Flipping fantastic book! Caroline Mitchell is such an accomplished writer and her characters are so totally believable. This is a complete thrill ride that you will want to read in one sitting!!!

Actual rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading Caroline Mitchell's Ruby Preston series so I was excited to start reading a new series from her. I really liked the plot and it gripped me from the beginning but the twist at the end seemed far-fetched and kind of ruined it for me. However, I will continue on with this series since the book was well-written and I did enjoy most of it.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of Caroline Mitchell's "Truth and Lies" in exchange of an honest review.

MY THOUGHTS:
I liked this book. I'm continuing the series. However, I don't feel like it was a super quick or fast paced read. I got a little annoyed with DI Winter's reactions to things. But I think she just wasn't as emotional as I am? I expected her to be less mad at the breaking of the news and more emotional and then harden and set her mind to her job as it was the perfect situation to kind of atone for her parents' sins. However, she was pretty much just angry. She would have been more relatable as a character if she showed more emotional range. But then again, I'm a crier so one could argue I could use less of an emotional range. Then there was a bit of a hard-to-swallow plot twist toward the end. I liked the present mystery mirroring the past. I liked the resolution of that situation as well. It was a good story overall and like I said, I will continue with the series.

MY RATING:
Entertainment Value: 4
Characters 4
Voice: 4
Plot: 4
Overall: 4

See all my reviews @ www.mamaneedsabook.blogspot.com
<i>Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!</i>

I LOVED this book!! I would give it ten stars if I could, that’s how good it is! I can’t wait for more from this author. Highly recommended!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Caroline Mitchell for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Wow.... I don't know how to write a review that would do this book justice. I absolutely loved this book. Such a page turner and. gripping read. Absolutely cannot wait for the next book by Caroline Mitchell. Its a massive 5 stars from me.

When I heard about this new series I must say my heart sank a bit. Not because I thought it would be bad. Nope, it was because I realised a new detective probably meant the end of the Ruby Preston series which is one of my favourites. So I started with an odd mixture of sadness (I get very attached to characters) and excitement. That sadness was soon swept away. Amy is a very different character. She's straight as they come, a play by the rules kind of detective. But her world is about to be shattered. Her adoptive father, also a detective has just died. His most famous case was the capture of a wife and husband serial killer team. And one half of that team, Lillian Grimes, chooses this moment to write and tell Amy she's her real mother and if Amy will see her she will reveal where the last three bodies are. One of the victim's mothers is terminally ill so Amy feels like she has no choice. But the more she sees her mother the more dark memories resurface...

This is a pretty fantastic start to a series. Amy is a character you can instantly connect to, the story is great and feels believable. Part two of this series is just around the corner, and I will definitely be reading it!

Wow, just wow! This book kept me turning the pages faster and faster until I finished it (in just two sittings, might I add)! Can't wait for the next in the series!

So when I started this book I wasn't sure what I was getting into. I was hooked 5 chapters in.

You can see where Caroline Mitchell got her influence for this book; Fred and Rose West. Although the crimes in this book are quite brutal and are mentioned multiple times throughout the book, they are not always so graphic which I think is always quite good.

Throughout the book I was constantly on edge for Amy as she is holding back a major secret which could put her career in jeopardy and even though I was aware there are a further 2 books in the DCI Amy Winter series it didn't help.

I would advise this book if you really enjoy crime novels, especially with a strong female protagonist.

Amy is the biological daughter of serial offenders Lillian and Jack Grimes. Adopted at a young age, her past is back to haunt her. Her biological mother is willing to reveal the burial site of three of their victims in return for favours from her estranged daughter. A young girl goes missing and there is too much going on in Amy's life to make sense of anything at all.
The book is short and crisp, making sure it has your attention. I really enjoyed reading about so many parallel events and how it all came together. I loved the way different events were linked without making the book too lengthy or going into unnecessary details. I was wondering how the author has managed to gain so much insight into how Cops work, but her background as one surely reflects in the writing. The plot was interesting and the writing took it to the next level. Though at one point I did feel like I knew where it was heading, but I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't say that it was an excellent read, but definitely a good one!
Overall, Truth and lies kept me engaged, kept me guessing, and left me surprised and satiated.

I loved the idea of this book and the story, but the characters need more work. I feel like we didn’t get to know them that well and what they went through between then and now. I wanted to know more about her childhood and teenage years and how all that went.. That said, it wasn’t bad. The story does take you to Amy’s past and explains what happened. Amy went through a lot and her story still isn’t over, hopefully the next one answers all of my questions.

I will start this review by admitting that I am a hardcore fan of Caroline Mitchells books and as many of you will know when an author leaves behind a beloved character to start a book series with a new character it can be….well…you nearly feel like you are cheating on you first loved character! So because I love Ruby Preston so much I really wanted to hate this new DI..I really wanted to dislike her or find fault with her…but I couldn’t…I LOVED this first book (no one tell Ruby Preston I said that).
I was totally and utterly hooked from the very first chapter, Amy grieving the loss of her father who was also in the police forces gets focussed on a case where a little girl has gone missing. She then receives a letter from a convicted murderer Lillian Grimes requesting that Amy visit her.
This book was so very well written and the characters were expertly developed…I felt for Amy with all the devastating realisations she made and I hated Lillian Grimes and her husband. I would absolutely recommend this book

Truth and lies by Caroline Mitchell.
This was a fantastic read with great characters. Although I didn't like Lillian at all. I was surprised about Amy. I did like Amy. This was full of action and it was a very good plot. What a twister. Didn't see that coming. I do hope there is more to come. 5*.

Thank you #NetGalley for an advanced copy of #TruthandLies!

If you think you’re family is bad, you should really read this book!! Amy Winter received a letter one day from a serial killer, Lillian Grimes, claiming to be Amy’s birth mother. It is shocking to read how a woman could do such horrible things to these young girls. This book really takes you on a rollercoaster with so many different characters and makes you wonder how everyone fits into the story... but just you wait because all will be revealed and it is quite surprising!

A Gripping & Relentless Thriller

Even if you forget your past, it still remembers you.

DI Amy Winter has a lot going for her: Young, Competent and a rising star in the police force. Apart from being the daughter of a highly respected police officer father, she is also leading the investigation on several crucial cases. Still grieving after the demise of her father, Amy receives a letter from a prison inmate and her whole world comes crashing down.

Amy is not the daughter of a police officer but the daughter of a notorious serial-killer couple. Responsible for a string of heinous murders of young girls, her father is now dead and her mother is now incarcerated. Now, she wants to make a deal with Amy—but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game. Amy must confront her own dark past. Amidst the drama, Amy faces a race against time to solve a high stakes kidnapping case. Can Amy overcome all the odds in the most challenging case of her career?

Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.

Reading a new detective series right from the series is always a joy & as the first book in the DI Amy Winter Series, Truth and Lies delivers. As a story, Truth and Lies is an excellent psychological thriller and one of the best starts to a detective series. The book wastes little time in introducing the cast and dives straightaway in the plot. The story is extremely fast paced with twists & turns right till the end. The story keeps shifting from the past to the present, or from Amy’s story to the kidnapping case, without losing momentum. Despite the multiple storylines, the story never gets confusing.

The mind games between Amy & her mother, Lilian were the most interesting part of the story. Like a chess game, the moves go back & forth right till the end. The climax of this book and the final revelation were both well done. It would interesting to see how the storyline between Amy & Lilian plays out in the next book. My only gripe with the story is that major focus was on Amy’s story and the current police case was relegated slightly to the background.

As for the characters, characters of Amy & Lilian were really well written. Amy’s resilience, despite the turmoil in her personal life was well brought out.

Caroline Mitchell is a former CID with an experience in handing abuse cases. Her knowledge clearly reflects throughout the book. Her attention to detail regarding investigation, police protocol and especially the flashbacks were top notch. All in all, Truth & Lies is an excellent police procedural and a great start to an exciting series. I am really looking forward to seeing what book 2 has in store for Amy. Read this book before the next book is published later this year.

This was an interesting book that made me feel a lot of conflicting emotions. At some points, I really liked it, at other points, I got really frustrated with the main character. I think what saved it for me was the ending.

The most interesting part, I think, was the push and pull between Amy and Lilian. The cat and mouse game did intrigue me and kept me pretty hooked.

Overall, a pretty good book, with the main character growing on me. While it's not a favourite, it was well done, I will most likely be reading future books in the series and from the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy.

After the sudden death of her father, DI Amy Winters receives a letter from the ‘Beast from Brentwood’ Lillian Grimes claiming she’s her mother. She also claims that she’ll give her the locations of the remains of the last victims but only if she does as Lillian says.

At the same time a young girl, Hemmy, is kidnapped with precious few leads but Amy’s focus is not on the case. Can Amy and her team pull it together before something happens to Hemmy?

This is another ‘why didn’t I read this sooner’ book! This was such a riveting read, with so many twists and turns...I just loved everything about it!

The way the two main characters Lillian and Amy play off each other is so fascinating and I think would make an excellent TV show (throwing the hint out there ITV).

Serial killers I think for the most part fascinate most people but Lillian is the rarer type being a woman. She is an utterly despicable character, reminding me of someone like Rose West or Myra Hindley. A complete psychopath that can turn from charming to cruel at the drop of a hat but what I enjoyed most was the way the author casts doubt, was she framed or is it just more lies?

At first Amy is so confident, ambitious, head of her own team, she’s on her way to making DCI then she finds out she’s the daughter of serial killers. It’d be enough to throw anyone through a hoop, never mind a police officer. She starts to doubt herself, feeling tainted and wondering if she could be psychopath herself.

An honourable mention goes to Amy’s second in command, DS Patrick Byrne who is a bit of a complex character, unable to leave his abusive wife but he’s fallen in love with another woman. I like the way that it spotlighted the fact that domestic abuse doesn’t just happen to women.

Overall Truth and Lies is an utterly brilliant book with so many compelling characters, a must for fans of serial killer thrillers.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Amy Winters is dealing with the death of her beloved adoptive father and the unfolding events surrounding her father's last high profile case. I was hooked from the start and cannot wait for the second book (hopefully there is one) in this series.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I've read a police procedural thriller as engaging as this. It isn't uncommon for them to have the basic plotline of 'serial killer takes a special interest in the main detective character and plays games with them' but this is the first one I've heard of that has the added layer of the main character being related to the serial killer. I was uncertain how well this would work in execution but I am pleased to say that it did not disappoint. Truth and Lies not only delivers on its premise, it is a fantastically written and engaging thriller on the whole.

Truth and Lies is about our main character, Amy Winter, who receives a letter from an infamous female serial killer confessing that she is Amy's real mother. Once more, the serial killer is willing to reveal the locations of her last three victims if Amy plays along with her requests. What follows is a tense cat-and-mouse game where Amy is trying to keep their connection secret from her coworkers whilst also wrestling with the serial killer's demands. The stakes get raised when a young girl is kidnapped in the present day and Amy is uncertain whether it is connected to her birth mother or not.

As a main character, Amy was immensely likable and very understandable in her actions and motives. There are plenty of side characters in this and they were all well-developed and interesting to read about. Ultimately this is what drives the story, along with the trail-of-breadcrumbs reveal of what happened in Amy's past and what the serial killer is demanding in the present. The pacing is pretty much spot on, although I wasn't as invested in the modern-day kidnapping story as perhaps I should have been. The ending as well is satisfactory but not really more than that. This didn't bother me as there was plenty of other things to be invested in and I wasn't really reading for a shock ending, but I can see some people potentially being unsatisfied by the resolution of part of the plot.

Overall, Truth and Lies is an excellent example of the police procedural thriller genre done right. The writing is very skilled and there is plenty of meat in the plot to keep you interested in what's going on. I'm intrigued to see if another thriller with the same detective character could be as engaging without the 'related to a serial killer' aspect (assuming this isn't involved in the plot of a sequel) but I would definitely be interested in checking out more from the author and she has managed to capture my interest in a thriller genre that is not my favourite.

Overall Rating: 4/5

This fabulous maze of a book kept me hanging in so many different ways (all good) great story lines some that stick in the back of your head and stay low, but some explosive and really fast paced that make your heart race, an amazing transition of feelings down on paper is not easy to do but Caroline Mitchell manages it yet again
Everyone should read this as a killer-thriller it’s awesome as a first read of genre but also if you are a seasoned reader of this type

This is a new series from Caroline Mitchell and just like her previous books this one is unputdownable. The characters are brilliant and I was really impressed with the way domestic violence against men was covered. Roll on book 2!!