One More Lie by Sheryl Browne
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 16th November 2024
Published: 18th November 2024
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
On the last day of school, my friends and I gather on the beach to celebrate the long summer ahead. Sipping cans of warm cider and watching campfire embers dance into the inky sky, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. Until a scream pierces the night. The next morning, we find shy newcomer Pippa on the beach, sandflies gathering on her lifeless body…
I told the police I didn’t see anything that night. I was young, scared, and full of guilt. I heard my friends telling the same story. It’s a lie that has haunted me ever since.
Now, twenty years later, on the anniversary of Pippa’s death, another one of our group is found dead. As we gather once again to say goodbye, I know it can’t be a coincidence. I look around at the tear-stained faces of my old school friends – people I thought I could trust – a protective hand on my growing belly. The police are asking questions again, and I have an impossible decision to make.
Do I tell one more lie, or confront my worst nightmare; that one of us is a killer, and one of us is next…
Fans of The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and The Girl on the Train will absolutely devour this page-turning psychological thriller. Prepare to be hooked from the very first page!
MY THOUGHTS:
A beach party, six friends and a long held secret...
Becky stands by her husband Richie's side as the coffin is lowered gently into the ground. This shouldn't have happened. It didn't have to happen. Jodie should be here with them, living her life, instead of gone forever taking with her to the grave her secrets. But it's standing at her friend's graveside that brings to mind another another memory of another funeral for another life cut short too soon.
Twelve years ago, Becky and her group of friends are celebrating the end of university when another young woman joins their fold. Pippa Moore sits on the outskirts of their circle just waiting and hoping to be included...to be accepted. But Pippa doesn't make friends easily. She's shy and awkward thus making her a target for ridicule, which is relentless. When Richie invites her up to dance Pippa can hardly believe her luck. He's the nicest, along with Becky, of the group and she has no problem dancing with him though her moves are unco-ordinated and awkward. But then one of the others of the group, Emelia, screeches at her, tormenting her laughingly, until Pippa feels all eyes on her. Humiliated, she runs off into the night, the laughter trailing behind her.
When her body is found the next morning, the group are sombre and silent, none of them revealing what they know. What happened to Pippa after she fled the party? Did someone meet up with her? Does one of them know what really happened? Who knows more than they're letting on?
Becky can't help but draw comparisons as she remembers the sombre event that was Becky's funeral and her distraught mother weeping buckets for the child that should never have gone before her. And now Jodie, who reportedly took her own life - why? Was the guilt of what happened all those years ago too much for her?
She herself can't seem to let go of the past as she ruminates over past events, driving each of her remaining friends crazy. Even dependable Richie is growing tired of her constant tirade of what happened to Pippa that he throws accusations at her in desperate frustration. And consumed with own guilt and emotions running high, Becky sees something she totally blows all out of proportion and accusations fly in all directions. And when push comes to shove, Becky wonders who can she really trust? At seven months pregnant, she thought she could trust Richie but now she's not so sure. And Emelia? Her insensitive tirade regarding Pippa at the funeral was totally out of line. The woman is so incredibly selfish and thinks only of herself, just as she did all those years ago when she relentlessly tormented Pippa.
And then as secrets begin to bubble to the surface, strange things start happening, making Becky question her sanity and Emelia hers. Someone knows what happened all those years ago and now they are coming back to make them pay. With two deaths down, who else must die to avenge Pippa's memory?
The story alternates between the past and the present primarily from Becky's narrative, peppered with Pippa (in the past), Emelia, Richie and Jack (in the present). Becky's is the only first person narrative whilst the others are third person and through each of them we witness the unravelling of relationships within this tight-knit group of friends. Betrayals, jealousy and suspicion fuel the constant drama of which there is plenty. The characters are deeply flawed, so much so they contrast each other vastly. Becky is anxious and passive-aggressive (particularly where Richie and Emelia are concerned) whilst Emelia is selfish and reckless. Richie is so mild he comes across as passive at times as his dependability comes into question whilst Tom is just as reckless as his wife.
Though the story was predictable for the most part, the final twist is one that will surprise readers, I'm sure. I was left with something of a feeling that not all was explained therefore leaving me with a few questions, but on the whole I was entertained with this tense and dramatic psychological drama.
I would like to thank #SherylBrowne, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #OneMoreLie in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
When she's not writing Sheryl can usually be found messing about on the water in her little narrowboat, Aquaduck, which she says she can generally be found falling off and she admits to being a bit accident prone.
Sheryl lives in Worcestershire with her partner and a variety of disabled dogs, of whom she says "my furry-friends give me back much more than I could ever give them. I really wouldn’t be me without them." According to readers of her thrillers, she also apparently makes an excellent psychopath.
Finally, I got here! Thank you so much for reading and sharing your fab review, Stina. Really appreciated. Have a lovely rest of your day! 🥰
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