I am a fan of psychological thrillers and couldn't wait to read it. The author, although I have known about her for a while, is one I haven't read before. As such, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. It turns out I needn't have worried as the story is very well done.

A good book, for me at least, is one where I struggle to piece together the different parts of the mystery. Even when I do, it is nice to find out that at least in some instances, I was wrong in my thinking. This book is one such story. The author does a brilliant job at making the reader second guess what they think they know. There are twists and turns throughout which kept my mind working as I read.

A great read and I definitely will be checking out the author's other stories very soon. Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing a copy.

This book started out really well but it did lose me a bit in the middle, having said that the twist at the end was quite brilliant. I would definitely recommend this book.

: The Darkest Lies deals with every parents nightmare – a missing teenager daughter who is found barely alive having obviously been attacked but by whom? Told from the viewpoints of the mother Melanie and the daughter Beth, this story uncovers secrets, lies, betrayal and suspicion.

Whilst reading Melanie’s chapters and realising she is narrating her story to her daughter who lies in a coma is heartbreaking but watching her slowly fall apart through blame and guilt is really painful to read as a parent.

Set in a small village the reader feels the ripple effect throughout the tight-knit community and quickly realises that everyone has a guilty secret. Full of twists and turns and red-herrings everywhere I thought I had worked out who the attacker was but was shocked to find out I got it completely wrong! This is a tense page-turner which fans of psychological thrillers will love.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I am really not sure what to say about this book, I really liked it but was not sure why and took me a while to read.

I found this book hard to get started once I did I was pleased I continued on with it.

A well written fast paced thriller dealing with the aftermath of a young girl Beth being left for dead on marshland after misleading her parents as to where she was spending the night.

The narrative unfolds through three narrators - Beth's mother, Melanie, a mysterious narrator who is obviously a murderer and through Beth herself in flashback.

The twists are good and not seen coming though I did work out who the mystery narrator was quite early on.

The thing that did not sit well with me was the narrative of the mother. This was in the format of conversations with her very ill daughter and yet she hardly seemed to spend anytime with her. I couldn't take to Melanie at all - I am sure most mothers would spend every minute with a daughter who was probably going to die.

Otherwise I would recommend and would indeed be interested to see what others think.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this review copy.

When Melanie doesn’t see her daughter Beth right to her friend Chloe’s door, she can have no idea of the events that will unfold.

Oh. Come. On. I expect a thriller to have twists and turns, a fast pace and loads of red herrings and Barbara Copperthwaite includes all those ingredients in The Darkest Lies. However, what I certainly don’t expect is to find myself sobbing with shared grief with the characters as I was with Melanie and Jacob. Mostly when I read crime thrillers I’m entertained (and I was – hugely in reading The Darkest Lies) but I’m slightly removed from the action and that seemed to be the pattern here until wham! Barbara Copperthwaite dealt me a body blow of profound emotion. Brilliant writing!

There’s a cracking plot with fast paced short chapters as Melanie desperately tries to discover who has so injured Beth that she lies on life support in hospital. The end of the narrative is heart thumping and exciting, and without spoiling the read, introduces aspects that make the reader think and contemplate their own possible responses to hypothetically similar situations.

The themes are what makes The Darkest Lies so compelling. Barbara Copperthwaite forces the reader to contemplate how far they would go to protect their own loved ones and she tugs at the very foundations of loyalty and lawlessness so that the edges of what is right and what is wrong become blurred.

I liked the gradual uncovering of the truth from Beth’s perspective alongside the first person story from Melanie, and the way in which she directs her voice towards Beth is touching and realistic. I did feel that a few of Melanie’s actions were unlikely and she should have dealt with the police and her suspicions differently, but at the same time, hers is such a desperate and emotional portrayal of grief that who can say how she might have behaved.

However, aside from a really good thriller, what I truly loved about The Darkest Lies was the creation of a claustrophobic Lincolnshire village, as I live in one myself, and the exquisite beauty of some of the prose which reads like the finest poetry in the natural descriptions. This was such evocative writing.

I thought The Darkest Lies was a thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking thriller and really recommend it.

I was given The Darkest Lies through netgalley for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading The Darkest Lies by the time I finished reading it however throughout I did find myself getting a little bit frustrated. One reason is because I quickly worked out who the attacker was but had to wait ages for it to be confirmed! Another reason is I felt the protagonist repeated herself far too much and I hear myself saying "But I already know that! Give me something new..."

I would recommend it but if you find yourself having the same thoughts as me stick with it as overall it's a good read.

Thank you Bookoture and Netgalley!

This book has the most amazing prologue – a vivid, haunting image, beautifully written – and its relevance to the story that follows only becomes clear at the book’s close, when the prologue is chillingly repeated, and you’re finally able to breath properly again.

The descriptions of the marshes in this book – the vistas, the hidden dangers, the mud, the racing tide – are just superb, incredibly atmospheric, a constant brooding presence. I also loved Fenmere itself… I have a bit of a “thing” about a book having a clear sense of place, and the village and its community are vividly drawn.

The characterisation is wonderful, the anguish of both Jacob and Mel, the way their grief impacts on their marriage incredibly well done – there’s one image of Jacob crying in Beth’s bedroom (“tendrils of sorrow… trickling down the stairs”…) that stayed with me from first reading with the rawness of its emotion. These people are totally real – Melanie all over the place with her dogged determination to uncover the truth, Joseph struggling to cope with his grief and his wife’s single mindedness. The glimpses of the past, the little things, bring the family to life – and there are scenes where the grief becomes too much to bear that will continue to haunt me.

The structure of the narrative is unusual, but I think it really works. Melanie’s voice throughout is in the second person, talking to Beth: but that’s punctuated with glimpses of Beth herself, in the third person. And then there’s that sinister third voice – so brilliantly done. There’s a choppiness about the chapter structure too that works incredibly well, heightening the suspense, keeping the pages turning.

At different points in the story I had everyone in the frame for Beth’s attack… there are so many possibilities (call them red herrings if you will), but I felt I wanted to help Melanie, see if I’d spotted something that she might have missed in her relentless pursuit of the truth driven by the frustrations of the police investigation.

There’s such a twist in this book that will leave you gasping. And as for the book’s climax – oh my goodness, what fantastic tension-filled writing. I loved this book – as I hope and expect will everyone who reads it.

Melanie and Jacob have a good life. They're childhood sweethearts with a solid marriage and beautiful daughter Beth, with whom they live in a pretty village. But then Beth goes missing and is later found beaten half to death on the local marsh. While she lies in a coma Melanie becomes obsessed with discovering how this happened and who is responsible. She soon realises theres a lot she doesn't know about the people she grew up with.....worse still there's plenty that her own daughter has been hiding from her....

If someone asked me to describe this book I could in 4 words. Broadchurch on the marsh. It's a small town rocked by a violent crime, parents are clueless about their kids problems, and most importantly the whole town is seriously shady....Mel can trust no one.... everyone is a suspect. Blimey I was even eyeing the dog for it at one point!

There's much to like in this book. It's a real page turner, the kind you forget to eat or drink when reading it. Mel is a times not a hugely sympathetic character and some of her decisions seem frankly crazy. But all becomes clear at the end, and it's a great trip getting there.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this digital copy for an unbiased review.

The darkest lies was at times quite a hard read due to some of the content but that somehow made it more believable unlike the main character, Melanie who I found quite unlikeable at times, I didn't feel as though she was real enough at times and although I haven't been through what Melanie was going through I found it hard at times to relate to why she said and did certain things.
The book has alternating chapters, the majority of the chapters are from Melanie's point of view but there are other chapters seen from Beth's and the attackers.
The book was quite a fast paced read it did slow a little in the middle I thought but picked up again afterwards. I'm not going to go into the storyline too much as I'm too scared to let any clue slip but part of it I had worked out for myself but the first part I hadn't and it was a bit of a shock!
I would like to thank netgalley and bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh this book! What a roller coaster of a ride! Gripping turn of events as well!

Melanie, Jacob and Beth Oak were a perfect, happy, little family who seemed to be living a regular but blissful life. However, their lives were shattered on the night that Beth went missing. A search party later found her beaten and left for the dead. Beth’s parents were obviously devastated by the news. They were even more distraught when it became apparent that there was a lot of deception surrounding the night that Beth disappeared.

The story is narrated mainly from Melanie’s perspective. Her pain was so raw that I found myself at the brink of tears a couple of times. Melanie and Beth were close and Beth was everything to Melanie. The narrative styles sounds like Melanie is narrating the events to her daughter. In her mind, Melanie explains her actions, describes her anguish and search for answers. There were a few chapters narrated by Beth. Her PoV was fascinating. It gave a background to events before the tragic night until finally; we get Beth’s version about the attack. There were two other narrators that added to the intrigue of the book. One was creepy while the other tragic.

I liked Mel’s characterization. She was likeable and sympathetic. I liked how determined she was to find her daughter’s attacker. She knocked on doors and asked questions that made a lot of people mad/uncomfortable. She even upset the police. Mel is what I envision when I think of a mother’s love. Her character was very well portrayed hence believable.

With lies and deceit being major themes in the book, there were a lot of sneaky, unlikable but yet addictive characters. You won’t believe the kind of deception that went on. The characters lived in a small village where everyone seemed to be lying about something. This meant that there were many suspects. The town was crazy. They all knew each other and people were in each other’s business. However, nobody would even admit to seeing Beth on the night that she disappeared.

Although quite emotional, this was an entertaining book. I was able to detect one of the lies from the get-go. I had my suspicions about a character but I was so wrong about what they were lying about. The other lies and twists caught me off guard. The book had unpredictable turns that kept me totally glued to the story up to the final page. Besides the great characterization, this was another reason why I enjoyed reading the book so much.

The Darkest Lies by Barbara Copperthwaite is not your regular kind of thriller. Of course it has all the things that make a good psychological thriller such as unpredictable twists, sneaky characters (and psychopaths), lies and secrets. Nevertheless, the book goes beyond thrills and tackles a number of heavy themes. One of them is grief which was dominant throughout. The characters being so realistic made this theme come alive in the story and hence the emotional aspect of the book. My heart broke especially for the Oaks.

The writing is flawless. I fell in love with Copperthwaite’s writing. She has a way of taking readers through different emotions, making one feel like part of the story. The imagery had me visualizing different scenes and the characters felt like people I knew. All in all, this was a brilliant read and I highly recommend it.

I did read this book in a day and sound it an easy page turner , however I did find Melanie , whose daughter is found left for dead , somewhat irritating and unreal . One element of the book was no surprise at all but there was shock I never saw coming . All in all an ok read but lacking any real depth of characters . 3.5 stars .

My thanks to netgalley and bookouture for the opportunity to read this

So where do I start with this review. I have had the pleasure of ‘meeting’ the author on social media and I was lucky enough to win a competition where *I* was written as a character into her next book. Well this is it, the anticipation, excitement and nerves all culminated in a wonderful book. I had no idea previously if I would be a goodie or a baddie, all I knew was it would be a psychological thriller!

The title gives you an inkling of what is to come .. The Darkest Lies .. nothing good ever comes from telling fibs and this book certainly portrays the disastrous consequences when one lie escalates into another.

Melanie and Jacob are living the perceived perfect life along with young teenage daughter Beth and a fluffy mutt. They are a close family and as Melanie states, bad things don’t happen to people like us.

Yet after a regular night spent with her BFF it soon becomes apparent that Beth is missing. Why would she not tell her parents where she was going? What happens to her?

This is every parents nightmare and the writing sucks you into that black hole of despair. Beth was an animal lover and would spend hours on the bleak Lincolnshire marshes observing wildlife .. is that where she might be? I could sense the desolation, feel the wind biting my skin, the eerie bleakness of the area it was all described so vividly.

Jacob like any father is so protective of his little girl but complies with the police in their search not only for Beth but later her attacker. Mel on the other hand becomes a woman possessed and goes on the rampage in the small community trying to unearth some clues. She rapidly turns folk against her. She drove me mad at times with her insistence on knowing best but then as a mother I, god forbid would probably react the same.

When Mel’s old school chum returns to the village he makes a bee line for her and offers his support where Jacob doesn’t seem able to. The whole story explores what happens when a family unit is torn apart by a tragic event. How any action or remark can cause an avalanche of pain. The thoughts and feelings of the parents when other characters encroach on personal space. It definitely made me think about how I would deal with it, the fine line between giving kids their independence or wrapping in cotton wool, the cloying guilt if something goes terribly wrong.

It keeps you guessing all the way through, when I thought I had it figured out another twist would jump at me. Barbara isn’t afraid to deal with unpleasant circumstances or take the reader on a difficult journey. Once you begin this it soon becomes imperative that the ‘real’ world stops so the book can be read in peace with out interrupting the flow. I found it incredibly hard to put it down and found myself abandoning my family just to finish it!

I think the most scary thing of all is, this could potentially happen, sometimes it’s easier to read about ghosts or vampires to let the imagination run riot but this story felt SO real. The whole package is a marvellous mix of tense, atmospheric, chilling, emotional thrills!
I loved the saying Mel used for Beth .. ‘love you to bits then whole again’ that gives such an innocent insight into their relationship.

What did I think of my alter ego Alison ? … well she played quite a large part in the story, it was a really weird sensation living vicariously in that situation but without doubt I thoroughly enjoyed her antics and realising I didn’t have to deal with the outcome was a bonus! It was a huge honour and my thanks go again to Barbara for including me and to Netgalley/Bookouture for my copy.

Would I recommend it .. damn right I would 🙂

This was my first book by Barbara Copperthwaite but will be looking for more. A great read with some good twists and surprises. A heartbreaking story of a missing teen - a good girl who disappears however, it comes to light she had planned the night out lying to her parents which is totally out of character. What secret was Beth hiding. As her frantic, grief stricken mother looks for the answer of what happened in this small, previously safe village lots of people seem to have something to hide. A new arrival in town helps Melanie with her search for the truth but is this arrival co-incidental? I thoroughly enjoyed and had my head thrown in several directions during this dark, tense thriller.

An edge of your seat, nail biting brilliant book. I was hooked from beginning to end and just when you think its all over - boom - another heart racing moment comes along. I cannot recommend this book enough. Fantastic. Many thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ARC.

I really had no idea what to expect when I started this book, the author being completely new to me. However, a lot of bloggers whose opinions and tastes I've grown to respect were very excited about it, and so caught up in that excitement I thought I'd give it a go. How pleased I am that I did, because not only does The Darkest Lies sit up there with some of the best psychological thrillers I've read this year, but something about this book got right under my skin.

The Darkest Lies is told in a second person narrative - I can't remember the last time I read a book in this style and it works so very, very well here. Melanie's thirteen year old daughter goes missing, and is then found battered and on the brink of death. The book is narrated by Melanie, to her daughter, and details the days following the attack and the ensuing investigation. I found this an incredibly honest, raw and emotional way to tell the story and became instantly connected to Melanie.

I hadn't been prepared to relate so strongly to Melanie, but it was like she was living my very worst fears. I'm the parent of an almost thirteen year old daughter myself, and everything about this story rang true. The relationship between Melanie and Beth was authentic and the events leading to the horrendous attack are realistic and believable - it's likely there are similar stories playing out between teenagers around the country as we speak. Melanie's reactions following her daughter's attack were also brutally honest, with Barbara Copperthwaite not shying away from depicting the real, raw and desperate side of her grief.

The Darkest Lies is set in a small community, where everyone knows one and another and each others business. Or so they believe. But this twisty, gripping tale weaves a sordid tale of a community full of secrets, small and large, and reveals just what people are willing to sacrifice to protect themselves. The finger of blame points in many directions, but I truly could not have guessed the truth. Then just when I thought the case was resolved, the author pops another twist in there which, to be quite honest, left me speechless.

This wasn't altogether an easy read for me - a lot of the themes are quite close to home, tapping into some of my biggest fears as the mother of a teenager in the twenty first century. I found it emotional, horrifying and scarily believable and it sent me running up to my daughter's room just to give her a hug at one point (yep, I got the eye-roll from her). Barbara Copperthwaite's writing is gripping and she knows exactly how to deliver a twist to make your jaw drop. Her character's are extremely well observed and believable, as is the tension and feelings of unrest and suspicion in the small community. The descriptions of the stark and wild marshes were atmospheric and eerie, providing the perfect backdrop to this fast-paced, heart-thumper of a thriller. The Darkest Lies is a book I'll be able to remember vividly for a long time to come and I really can't wait to read more from Barbara in the future.

The Darkest Lies is Barbara Copperthwaite’s third psychological thriller that I have read. But OMG talk about blow me away this one is just incredible. Like always I will be totally honest with you and this is actually the third time that I have read this book. After I was asked to beta read it. You can imagine my excitement, I was absolutely over the moon. Anyway The Darkest Lies has come on leaps and bounds from the first version I read back in August. What can I say but it's perfect, Barbara has taken her writing skills to a whole new level and you guys are going to love it.


Imagine your child going missing, a parents worse nightmare. Well this is what happens to Melanie Oak, her daughter Beth who is found beaten to the point of death on a marsh a couple of miles away from the village. Melanie is determined to find out who the attacker is we follow a story told from three points of view where the author takes us on one whirlwind journey that will keep you guessing until the very end.


I have to say I felt sorry for Melanie in fact my heart went out to her Barbara has written some heartbreaking scenes in this corker. With picturesque descriptions making me feel like I am in the story. Giving me a lump in my throat.


I must mention the ending OMG what an ending it is! I am still getting over it myself talk about pulse racing, I thought my heart was going to burst with the tension.


The Darkest Lies is totally one mesmerising, captivating engaging read that will have you hooked from start to finish it is certainly a page turner. Each chapter leaves you wanting more.


Oh and did I mention the twist...this is a twist to die for. I cannot recommend it enough giving it a well deserved 5 massive stars.

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Darkest Lies by Barbara Copperthwaite as I hadn't read the blurb before I started to read it. I got it on the because of the author and her reputation for writing great books. Although I have a couple of her books on my Kindle I have yet to read them, but I was keen to read this one.

The storyline is a good one, Melanie's much-loved daughter goes missing and is soon found beaten and left for dead in the marsh that is close to the village that they live in. Frustrated that the police seem to be getting nowhere, Melanie decides to start investigating what happened herself, aided by an old friend from school who has recently returned to the area. It soon becomes clear that people in the village are hiding things and know more than they will tell, but also that there is someone in the village who is dangerous and it seems that Melanie's life might be at risk.

The story is cleverly woven and you can't help but feel compassion for Melanie, even though many of her actions are questionable and she upsets many of the people living around her.

There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and the marsh setting becomes so real it is like a character in itself. I will definitely be reading more from Barbara Copperthwaite.

Thank you to the author and publisher, Bookouture, for a copy of Behind the Lie via Netgalley.