE WOMAN WHO LIED was a twisty, suspenseful read with a really interesting premise. It drew me in right from the start, and was well written throughout. It was a little slower than the typical thriller and that did drag the story on at times; however, it was overall enjoyable and would not hesitate to read another one from Claire Douglas.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Paperbacks for the opportunity to read and review THE WOMAN WHO LIED.

Emilia Ward is an ordinary mom living happily in suburban London with her husband and two children - a teenager from her first marriage, a little boy from her second. She also happens to be the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels. As Emilia embarks on her tenth novel, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident straight out of the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, she thinks. Until it happens again - and again. Then someone she knows dies in the same way as a victim in the book she's currently writing . . .

Claire Douglas knows how to write a suspenseful thriller. This book sucks you in from the start with a great story line and a set of interesting characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Paperbacks for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Emilia Ward is a best selling mystery author. When she hits a dry spell, a well meaning friend offers her a tantalizing story line.
Disturbing with dark secrets and red herrings, especially when real life mocks Emilia’s books.
Great characters and a well crafted story made this an unexpected book. Thank you Netgalley and and Harper Perennial for an early copy. This review is my honest opinion.