Lie to Me is a new psychological thriller by debut author Jess Ryder.

When Meredith finds an old video tape whilst clearing out her father’s attic, she is curious to see what it shows. Her father’s reaction to the discovery of the tape is shocking and he urges her to throw it on the fire. But Meredith is determined to see it and to find out what secrets it contains. What Meredith discovers changes her life completely and she embarks on a dangerous journey to find out the truth. Who is the girl her mother refers to in the tape? And what happened to her mother when she disappeared all those years ago?

I did enjoy this story, but I have to admit that I struggled to get into it for the first quarter of the book after the first couple of chapters. I did think that there were some places where it did go on for a little bit and I found myself skim reading a little. There were places when I would have liked for there to have been a little more dialogue. But I did find Meredith’s voice engaging which stopped me putting the book down. The second half of the book was however much more gripping, particularly when the cold case investigation of a murdered girl and Meredith’s quest for answers about what happened to her mother steps up a pace and when Isabel Dalliday, a celebrity in the theatre world appears on the scene.

I really liked the characters in this book and I thought that they were well developed. I thought that Meredith’s growing relationship with Isabel was a great source of tension.

The novel is told over two time periods, focusing on Meredith’s and the police investigation in the present day and in the 1980s before the murder of a girl named Cara Travers. I also really enjoyed the scenes when the story flashed back in time; Isabel and Cara were great characters.

The ending scenes in which Jess pulled all the strands together was really well done and I thought the idea behind this was quite original. Jess racked up the tension in these scenes and I wasn’t expecting that final twist.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing me a copy to review.

Meredith Banks finds an old VCR tape hidden away in the bottom of a box in her fathers attic. Three minutes of footage was all it had taken for Merediths world to fall apart. The video shows a 4 year old Meredith with her mother, Becca. Meredith can't believe what she has just watched. Desperate to find the answers her search takes her to Darkwater Pool, where a murder had taken place 30 years ago. The chapters switch mostly from Merediths being told in the present and Cara's being told in the past.

The story did drag a bit at times. There is some twists and turns to keep you guessing. I did find it a bit predictable. The start of the book is a little confusing but once you get past it it does turn out to be a decent debut novel.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Jess Ryder for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. What a ride. Best thriller I've read! Thank you for allowing me to have the privilege of reading it.

I had a hard time getting into Lie to Me by Jess Ryder, and an even harder time sticking with it. I made it the whole way through the book, but it took a few days of off and on reading. Buried in a box of old baby clothes in her father's attic, Meredith finds a VHS tape labeled with what she believes is her mother's handwriting, dated shortly before her mother's disappearance. She asks her father if he knows what's on it and he becomes agitated and tries to throw it into the pile of leaves he was burning. Meredith pushes him to the ground to save the tape, even though she's worried about his medical condition, then has it transferred to DVD so she can watch it. And that's about where the author lost me. The contents of the tape are disturbing, I guess, but it was recorded by Meredith's mother shortly before the woman was institutionalized. Knowing that her mother was mentally ill, I don't understand why Meredith took the message on the tape as seriously as she did. The story shifts back and forth in time, between Meredith and two other characters who were involved in a crime thirty years earlier. I knew it was building up towards a horrible crime, but I just couldn't work up enough enthusiasm to worry about the characters.

A gripping read from the first chapter and I had to keep reading to find out the mystery of Cara's death over 30 years ago and each character's involvement. It is a well written crime mystery, and keeps you guessing. My only criticism is that I felt a little disappointed in the last chapter as I was hoping that I would read about a reunion with Meredith and Becca, but perhaps that was just me not wanting the book to end!
I will definitely look out for the author's next work of crime fiction.

When Bookouture announce a new book, particularly a crime or thriller type of novel, I am always intrigued. And so when Lie To Me was first revealed I was straight in there. The blurb sounded interesting, mysterious even, and that is exactly the kind of book which appeals to me. Who are Becca and Meredith and just what is on the videotape which changes everything?

Well... if you want to know that then I'm not going to tell you. I think it's too much of a spoiler and you really need to read for yourself. Needless to say, what is contained on the tape puts Meredith into a spin, if only because her father was so against her watching it to begin with. Although she turns to her friend Eliot, a former lover who works for the police, for help, she feels frustrated by an apparent lack of information or action and really isn't getting any closer to the one thing that Meredith really wants. To find out what has happened to her mother.

Now there are many characters throughout the story, and it is told from the points of view of three of them, Meredith, Cara and Jay, Cara's boyfriend. The chapters told in Cara's voice are set in the past, in the weeks and months leading up to her murder, whereas the Meredith and Jay are both set in present day. In spite of that, switching between three characters, it is very easy to keep up with what is going on and the voices are very distinct. The characters are also very believable but I'm not entirely sure that I particularly liked any of them much, even Meredith. Yes she was drawn into something not of her making but she also made matters worse by not leaving the police to it. But then there wouldn't be much a story in that now, would there?

Both Meredith and Jay have a vested interest in discovering the truth of what happened on that fateful night all those years ago, although for two very different reasons. Although their method of investigation or suspicion take them down two very different paths, they still interact with the same small cast of characters and are ultimately destined to come together in one final dramatic showdown.

In terms of the tension, this perhaps wasn't as edge of the seat as I might have liked or expected. There were opportune moments throughout the story for the action to be on more of a knife edge but for me this was more like the melting of a candle. A slow burning wick away from which slid layer upon layer of lies until all that was left with the truth. Also a bit like a candle, I kind of guessed what it was I would be left with at the end but the author did manage to throw in one angle that I wasn't quite expecting.

For me the epilogue was perhaps unnecessary, but that could just be personal preference. Yes it tied up a loose end, but perhaps that was a mystery that would have been best left open, with the promise of discovery being part of the joy of Meredith's journey. I know that if that had been the case though, someone somewhere wouldn't have liked that either, so like I say, it's just a matter of taste. I still enjoyed this book and was engaged enough by the characters and the plot to want to read more by Jess Ryder in the future.

First I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, Bookouture, and the very talented author, Jess Ryder for my ARC copy for a fair and honest review.

Where to begin on this one? I guess lets start at the beginning. Meredith finds an old video in which her mother is coaching her to "tell the truth" of being the reincarnated victim of a murder.

This short video is all it takes to throw Meredith's life into utter chaos. Is what her schizophrenic mother saying true? This is what Meredith sets out to find out, and sends her into a frenzy. Is she losing her mind? Is she following in her mothers footprints? These are the questions she is asking herself through this wonderful novel.

The characters are well developed and wonderfully flawed. Right from Meredith, her ex boyfriend Eliot, and Isobel Dalliday, the best friend of the murder victim.

The story is told from multiple view points and flows relatively smooth. I did figure out the killer earlier on but, I did second guess myself a few times. The ending left me a little disappointed though. The author tried tidying up all the loose ends, but to me it felt a little forced.

Otherwise, an excellent first novel that I really enjoyed, and I am looking forward to reading more by the author.

I am so thrilled to tell you all about Lie to Me, an upcoming novel by Jess Ryder! This novel begins with Merideth cleaning out items in her Dad’s attic. She finds a box of her baby clothes but then finds an old VHS tape with her name and a date written on it. After getting it converted to DVD, Meredith watches the video of herself and cannot believe what she is seeing or hearing. This leads to her searching for people named Cara (who was murdered) and Christopher Jay (who was accused but acquitted) along with others who may have known her mother, Becca and may know about the murder.

This novel grabbed me instantly and was wonderfully suspenseful until the very end. Meredith is the main character but there is a lot of interaction with her ex-boyfriend/police officer Eliot. After giving Eliot a copy of the video and asking him to look into Cara’s murder, he grabs the attention of a Constable that worked the now cold case many years ago. This also leads to the discovery of Cara’s best friend, Isobel and Isobel’s wife, Alice. The novel is told from varying points of view from Meredith, Christopher Jay, and Cara – and it all works together perfectly. This is one of those novels where about halfway through, I decided that I had figured out who killed Cara, but I was wrong! I didn’t see it coming until it was revealed, which through one of many surprises and plot twists into this novel. Even the epilogue was mysterious and made me wish for so much more about these characters.

Surprising, I don’t feel like I connected with Meredith. However, I quickly connected with Becca, Cara, Christopher Jay, and even Isobel. Let me clarify this connection by saying that I was invested in the characters and found them well-developed – I didn’t connect with some of the insanity, mental illness, and urges to commit murder! Something I loved about this novel is that practically everyone was lying about something or keeping something from someone, even Meredith’s Dad. There was certainly no opportunity to get bored while reading this novel because something was revealed or occurred on nearly every page.

Lie to Me is suspenseful, surprising, interesting, and creepy all wrapped up in one novel. I cannot recommend this novel enough to any lovers of this genre and promise that you will not be disappointed!

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lie to me confused me at first with the chapters switching between different characters but I'm glad I stuck with it as I loved the twist at the end and I couldn't put it down. A great psychological thriller that was worthy of 5 stars.

Diving into this book, we follow a female character named Meredith and find out that her life is not what she'd hoped it to be. With no mother that she has any recollection of and a boyfriend she split up with, has her now living in a split apartment that she dreads.

One night spent at her dads, going through her old baby stuff in the attic, she stumbles upon a tape with her mothers handwriting that she's never seen. Her father becomes furious that she's found it and now she is left confused. A video she's never seen? Her father furious when she mentions she wants to watch it. What is he trying to hide? "Watch it if you must, just don't believe a word you say."

After watching the secretive tape she reaches out to her ex boyfriend Eliot who works for the police department. She provides him a copy of the tape and asks if he'll look into it. After explaining she believes it's something more than her mother just being a schizophrenic, he agreed and came back with information that was worth more than what she was ready to handle.

Throughout the investigation she learns quickly how secretive people can be and how fast people will pretend to be someone they're not. Meredith knows her dad is hiding secrets to the story behind the video and how her mother disappeared. And now Eliot is coming up with the answers but cannot give her anymore information than what is allowed. Feeling like she needs to help get the right details to find her estranged mother, she goes against her father, against Eliot and against the police department.

August 1984, the death of Cara Travers took place and became a cold case with no witness to talk to other than Meredith's mother herself. Becca gave a statement to free the man who was accused of killing Cara, Christopher Jay. So many questions arise in Meredith now and she has no idea how to process all the information. She keeps asking Eliot for help and answers but cold cases take time and he can never talk about specifics.

Meredith finds herself befriending Cara's ex best friend Isobel and even meeting up with Christopher Jay himself. What would it hurt? To see his reaction of the girl who was the daughter of the lady who in reality got him acquitted? Well for the sake of not spoiling the book, it hurt and made everything worse.

Through the twists and turns of this story along with the different points of view in each chapter, this was a wonderfully well written crime thriller. This was a book I could easily figure out more towards the beginning. I figured out the importance and connections of certain people early on and ended up figuring out who committed the crime the minute they were introduced.

I really enjoyed Meredith's character throughout the novel. She kind of reminded me of myself a little. A little persistent when she doesn't get the answers she knows she deserves. If I were put into her shoes I would believe that I would have done the same things with the same acts. Especially with a loved one apart of the task force. If my mother went missing and nobody knew if she was dead or alive, I would do what I needed to, to find out the truth.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this along my Spring Break trip. It was absorbing, it was challenging to the mind but most of all it left me speechless at how the events unfolded at the end. A very good read that I would recommend and once again a round of applause to Bookouture for another great read to offer on NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Jess Ryder for allowing me to preview this book early for my honest review.

Lie to Me is a definitive thriller from start to finish. Ryder opens strong with a mysterious video tape and from there the suspense doesn't stop until the final page. I caution any one with scheduled plans to avoid beginning this book because one you begin you will not want to put it down even for a moment.

I loved this book and in a strange way loved all the characters in it. What a tangled web we weave though but I kept thinking ive got it oh no I havent all the way through which was great..

A captivating book of betrayal and murder, but who has betrayed who?

Things are not necessarily as they appear in this dark thriller. Enjoyable and brain bending.

When Meredith was young about four years old, her mother Becca disappeared from her life. Now years later, Meredith's father has just sold their house, and she is busy cleaning out the attic and comes across a box of her baby clothes. In the box, is an old video cassette titled Meredith - July 1990 written in her mother's writing. Meredith curious asks her father about the tape thinking it is a home video and is stonewalled by her father. Meredith has the video converted to DVD as we no longer live in a world of VCR's and is shocked to see the content on the tape. Meredith and Becca are talking about a murder that has occurred. Meredith takes the video to her ex who works as a Detective and soon discovers that the murder on the tape happened over thirty years ago before Meredith was even born. The book then jumps back to the year 1984 where we meet Cara and her best friend, Isobel. The pair is actresses and has dreams to start their co-operative theatre company. During this time , Cara meets Christopher Jay aka Jay and the pair start dating secretly. Then Cara is killed and the case falls apart during the trial. In 1984 - Cara's murder case is still opened, the main suspect Jay was acquitted and the witness Becca vanished never to be seen again. What happened all those years ago and what does it have to do with Meredith and her mother Becca ? I enjoyed Lie to Me and had suspicions of what had happened throughout the novel , the only thing I didn't like was the epilogue as I love reunions and hoped for a better ending. Besides that , if you are in the mood for a murder mystery then check out Lie to Me by Jess Ryder coming out in April 2017.

Lie to Me by Jess Rider

In the 1980s Cara, who is somewhat on the side-lines, is befriended by Isobel (a much more outgoing person) at University. After graduation, thanks to an inheritance (Darkwater Pool), Isobel suggests they form a theatre group and Christopher Jay and Toby join the group. In 1984, Becca stumbles across Cara’s body and is subsequently a witness at Jay’s trial for murder – for which he is acquitted.

Thirty years later, Becca’s daughter Meredith discovers a video of herself at 4 years old and her mother. Even though her father begs her not to watch it, she does – something that awakens a wish to find out what happened to her schizophrenic mother who disappeared, was she dead or alive?

The plot is revealed through three sources, Me (Meredith) in the present; Cara in 1984 and Jay in the present and in 1984. Though it is not unique this device works extremely well as it drip feeds the information, providing twists and turns and an insight into the psychology of each of the protagonists.

I found the three characters to be intriguing, although I lost track at one point and could not figure out the connection between Becca and Cara. I could not say I liked any of them but they were certainly believable and well-drawn. I loved the twists and turns of the plot and the denouement. Do I recommend this book – I certainly do.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

It has been a good year so far for discovering new authors and with "Lie to Me" it has been a pleasure to get an early review copy of Jess Ryder’s first book.

Meredith is helping her father clear out the attic in preparation for his move to a retirement cottage in the country. At the bottom of an old box she comes across an old VHS tape that has her name written on it in unfamiliar writing. Her father’s reaction to it is violent and strange. He tries to grab it off her and burn it. It makes Meredith even more interested in what is on it. Seeing footage of herself as a small child with Becca, the mother she has never really known, is such a shock.

The footage on the tape is disturbing and when Meri mentions it to her policeman ex-boyfriend she unwittingly finds herself in the middle of a twenty five year old murder investigation. The search for Becca and the truth puts Meredith’s sanity and even her life in danger.

This was such an easy book to read with great characters that just leap off the page. The plot switches between the action twenty five years ago and the current time. Chapters are mostly narrated by Meredith and Cara but there are chapters from other characters point of view. Unlike some thrillers it becomes compulsive reading as you get drawn into the plot. I had guessed the correct killer before they were revealed but there were plenty of other twists that I didn’t see coming.

Supplied by Net Galley and Bookouture in exchange for an
honest review.

Three minutes of footage on a innocent looking old vcr tape is all it takes to shatter Meredith Banks life and put doubt on everything that she thought she knew about her life so far.

I found this debut crime fiction/psychological thriller book an ‘ok’ read it just didn’t have me on the edge of my seat unfortunately. I am not sure why this was as the book description had me intrigued. I have been reading quite a few of this genre lately and maybe I have come to expect lots of twists to keep me interested.

The story is told from three perspectives which I did like but I did guess the murderer quite early on so for me there was no surprise element to be revealed.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookature for the ARC this is my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Meredith's whole life comes crashing down on her when she finds a video tape that her mother recorded of the two of them. In this tape, some information comes to light which sends Meredith on a mission to find out if there is truth to this or not.

This book is described as a thriller. I disagree with this. I love thrillers. In my experience, thrillers grab you immediately and keeps you on the edge of your seat from the first page. I took a while to get into this book. I wouldn't say that it is completely devoid of twists and turns, there are some but takes a whole to get there. It has a very interesting story line and it's a good mystery, however I did not take such a huge liking to the characters. Somehow they just didn't grab me.

Overall, it is an 'okay' book. It is definitely not one of the best I've read but neither is it the worst. I would still want to read more books from this author.

A five star winner from this author. Superb plot, kept me gripped from start to finish. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.