Will Trent and Sara Linton don't disappoint as they try to solve a brutal murder in the middle of their honeymoon. The tension builds as everyone in the isolated holiday lodges is under suspicion and no-one seems willing to help. But once again, nothing is straightforward and the dark foreboding atmosphere creates a threatening pressure to resolve the case.

So finally Will gets the girl of his dreams and Sara gets to concentrate on a bright future . They are spending their honeymoon at a spectacular remote retreat and perhaps the only tiny downside are a couple of slightly irritating fellow guests . This idyllic location gives them ideas and moonlit skinny dipping is oh so tempting but hearing agonised screams soon puts a stop to romance ! The murdered manager needs justice but with a family who don’t seem to care and bad weather closing in can Will solve the mystery and catch the killer ?
I always enjoy this author’s work and fair warning at times her mind can travel to some very dark places . If I think about it I don’t really believe that I liked any of the characters introduced and the motivations some of these characters have are without a doubt selfish and twisted . Yet it’s fun to work out how and why alongside this couple as we get flashbacks which add greatly to the atmosphere . I have never read a bad book by this author and thoroughly recommend this book which yes it’s a whodunnit but there are also moments of love and even humour, enjoy !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from NetGalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

The context of isolated holiday cottages where a murder occurs is not a particularly original setting. It means that the murderer has to be one of the family or their house guests. Once the investigation starts it becomes apparent that many of the adults present have other issues in their life that make them the potential murderer. There is so much of that that makes it hard to believe the tale. The obvious potential,culprits are ruled out quickly narrowing the search to a small number. Eventually the culprit is identified. The book is readable but not gripping.

we follow a familys dark history at McAlpine Lodgema remote getaway where the manager is found dead. This turns wills dream honeymoon into a nightmare

Will Trent & Sara Linton are on their honeymoon at a remote mountain retreat. They are looking forward to a rest from work, exploring the area and enjoying the peace and quiet. However, their plans go awry when they hear a scream in the distance, and run to find where it is coming from. They split up and Will stumbles upon one of their hosts, Mercy who is dying beside the lake. She breathes her last in his arms and gives him a message to pass on.
Will is determined to find out who killed her and why, and calls in the team to investigate.
This is a fast paced book with many suspects, and you find yourself feeling sorry for Mercy whi has lead a troubled life.
Another great instalment on the Will & Sara saga. A1

Wow. Well I think I need counselling having finished this epic and incredibly gritty tale. A lot of the subject matter is quite raw and harrowing. I had to read the first half or so in small chunks as it’s exquisitely written to the point where you can almost touch and feel the pain of the characters. There are also a lot of triggering and sensitive subjects touched such as domestic abuse, child abuse and rape to name but a few. The story centres around a very insular family which a very complex past with many secrets festering within. The run a remote retreat which makes for a fantastic locked room murder mystery. To add further fuel to the fire there is our detective lead staying at the retreat with links to one of the main characters as they were in care together as children.
This is seriously dark in places and quite hard going to read in that respect but it is definitely worth sticking with. The pace towards the end is fast and furious but gives you all the answers you need. A definite rollercoaster of emotions but brilliantly written.

Title: This is Why We Lied
Author: Karin Slaughter
Publication Date: June 20, 2024
Rating: 4/5 stars

Love this author and this book. Full of twists and turns and kept me wanting to read more.

I read and loved “After that Night” (Will Trent #11) last year. At that time, friends on goodreads did inform me that I should start with the Grant County series and then move to the Will Trent series. While there are many books to catch-up on (which I certainly will), I jumped to this one when I saw the chance. This, like the previous one, has a great plot, strong procedural work and excellent character development.

Will, special agent with the Georgia Bureau of investigation, and Sara, medical examiner are just married and on their honeymoon to the Alpine family lodge. This is a much recommended large beautiful place run by the McAlpine family since generations. Guests are encouraged to take in the beauty of nature and Wifi is generally disallowed. There are 4 families currently at the lodge (others being Frank, Keisha, Drew, Monica, Landry, Gordon), besides the family & people who work there. Cecil (Papa), is the oldest member, currently confined to a wheelchair after an accident. His wife is Bitty. Their children are Mercy & Chris. Dave, after a difficult childhood, landed up at the farm when he was young and is taken in by the family. Dave & Mercy were married, and have a son Jon. They are now separated. Delilah is Cecil’s sister and had tried to take custody of Jon after Mercy was in a serious accident, and had addiction problems. Cecil and a few others are in favour of selling the place, and a couple of potential investors are also visiting. Mercy is dead against the sale, and insists she will do her best to stop it. Dave and Will had as children being in a home together and had seen a lot of bad times. Dave turned into a bully (he was called ‘Jackal’), and derisively called Will ‘Trashcan’. He recognizes Will immediately when he sees him.

But a quiet honeymoon it is not to be for Will & Sara – one night as they are relaxing near a pond, they hear a scream. They split up, unclear where the scream came from. Will hears more cries and finds a cottage on fire and Mercy McAlpine in the water, blood oozing out of her body. He later realizes that she has been stabbed multiple times, and also hurts himself as he touches the knife still in her body. She whispers a few words to him and dies, which do not help in understanding who stabbed her. Will and Sara swing into action, assembling all the people and interviewing them after revealing their identity. Will also gets in touch with his boss Amanda, and work partner Faith Mitchell who come over. They convince the local Sheriff that they be allowed to be involved in the case.

Will, Sara, Amanda & Faith uncover a murky story with several happenings of the past leading to the murder of Mercy. If the previous book explored Sara’s past traumas, this story does that with Will. The methodical way in which the team pieces together the full story makes for great reading. There are triggers – abuse & more, but it does not get very bad, and should not be a problem for most readers.

I absolutely love Will and Sara’s character – both finding love & purpose to rebuild their lives and help others. The contrast in their characters is excellently developed, Will – dyslexic in childhood, reticent and poor with small talk, brave; Sara – more open & social, as focused on her work and strongly supportive of Will.

There are some twists at the end, which I felt were unnecessary and do not add much to the story, but decided not to reduce my rating for it.

I think I’ve read most of the books by this author and I don’t think this is the best one but having said that I love the ongoing saga between Will and Sara . There were plenty of interesting stories about the family and the various guests , enough to keep you guessing throughout the book . I must admit I didn’t expect that ending either . I think fans of this author will love this book and wait with bated breath for the next instalment . 4 stars from me

This Is Why We Lied is book 12 in the Will Trent series, and if I thought its predecessor was as dark a book as one could possibly read, well I seriously underestimated Ms. Slaughter. The depravity of some of the characters is off the scale.
Will and Sara have finally tied the knot, and are about to start their honeymoon at a cabin retreat in the mountains. Will has arranged everything, from their luxury accommodation, to a variety of
outdoor activities. What he didn't anticipate was a murder. The victim is Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the retreat, daughter of the owners.
It seems just about everyone in Mercy's family had a motive for murdering Mercy, and all of the guests appear to have something to hide.
As usual there are more twists and turns than a mountain road, and a red herring or two to contend with. The final reveal, when it came, left me reeling. I did NOT see that coming.
This book is deeply unsettling and upsetting. I found myself crying for Mercy at one point.
My only peeve is the "tender" moments between Will and Sara. More thrills, less mushy moments please.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this review.

There aren’t enough stars for this book, I couldn’t put it down!
Sara and Will were amazing as usual, I love their relationship; they listen and respect each other no matter what is happening around them.
This book dealt with abuse, it was quite harrowing at times, but it was done well and wasn’t glossed over.
The story was amazing, it was emotional and fast paced. I thought I knew who had done it and then something else would come up and I’d believe it was a different character.
I know when I see the author is Karin Slaughter that I am in for a good read; I want to read it all over again!

Karin Slaughter has become an auto-read author for me and this book shows exactly why.

What we basically have is a locked room mystery, on a mountain where pretty much everyone is hiding something and most of them have motive to want Mercy dead. Slaughter weaves her story with such ease I just couldn’t stop reading every time I picked it up.

It’s very much a case based book. Poor Will and Sara are supposed to be on their honeymoon and end up getting embroiled in the case so there isn’t much going on for them personally in this one. I do always find it interesting when we meet characters from Will’s past so that was good for me.

There are twists galore, not all of which I saw coming, I’m not gonna lie. Slaughter’s writing just has this incredible way of drawing you in and just when you think you’ve figured out what’s going on she throws something else in the mix.

I really felt for Mercy. The more that was revealed about her life, the sadder I felt for her. It’s hard to say too much really without ruining the story.

There’s a lot of great moments between Faith and Will as well. I love their dynamic. Although now I’ve started watching the tv version I have to keep reminding myself that book Faith is very different to TV Faith!

There are a lot of issues covered in this one that could be very triggering for some people. There’s lots of instances of abuse (physical, sexual and emotional) and domestic violence and although Slaughter doesn’t write this in a sensational way and it is handled quite sensitively I would imagine it could still be quite triggering so please be mindful of that.

If you’re a fan of crime thrillers I would highly recommend this. I have no complaints at all.

Title: This is Why We Lied
Author: Karin Slaughter
Publication Date: June 20, 2024
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Harpercollins UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One toxic family. Eight suspicious guests. Everyone is guilty. But who is the killer? Welcome to the McAlpine Lodge: a secluded mountain getaway, it’s the height of escapist luxury living.

There are so many triggers in this story. So, proceed with caution. Karin Slaughter's mind went to dark places writing this one.

GBI Agent Will Trent and Medical Examiner Sara Linton have finally tied the knot, and Will has arranged a surprise honeymoon at the McAlpine Lodge. On their first night at the lodge, Will and Sara hear screams and find Mercy McAlpine, the lodge manager, dying in her own pool of blood. They started down the horrific path of tracking down the killer while learning sickening tales of decade-long lies, deceit, and secrets kept hidden by the McAlpine family.

I may have guessed the killer fairly early, but it takes a long time to figure out the 'why?' because there are so many red herrings and layers of suspicions to navigate through. Every little thing seemed to have a purpose, and the plot was well-planned. Karin's development of characters was exceptional, enabling you to create your own conclusions about them based on their shortcomings and standpoint. Slaughter has undoubtedly has a niche when it comes to dark themes and disturbing topics.

The only issue I had was that the book felt unduly long, with constant references to the lodge, weather, cabin, Will's hand, and other details. Though that was just my personal take, I felt that the book was overflowing with descriptions that could have been omitted to make it shorter.

All things considered, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys complex thrillers that will leave you gasping for air and questioning morality.

GBI agent Will & Sara are newlyweds on honeymoon in a remote mountain location. When the manager of the holiday homes gets brutally murdered, Will and Sara get to work on finding the killer. But it isn’t as clear cut as things first seem and a whole host of secrets are uncovered along the way…

Ooh this was twisty and really kept me on my toes! Full of really unlikeable characters and a tragic backstory, I was fully behind Will and his search for the killer. My heart ached for Mercy and what she’d been through.

It is a slow burn and I typically like my thrillers a bit faster paced, but the storyline kept me interested and I was so invested in getting justice for Mercy.

Trigger warnings: domestic and sexual abuse (including that of children)

Another hit from Karin Slaughter, as normal never fails to disappoint, excellent character and storyline and fantastic twists and turns. Thoroughly enjoyed

The story begins with Will and Sara on their honeymoon trekking to a mountain resort miles from anywhere, enjoying the sense of peace and isolation. However, when Will discovers that Dave, who tormented his childhood works at the resort he is bitterly disappointed. He hoped to have left his past behind.

When Dave’s wife Mercy, is brutally murdered, there are various suspects. Mercy had worked hard at the resort, making it successful hoping her son Jon would eventually take over. Unfortunately, Dave, her abusive husband, and father are determined to sell the resort and Mercy’s refusal leads to the crime.

Arriving at the scene, Will and Sara are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible. The story goes back in time before the murder, leading up to the crime. The book is about families and relationships, some toxic and abusive. Characters are well drawn, all have secrets in their past which are graphically explored. The story deals with childhood abuse and domestic violence, which is graphic and compelling. I felt empathy for Mercy, who was working hard to provide for her son Jon, also Sara and Will are strong, positive characters, though others are self-serving and deceitful.

This is a brutal, hard hitting page turner which had me gripped from the first page. Karin Slaughter is expert at delivering suspenseful, gripping thrillers, and this is one of her best.

Will and Sarah are enjoying their honeymoon when it’s suddenly interrupted by a deafening shriek. This is the start of unravelling the mystery of who murdered Mercy. The story goes back into the pov of Mercy, which made me feel quite connected to her along with the letters she has written. This is a very dark mystery that exceeded all my expectations.

Many thanks to Net Galley & Harper Collins for this ARC.

Another excellent book by Karin Slaughter. I have read all of the Sara and Will series. They do not disappoint and would highly recommend them.

This is why I love Karin Slaughter!! She takes a hard hitting story line of domestic and child abuse and mixes it with romance and humour. Ever since Triptych i have been a huge fan and this latest does not disappoint.

Loving the development of Will Trent and Sara Linton's relationship. Just brilliant.

If you like your thriller with a side of character development then this series is 100% for you!

Gosh this is a page turner, very dark, very twisted and utterly unpredictable. It’s my first Will Trent but it won’t be my last although I did have to shut my eyes at some of the descriptions of abuse and slaughter. A very good plot that worked.