REVIEW: Lie to Me by Jess Ryder

Lie to Me by Jess Ryder

Genre: Psychological Mystery

Read: 6th September 2018

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

★★★ 2.5 to 3 stars

The premise to LIE TO ME sounded intriguing but in the end I'm not sure it totally delivered. Don't get me wrong, it was a good read and quite compelling but it didn't help that I didn't like some of the characters and I don't know...something just fell short of it being mind blowing.

So it begins with Meredith Banks, who hasn't seen her mother Becca since she was 4 years old. She has snippets of memories surrounding her but nothing more - and mostly what her father told her. Becca was schizophrenic and hospitalised in a psychiatric care home from which she escaped...and has not been seen in 25 years.

Brought up solely by her father, with whom she enjoyed a happy upbringing, Meredith returns to her family home to help her father pack the house up to move to a smaller place in the country. Whilst doing so she comes across a box marked "baby clothes" at the bottom of which is an old VCR tape with Meredith's name on and dated "1990" in Becca's handwriting. Against her father's wishes, she takes it home to watch - eager to catch a glimpse of her mother - but at the end of those three minutes Meredith's finds herself questioning what she knows and believes, and sets her on a course that will change her life forever.

Meredith begins a quest to discover if there was any truth to the strange tale her mother forced her four year old self to tell on camera 25 years ago. The search leads her to Darkwater Pool and the scene of the 30 year old murder of Cara Travers, the very name her mother uttered over and over on that tape. Is there a link between her mother and Cara? To find the truth Meredith must search through a past that isn't her own and calls on the help of her former boyfriend and police detective Eliot Myles...but she is not the only one looking...

The story unfolds between Meredith in the present and Cara in 1984. There are also several present day chapters told from the POV of Christopher Jay - the other name her mother mentioned on the tape - who was Cara's boyfriend. Although being told from a few POVs, the chapters are named with each perspective and whether it was past or present, making it easy to follow. I always enjoy stories told from various perspectives and over different times and while I did still enjoy watching the story unfold, something just felt disconnected though I can't put my finger on just exactly what that was.

I liked Meredith and as she was the main character throughout we got to know her story the most. I also rather liked Cara but she always seemed a little like an apparition and not quite real. Maybe because we always knew of her outcome from the beginning it was difficult ot connect with her. The Christopher Jay of the past and the "Jay" (as he was now known) of the present almost felt like two different people - the quiet, brooding and misunderstood young man of the past and the almost sad yet secretive and even angry teacher of the present. I didn't like Isobel from the beginning - bossy and overbearing, always having to be her way. Even when she took Meredith under her wing, I just felt it was all about "her" and what she wanted out of it.

The introduction of past lives and the possibility of Cara reincarnated as a present day character just lost it for me. I can see what it was meant to be but for me, it just spoilt it. I would just rather focus on solving the 30 year old murder and finding Meredith's mother...if she was anywhere to be found.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of who killed Cara, and I had a few suspects lined up, but towards the end it became clear to me who it really was. There was another twist thrown in that I predicted before it happened, which throws even more turmoil into Meredith's life. I kind of felt sad for her in a way.

An intriguing story of secrets and lies, LIE TO ME ran hot and cold for me throughout reading it as I really enjoyed Meredith's quest for the truth and the mystery of the past, but parts of it were just lacking where I felt disconnected and slightly uninterested. I struggled to rate this as I really enjoyed parts of the story where others I found weak and uninteresting.

The biggest letdown of this book I found to be the Epilogue. It was a real disappointment, as there was no real sense of closure - for Meredith or for readers. I thought it would tie up some of the loose ends and provide that closure but it failed in my opinion.