This Is How I Lied

Kept. Me guessing

Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide… Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold. For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.My Thoughts: From the beginning of This Is How I Lied, I was rooting for Maggie, even though there were moments along the way when she seemed to be culpable of something. Perhaps not what she thinks she has done, but at the very least, she has kept dark secrets.Then there is Nola, and she presented as a monstrous person from the beginning. At the very least, crazy. She always seemed to be lurking, and that habit led her to listen in on conversations and present distorted truths to Maggie and others.The story was told by multiple narrators that swept back and forth in time, and through this device, we ultimately learn the truth of what happened to Eve. 4.5 stars.

I debated how many stars I would rate this book. In the end, three was the most I could give it. I have read many of Ms. Gudenkauf's books and liked them. They have been populated with fully developed, interesting characters and a plot with enough twists, turns and surprises to keep me guessing.While the plot of this one had plenty of twists and turns, the ending fell flat. And there were too many plots threads that were just left dangling, brushed off, making it feel as if the writer forgot about them and at the last minute had to figure out a way to get rid of them. But brushing off multiple arsons? That seems like a stretch. But worse for me was that I really didn't care about/identify with any of the characters, even the protagonist, Maggie. And there were WAY too many times when she would do something...actions that made no sense...an I just wanted to shake her.Also, I don't have an issue with reading about grisly murder scenes. I read a lot of suspense/crime fiction. But it felt as if the writer threw in every disturbing problem she could think of and in the end, it felt more like it was for shock value.I commend Ms. Gudenkauf for crafting a complicated plot. That was the only thing that kept me reading until the end. I know she is a much better writer than this book. I'll read her next one and hope for the usual Heather Gudenkauf thriller.

This is a great book - suspense until the end!! Great characters & storylineDon't know until end who the bad guys are!!!

In the small town of Grotto, a young girl named Eve is brutally killed and left in a cave. Local police attempt to determine who was at fault for this untimely death, only for the case to go cold. Decades later, new evidence is found and Maggie O’Keefe is leading the murder investigation to find her childhood best friend’s killer. However, there are many suspects to consider! Could it be Eve’s sister Nola, who makes many questionable (at best) decisions? Or what about Nick, her not-so-nice boyfriend? Creepy neighbors who make the skin on the back of your neck crawl? Of course, all have a likely motive...I have read and loved EVERY one of Heather Gudenkauf’s novels. This one is no different! When I started This Is How I Lied, I went in with high expectations of being swept away with a dramatic story with unexpected twists and a satisfying ending that ties everything together. I got exactly what I expected, even though I successfully guessed the ending about 1/3 of the way through the book! I spent a few nights staying up until the early hours of the morning reading because I couldn’t put this book down...I regret nothing. :)

A quality mystery with great characters! You'll really step inside the characters of Nola, Maggie and Eve as the story retraces the steps of a murder that has stymied a small town for years. A new sheriff is on the case, and as she struggles with her own secrets and is haunted by her past, Maggie works diligently to put the pieces of the puzzle together. With the help of Nola, a character that is both a friend and nemesis, Maggie is able to reconcile with her troubled past, and hopefully looks forward to a brighter future. Highly recommend, and looking forward to reading more of Heather's books.

I have read every book written by Heather G. and will continue to. This book was intense, suspenseful and full of interesting characters. Not at all disappointed. While there are negative reviews stating none of the characters were likable, I can't agree. There are a lot of Characters I did not like and a few I did. That's the point of any type of suspense/thriller novel or movie, if the characters personality is represented well enough for you to find them loathsome or desirable than the author/writer has done their job. The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because the ending was a bit predictable for me early on, but I'm one of those overly analytical people who focues on every minut detail. However I still couldn't put this down. It's a great read & I fully recommend it.

Full of twists and turns throughout, including an unforeseen twist at the end. At no point do you truly know who to believe. Maggie is a police officer in Grotto, a small town, where she grew up. Heavily pregnant, she is about to relent to the pleas of her husband and move to desk duties, when a new piece of evidence regarding the murder of her best friend, Eve, emerges. As a sixteen year old, Maggie and Eve's sister, Nola, found her dead body in a cave, but despite extensive investigations, no one was charged with her killing. Now, decades on, Maggie has a chance to put that right. Nola is convinced, Eve's abusive boyfriend, Nick was responsible, but then Nola is an unpopular figure in the community, known for her odd behaviour and obsession with death. As Nola pushes for Nick's arrest, Maggie has to consider several other members of the community, including her own husband and also needs to question if her own father, who was chief of police at the time of the original investigation, was hiding something.

Its hard to put into words how disappointing this was. I have enjoyed all of Heathers other novels as reasonably well written and paced thrillers. But this was just hard work from the get go. Boring, lacking in any intensity, not one single remotely likeable or relatable character, and totally unbelievable. Are we really to accept that a police officer was groomed and a victim of “statutory rape” at 15 and never reported it, murdered her friend, but didn’t realise she was dead when she left, or that adults support 2 young girls going out alone on a dark freezing snowy night to hunt in caves for a missing teen. It was juvenile tedious unbelievable and just a real effort to get through. There is better young adult fiction out there than this. Deeply unimpressed. Who writes these glowing reviews on the back cover and promotional materials? I am so incredibly fed up with wasting money on utter tripe with good reviews. I in no way wish to plough through some dense and worthy booker prize nominated literature every night, but I do require a decent quality of writing, characterisation or engaging plot or relateable sympathetic characters you root for, this had nothing. Save your time and money give it a miss.

It's usually quite a wait for Heathers books but it's well worth it. She's brilliant and you never know what's she's going to come up with next. This is how I lied has you believing one thing, then having it all turned on its head. Plenty of twists and turns right up to the the explosive ending. A must read. Very highly recommended. Thank you Heather, I can't wait for the next one.

I do not pay £10.99 for the book to come with the back cover completely folded in 2 and damaged pages! I thought this book was new! I’d like a refund please! Disgusted!!

This book was a quick and easy read. At one point (about a 1/3 of the way through), I thought I had it figured out. I'm glad I read on to learn that I didn't.Not the best thriller I've ever read, but not the worst either.