One of Us is Lying (previously titled "The Woman Who Lied) by Shalini Boland
Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller, suspense
Read: 31st July 2020
Published: 3rd April 2020
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Tia never harmed anyone. So why does someone want to destroy her?
Tia is walking home with her children, along the lakeside of their quiet, safe town, when she realises something is wrong with her five-year-old daughter, Rosie. She seems troubled, not at all her usual happy self.
But when Tia finally coaxes Rosie to open up, she wishes she hadn’t. Because her sweet daughter asks a question Tia never thought she’d hear.
‘Mummy, why did you kill someone?’
Tia knows how rumours spread around her small town. She just can’t understand who would have shared such a horrible story. Or why.
It can’t have anything to do with what happened. Only her two best friends really remember that…
Tia thought she could trust Fiona and Kelly with her life. They’ve been through so much together. But when she’s sent photos of herself that could tear her whole world apart, she starts to wonder. Someone is determined to punish her. But who? And will her friends stand by her, or will the past destroy all of their lives?
MY REVIEW:
I've said before and I'll say again that there is no such thing as a bad book by Shalini. Even an average book is still a good book. She just has that knack or drawing you in from the very start and drip feeding you tidbits to keep you turning the pages in intrigue until the big reveal at the end. It goes without saying that Shalini always delivers.
ONE OF US IS LYING (previously titled "The Woman Who Lied") opens with a prologue with a woman returning home to find her husband had gassed himself in his car in the garage. I thought her somewhat clueless to wonder why the car was running in a closed garage to begin with...of course it was to kill himself! How could she not see that? But where that piece of the puzzle fits in would come to us later.
Tia, Kelly and Fiona are three women who have been best friends since school, having grown up and lived in Ashridge Falls their whole lives. But each woman is hiding a secret from the past and somebody knows, determined to bring their lives to a crashing end and make them pay for what they did.
Tia is a wife and mother to Rosie and Leo while her husband Ed is a chef at a local pub. They have a seemingly happy and perfect life together and while not rich, they are comfortable living month to month. One afternoon when picking the children up from school, Rosie fails to thunder out with the rest of the kids. Tia goes in to find her sitting quietly in a corner with her teachers. Neither of them could get out of Rosie what was wrong and she refuses to utter a word to anyone. Tia manages to coax her outside and she takes her hand for the walk home where close to tears, Rosie suddenly asks:
"Mummy, why did you kill someone?"
Shocked, Tia learns that older kids have been teasing her and saying her mother is a murderer. She endeavours to take it up with the school the following day but then she receives something far more troubling. An anonymous envelope arrives addressed to her containing photos of her, kissing another man and then in bed with him. This can't be happening. This never happened. Or did it? The night in question was Fiona's birthday party and she did get somewhat sloshed, she recalls...but enough to go home with a stranger? She would never do that to Ed. They have a great marriage and neither would do anything to jeopardise that. Tia pushed the photos into the bottom of the kitchen drawer, hoping to forget about them. Then Ed receives a puzzling text:
"Ask Tia about the photos."
Kelly is a single mother of two, having lost her beloved husband Michael the year before. Her children, Ryan (11) and Sonny (8), attend the same school in Ashridge as Tia's children although they are older. One morning she sets about baking cakes for the upcoming regatta on the weekend when she spots a young woman in her backyard. The woman, Sophie, is quiet and withdrawn and obviously running scared from something...or someone. She has come to Kelly for help, aware of her kindness and tendency to help others. But she won't let her call the police. Instead, Kelly asks her in to help her bake and then invites her to stay for a day or two. The two women hit it off, despite Sophie's fearful disposition. Kelly gives her the attic room to stay in and rest.
When the boys return home, they meet Sophie and take to her almost immediately. She even helps them with their homework. But when someone comes knocking late one night, Sophie scrambles to her attic room and hides while Kelly sees who it is. The man claims to be going door to door looking for his wife, Sophie, who has disappeared. He shows her a photo which clearly is Sophie and asks her to call him should she see her. Kelly begins to wonder if she has invited trouble by letting Sophie stay with her, but dismisses the thought knowing that she is doing the right thing in helping the young woman.
Then on the way home from the regatta, Kelly arrives to find police cars and an ambulance outside her house...and her front door kicked in. What has happened? Has Sophie's husband found her? Then she catches a glimpse of Sophie in the back of the ambulance who suddenly goes pale and points at her yelling: "That's her! That's the woman who tied me up and locked me in her attic!" What the...? The next thing, Kelly finds herself under arrest for false imprisonment.
Fiona is, to the world, the successful owner of her own interior design business "Salingers", has the perfect marriage with husband Nathan and the most stunning three story mansion overlooking the lake. She has the perfect life. Or does she? Fiona is not like her friends. She has no family to speak of and no desire to have children. One morning, two tax agents arrive at her place of business claiming to have sent her numerous letters to which she has never responded. Fiona has vague recollections of something but set them aside to look at later. However, "later" has arrived and the two agents have come to go through her business records with a fine tooth comb as Fiona now finds herself the subject of a tax audit. She knows what she has done and hope the tax agents won't...but she knows they will before long. When she tells Nathan, he is less than sympathetic and begins to treat her as if she were a disobedient child. Then when Kelly calls on her to look after Ryan and Sonny while she has been taken in for questioning, Nathan is less than happy and tells Fiona to do something about it.
All three women are hiding a secret. All three women are being taunted. All three women are linked to something from their past for which they are now being punished. But who is doing this? And why? The three friends need each other more than ever now, but all three continue to keep their troubles secret. Will the past destroy all their lives?
As the three women's lives begin to unravel none of them have any idea why. As rumours fly, letters and texts are received and seemingly innocent act ends up in a nasty showdown for all three women who will need all their wits and each other to stay alive.
As each of the women's stories unfold in each of their alternating narratives, readers are also privy to the anonymous voice of a schoolgirl peppered in between the current timeline. But how did her story fit into the current one?
I enjoyed how the picture of each women's story was painted and how they slowly unravelled. My favourite character of the three women was Kelly. She was someone I connected with in a way that she was a bit like me, I guess. More so than the outspoken and wild Tia or the aloof and standoffish Fiona. I loved the setting with the lake that was so vast you couldn't see the other side.
ONE OF US IS LYING is a quick fast-paced read that draws the reader in from the beginning. As the story evolves we watch as the women's lives systematically fall apart whilst at the same time wondering who could be behind it.
I love the flow of Shalini's books and am always quickly absorbed within the storyline. However...ONE OF US IS LYING, I felt, lacked her usual flair and killer twist at the end. This time, I guessed who it was and why...and I hardly ever do in a Shalini thriller. There is usually a killer twist right at the very end that leaves you open-mouthed and thinking "What the f*** just happened?" This book lacked that. But even so, as I stated at the beginning there is no such thing as a bad book by Shalini.
In the end, the reasoning behind why all three women were targeted doesn't make a whole lot of sense in my opinion. I can understand why one of them but not the three of them...unless they were the other two mentioned in the past (which they weren't). So it doesn't make sense to me. And it kind of spoilt it a little for me.
Despite not being up to her usual thrilling par, ONE OF US IS LYING is still an enjoyable quick read by one of my favourite go-to authors. And as always, I look forward to her next one.
I would like to thank #ShaliniBoland, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #OneOfUsIsLying aka #TheWomanWhoLied in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Shalini Boland lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two sons and their cheeky poodle-terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry).
Social Media Links:
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