4☆ Intriguing story of Secrets and Lies.

Lie to me is a story of lies, secrets and betrayal. It was exciting and gripping.
The first few pages had me intrigued and once I started I was hooked!

The story starts with Meredith.
She's in the attic sorting though old things when she finds a Video tape labled her name on it.

She is so curious, and gutted she has just threw out her old video player, She takes the video to show her Father who is in the garden. Looking for answers!
Her father is tending to the bonfire when she approached him with the tape.

He's reaction to the video alarms Meredith as he tries to snatch the video away from her to burn it.
She clings on tight refusing to let go.
This only adds fuel to the fire as she is now even more determined to view the video.
What is so bad he doesn't want her to see?
He gives her a warning & She runs off very upset!

Meredith and her father have a close relationship so when he acts this way, Meredith is not only angry with him she's also hurt and upset she acted this way towards her father.

The video is of Meredith and her mother Becca.
 At 4 years old, Becca appears to be making her say some odd things on camera in order to keep Becca safe.

Things don't seem to add up and her father refuses to answer any of her questions.
As far as Meredith knew, her mother had left along time ago.

She decides to embark on a journey to discover the truth about her mother and the video tape.

Her journey leads her to Darkwater Pool.
However what she's about to discover is the murder of a young lady called Cara. Which happened 30 years ago.
What she doesn't understand is what the link between her mother and Cara is.

Meredith needs answers and goes in search to discover the connection between Becca and Cara. No matter what the danger is

The story was gripping and cleverly written, i liked the fact it was written between past and present as the reader built up a picture of events leading to Cara's death. The past is told by Cara and the present by Meredith.

It has a strong message that lies do catch up with you in the end!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were likeable and there was a few twists that kept the reader intrigued and guessing.
I didn't find it to be too predictable which made a nice change.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes mystery, thrillers embroiled with secrets and lies with some great twists to keep the reader guessing.

The accidental discovery of a videotape forms the basis of this story and, as befitting the title, there are plenty of lies and so much deceit in this debut thriller by Jess Ryder.

Meredith Banks hasn’t seen her mother Rebecca for many years, having been bought up by her father. Her father makes it clear that he doesn’t want to discuss her mother but after watching the video which specifically refers to two people, Cara Travers being one of them, Meredith is both shocked and intrigued and wants to find out more, especially if it will give any clues as to what happened to her mother. She shows the video to her ex-partner Eliot, a policeman, who then finds himself involved in a cold case investigation reviewing a 30 year old murder. Against advice, Meredith herself starts digging for information however the old saying ‘be careful what you wish for’ could come back to haunt her as revelations slowly come to light as to what really happened over 30 years earlier.

The story is told by three voices – Meredith, Jay and Cara (in a mixture of first and third person), flipping between 1984 and the present time. Although the historic part of the novel is essential to the plot as it slowly reveals the lead up to Cara’s death, I did think that this had a slower pace and have to admit that I found the present day investigations more intriguing than Cara’s story. As a peripheral character, I didn’t find Cara that interesting and I found myself wanting to hurry back to Meredith’s narrative; I was more interested in finding out what had happened to Rebecca and how she fitted into the story.

This was an enjoyable thriller, which I read fairly quickly as it is one of those addictive books that you want to keep going back to. There were twists that I didn’t anticipate leading to a fast paced and dramatic conclusion. I thought that I had guessed part of the ‘whodunit’ early on but I wasn’t completely right and the conclusion, when it came, made me realise that I should have been paying more attention – that’ll teach me! Jess Ryder writes very well with both the plot and the characters being strong enough to move the story along for me. With its underlying theme of obsession and hatred clearly coming through the pages, this is definitely one to be considered for your reading pile. At the time of writing this post, Lie to Me can be downloaded from Amazon UK for just 99p

My thanks to Kim Nash for including me on the blog tour and to the publisher for the Netgalley ARC.

3.5 stars from me for this first book Lie To Me by Jess Ryder I found it a very enjoyable read and would definitely read other works written by this talented new author.
The story follows Meredith Banks as she discovers an old VCR tape in the attic of her childhood home.
This tape starts a spiral of questions for Meri as it features the mentally ill mother she can barely remember, Becca.Three minutes of footage is all it takes to turn Meredith's life topsy-turvy.
Blocked at every turn and determined to discover the truth Meri delved into the thirty-year mystery who is Christopher Jay and Cara? and where is Becca?
Lie to Me kept me interested and the mystery flowing. Meri was a very likeable, if a bit of a lonely character, I couldn't help but feel for as she seemed so vulnerable and isolated. Thought her ex-copper boyfriend was a bit of a douche more concerned about his career than the feelings of someone he once professed to love, Yep big douche in my opinion.
The book also had some very bright vivid secondary players, Cara herself, Jay, Alice and not forgetting the very flamboyant Isobel. Every single one of these participants played a part, however small, contributing to the final picture, answering questions and bringing closure to that all-important finale.
And can I just say what a finish this was, I loved the ending so much, It Kind of gave the reader a gateway to create their own future story, Brilliantly executed.
I Received a free E-copy of Lie To Me from NetGalley and this is my own honest opinion.

I felt this book was overly descriptive in many places. For example 74% into the book the description of the purchase of the doll house just went on and on. There are many instances like this throughout the book.
"Traffic like gravy"
"The drapes part theatrically,revealing a bright blue sky and the tops of blossomy trees.It's so perfectit looks false,like a painted backdrop she's ordered specially to cheer me up" These are just a couple of examples but throughout the book there is just over the top descriptions that are unnecessary. Just too wordy. I didn't connect with any of the characters who were all pretty unlikeable and unbelievable. The ending left a lot to be desired. No conversation between Meri and her Father, also Becca in Spain just didn't ring true to me.

'Lie to Me' intrigued me from the very first moment I laid my eyes on the cover and the title; I couldn't wait to get stuck into what I hoped would be a rollercoaster storyline.

Meredith is at the age where she has the ability to stand on her own two feet, as well as having the option to use her own mind to work out whether something should be pursued or not. Whether Meredith CHOOSES to think for herself or stand on her own two feet, is another thing entirely; especially where her father is concerned. After all, aren't daughters the apple of their fathers eyes?

To begin with, there was no tip toeing around a storyline or the characters emotions, it was as though I had nose dived into a quicksand moment in the plot; all I could do was watch the events unfold without budging. I tried to get my head around what was happening but seeing as I had only come across one small piece of a MASSIVE jigsaw puzzle, I knew I had to be patient and bide my time by getting to know the characters, look for vital clues and not over think each situation. It's safe to say that I was rather gripped by the book nihon straight away, hard not to be with an opening like that!

A very, very promising start to the novel made TWG rather happy, I raced through the first third of the story as though my life depended on it.

There was a point in the storyline where things started to travel in slow motion; the characters seemed unsure of their destinations and the plot seemed to struggle between 'weak' or 'strong'. Don't get me wrong, there were times where my palms became sweaty and Jess Ryder's fantastic, descriptive writing created vivid imagery in my head, yet every now and then it just...dipped. For me, the parts where Meredith took control by going one step further when she shouldn't have done, were my most favourite parts as they were the most gripping to read. However, what confused me the most was getting told brand new information, new characters getting involved yet none of which led to any clear resolutions. Instead, I found myself with a lot more questions than answers, all of which I hoped would conclude further on in the book; unfortunately I found that to not be the case.

I can clearly see what the author had set out to do in terms of suspense and grit, she did manage to achieve the desired effect for a lot of the book in my opinion. However, the lack of conclusion left me feeling a little bit unfulfilled. Now, if Ryder came back with another book following on from 'Lie to Me', that would be a whole new story and one I would LOVE to see happen. It really does have the premise to expand into another book and I really do feel as though it may give the author more scope to tie up some loose ends.

Overall, I did quite enjoy 'Lie to Me', thanks to its rather gritty and descriptive storyline, as well as it's punch main character, Meredith. 'Lie to Me' has the punch, the suspense and enough skeletons in its closet to rival The Addams Family. Even though I couldn't gel with a proportion of the storyline, I am really looking forward to seeing what Jess Ryder releases next.

Thanks Bookouture.

The last thing Meredith expected when she's helping her father to clear out her father's house is for her whole world to be turned upside down but that's precisely what happened when she stumbles across an old box of her baby stuff, inside of which is an old VHS tape with her name on it. But despite her father's reaction to wanting to destroy the tape Meri is determined to get it converted so that she can watch what's on it but little does she know that once she does it's going to leave her with a lot of unanswered questions which turns out to be about an unsolved murder.

Unfortunately for Meri the one person who could answer the questions and clear up the mystery is her long lost mother Becca who disappeared when she was young. Despite her father and policeman ex-boyfriend Eliot telling her to forget about it and let the cold-case team investigate, Meri can't forget about what she saw but little does she know that her meddling in this old murder could put her own life and sanity in danger.

Lie to Me is a story told through the viewpoints of three main characters, Meri in the present day, Cara in the past, and Jay both in the present and in the past. Through the alternating timelines we slowly begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together to work out why Becca was talking about a young actress Cara who had been murdered more than 30 years ago, and who and what is Jay's connection to both Cara and Becca.

I'll warn you now if you're anything like me make sure you have set aside plenty of time to read as once you start reading you'll soon find yourself hooked and before you know it it is 2am and you reluctantly have to stop reading to get some sleep!

An excellent debut crime novel from author Jess Ryder so I'll definitely be waiting to see what she has in store for us readers next.

Lie to Me is a tale told from three different perspectives, with the narrator of each chapter named to avoid any possible confusion. As Meredith tries to uncover more about her mother Becca, following her discovery of the video tape in the present time; we also hear from Cara, the Darkwater Pool murder victim from thirty years ago. We also hear from Christopher Jay, who was Cara's boyfriend at the time of her murder. All this information throws up threads linking the characters together and twists here and there. It was unusual to have the perspective of a murder victim, and I found it interesting getting to know her and find out more about her life and what happened leading up to her death.



There are more than a couple of red herrings here and there and a few twists, but among all the death and lies, Meredith's relationship with her lovely father Graeme shines through. It's a welcome relief! The appearance of the fabulous Isobel is great too. I enjoyed the second half of the book much more and it became much harder to put down. For a debut, this is a very readable novel and one I'd recommend to my fellow crime readers. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jess Ryder comes up with next!



Special thanks to Bookouture, Jess Ryder and Netgalley for providing an ARC in return for my unbiased review.

This is the type of book that I would call a slow burner, one where there’s a sense of underlying tension that’s waiting to rise to the surface. When it begins, Meri has come across an old VHS tape with her mothers handwriting on the label. This is significant to her as her mom, Becca left when she was a toddler and she hasn’t heard from her since. When she asks her father about the tape she is stunned by his strong, angry reaction and knows that whatever is on the tape means something for her, but she’s unaware that this discovery will set off a chain of events with shocking outcomes.

This is told in two timelines, the first is Meri in the present day, and then it jumps back to 1984 and is told from Cara’s perspective. There are also some chapters told from a man named Jay’s point of view in the present day as well. At first I was a bit confused about how a cold murder case (Cara) would link to Meri but it all became clear when it’s revealed that Becca is the one who found Cara’s body and Jay was in a relationship with Cara. That may seem like a slight spoiler, but if you pick this one up I don’t want you to get discouraged as Ryder links all the plot threads together in a very interesting way.

This had a steady pace throughout that gradually intensified as it neared the conclusion and towards the last quarter of the book, there was a twist that knocked me off balance. It was a bit different than what I had anticipated as it didn’t focus so much on the murder case or any particular crimes but rather the characters and how they all had secrets hiding in the shadows and how these lies affected them personally. It still had a tricky plot and kept me gripped the whole time and the epilogue was really strong as was Ryder’s writing style. I’m looking forward to reading what she comes up with next!

*3.75

For a debut this was a decent thriller. After Meredith watches 3 minutes of a long ago video, her life changes. What she thought she knew about her mother, Becca, also changes. Raised by her father, she never knew her mother nor did her father ever talk about her. Through Becca, Meredith will be on a search to find out what happened years ago with a woman named Cara. The book alternates between Meredith and Cara. This will have some twists and turns to keep you reading and wanting to find answers along with Meredith. I did enjoy this and Jess Ryder will be someone that I watch out for what she writes next. The only reason this didn't get a full 4 stars from me, was the ending. I was left a little let down....I guess I was expecting more.

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all you get quite a good insight into Meredith's character she is in a bit of a slump and her life isn't necessarily going in the direction she had hoped it would. I loved the idea of the videotape and how something that should be so innocent as watching footage of yourself as a child turns into something else entirely. This discovery then sends both Meredith and the reader on a journey full of twists and turns. Meredith takes it upon herself to try and find her mother which of course opens up a whole can of worms. I liked that she was so determined to find out the truth at any cost.

The mystery of Cara's murder was great and had me trying to put the clues together to solve the crime. I enjoyed the fact that it was a cold case as I felt this added more to the mystery with so much time having passed. Trying to crack the case of a crime committed over 30 years ago is always going to be more difficult. So I was interested to see how they would get to the bottom of things. It was great to see the flashbacks to Cara's last few months and to see where everything went wrong. One of the things that I liked was that the characters weren't perfect as they all had their flaws. This definitely gave them a more natural and real life quality which made them all the more intriguing to get to know.

I have to admit compared with the last half of the book the first half moves a little slower but I liked the slow build up to discovering the truth. There are some tense moments along the way where I couldn't help but read faster and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen. Then near the end the story moves pretty quickly and I really didn't want to put my Kindle down. Everything came together brilliantly for the gripping conclusion along with a few surprises thrown in.

Lie To Me is a very intriguing story packed full of lies, secrets and betrayal!

Thank you to Bookouture & Netgalley for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Lie to Me is a gripping psychological thriller. I found it to be very well written. The plot has many twist and turns to keep the reader guessing.

This is author Jess Ryder's first foray into crime fiction and I would consider it quite worthy of reading.
A dual time frame story which opens with Meredith sitting in the attic going through old things of her Dad's, having a clear out. She discovers a video which her father gets seriously upset about and asks her not to watch. However, Meredith disregards him (can't say as I liked her character much) and takes it anyway, only to discover a disturbing piece of footage of her mother Becca encouraging the young child Meredith to act out a horrific stabbing incident. Names are mentioned which Meri later discovers, having involved her ex boyfriend detective Eliot, relate to real people and a murder case which has remained unsolved until the present day. Meri, is desperate to uncover what led to the making of the film and hopes it might lead her to discover the whereabouts of her mother who has been missing since Meri was a young child.
Despite knowing that the police are handling the case, she becomes more embroiled in her own research into the murder case and puts herself at great risk by getting involved with characters at the heart of the original murder case.
The plot moves seamlessly between characters and places and I was surprised to discover 'who done it' at the end. There were enough red-herrings to cloud my judgement until the final revelations.

I had mixed feelings about this one. It started off very strong but I found myself losing interest by the half way mark. I emjoyed the tone and the setting, but I did not find the overall story that suspenseful. It was a decent read, but I felt very underwhelmed as I turned the last page.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and Jess Ryder for this digital ARC.

Meredith Banks is in an unsettled period of her life. Her father is recovering from a heart attack, and she is still recovering from breaking up with her long time partner Eliot. Whilst helping her father sort through his home as he prepares to move she finds an video tape, clearly written on by her long absent mother. Against her father's wishes she watches the video and sees her clearly disturbed mother practically forcing her 4 year old self to speak about a violent crime. In search for answers as to what was supposed to have happened Meredith finds herself caught up in a 30 year old unsolved murder of Cara. The problem is she's not the only one still interested in the mystery.....

This is a great debut thriller. It's not an overly complicated plot but there's enough twists and turns to keep you reading. It's one of those books you have to read in one sitting - I didn't want to put it down. So before you start make sure your family, friends, bosses etc know not interrupt!

I was really looking forward to reading this book after reading the blurb provided by the publishers, I love a good psychological thriller so was really pleased when this one lived up to my expectations!  Its a fast paced read from the first chapter and I read it in less than a day... as I really, really wanted to know what was going to happen to Meredith and the build up had been great.  There were a few parts that were expected but a few good twists and turns towards the end did surprise me.  It's really very good as a debut novel too - 5 stars from me.  It has been released today so its available now for you to grab your copy :)

I can say that this was definitely not one of my favourite reads in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre. Based on the back blurb, I assumed that this book would be more about Meredith and the search for her mother and the events that caused her to walk away from her four year old daughter.

Told in alternating points of view - Meredith in the "today", Cara in 1984 and Jay who linked the past and the present together. What I wanted was Becca's perspective - I wanted her to be a major player, not just a blur of a memory; not just a name ... but a real person.

This book just fell a little flat to me; overly descriptive, too wordy and it simply didn't really go anywhere.

When Meredith (Meri) finds an old home movie of her and her mother, she is surprised when her father doesn’t want her to watch it. She had never known her mother, Becca. After watching the video, Meri is conflicted. Is this video truly the rambling of a woman with mental health issues, as she has always been told, or could there be any truth in this strange and dangerous story her mother ranted about and forced her to tell on camera?

Lie to Me by Jess Ryder was completely different than what I was expecting and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t find this one particularly dark or twisty, but I did find it intriguing in its exploration of past lives and family secrets.

The novel opens with Meri uncovering a video depicting her mother and herself (aged 4) in the yard of their family home. Her mother is ranting about needing safety and needing Meri to let people know who she really is. This leaves Meri, understandably, confused and sets her on a path to find answers bringing her to the gothic Darkwater Pool, an old estate and the scene of the murder of a young woman, thirty years prior.

The characters in this novel are fairly simple and easily digested, as is the plot. The novel is made up of a mixture of some really, amazing fast-paced moments and the rest feels sort of like filler. There are not any huge WOW moments, but more of a bunch of small moments that made me think, “okay, that’s random”. Ryder did a great job at throwing things I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but mostly because I felt like they didn’t truly fit together.

I did love the setting of this novel; I felt like this made this novel really stand out for me. The gothic tone to the Darkwater Pool estate and the eerie descriptions of its surroundings made me uneasy. Ryder truly does a phenomenal job with her prose and ends up creating another character with the setting.

Overall, this one ended up reminding me a little bit of The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy. I gave this one a 3/5 stars.

Meredith Banks hasn't seen her mother since she was a little girl. Her mother had mental issues and escaped from a hospital and has not been seen since. Now Meredith's dad is moving house and while clearing out the attic she comes across a video tape with her name on. Meredith watches it after getting it transferred to DVD - it shows her mother and her but her mother is claiming that Meredith is actually someone else come back to life and that a nasty man is after them. The video clip is linked to a murder case from before Meredith was born and her mother was a witness at the trial. Her ex boyfriend Eliot is a police officer so she asks him to help her find more information about the case. The ensuing review of the murder case and the information Meredith discovers for herself changes everything she thought she knew about her mother, father and her childhood. Great read which had me gripped from the beginning. Look forward to more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Jess Ryder for the opportunity to read and review this book.

OMG this book is so damn good! I am a massive fan of psychological thrillers and Lie To Me is what a psychological thriller is all about. With the author grabbing your attention from the first page and weaving one intriguing story that will have you hooked until the very last page. And to think this is a debut novel. This is one incredible story which totally blew me away.


Lie To me tells a story about Meredith who finds a videotape while cleaning hers father’s attic. She can’t believe her eyes when she watches the it. showing her four-year-old self with her mother who abandoned her. Meredith wants to know the truth of a dangerous story her mother was forced her to tell on camera. The search for answers leads Meredith to Darkwater Pool where of the murder of a young woman happened over 30 years ago. What could possibly be the link between her mother and the victim?


The story alternates between Meredith, Jay and Cara’s perspectives. With two timelines, one in the present and the other set in 1984.Not forgetting the fact that Birmingham sets the scene for some of the story-line with it being local to me. I love that and each chapter leaves you wanting more.


There are characters in this story that you will love, like or hate and they are all very well developed. I even found myself shouting at characters saying OMG what are doing! Then the author got me swearing with the twists and turns that I didn't see coming, that is the effect this story did to me.


Do be warned this is one of those books that you won't get anything done until you have finished it, I honestly couldn't put this down. I lost track of how many times my kindle came with me just to a make a cup of tea, so I could read at the same time. Just one more chapter I kept telling myself, then before I knew it I had devoured it in one day.


This is without a doubt the best Psychological thriller I have read this year.


If you are looking for a fast paced engaging read this is the book for which I highly recommend giving it 5 massive stars.

Occasionally I find myself stuck for what to write in a review. When this happens I find myself looking through others reviews seeking inspiration, finding points with which to agree with or argue against.

This is one of those times, as I am struggling to find many positives, however in this instance other people's reviews are not helping me at all!

It seems there are two 'camps' of reviewers for Jess Ryder's debut novel; the 'Five star!' campers and the 'OMG that was rubbish!' campers. My feelings are swaying somewhere in the middle; I neither liked nor disliked it. It was just a bit 'meh'... and if someone had told me halfway through that I was not allowed to finish it I wouldn't have been that bothered.

I didn't warm to any characters and for me the 'twists' were mere 'swerves' in an otherwise mediocre plot.

Whilst I appreciate that the author has worked hard to not only write a book but to also get it published this just wasn't for me.

I do however like the cover, and would recommend to young adult readers.

Thanks to Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.