"Conspiracy of Lies" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Kathryn Gauci (http://www.kathryngauci.com). Ms. Gauci has published four novels. 

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Situations. The story is set in German-occupied France. The primary character is Claire Bouchard, a young French woman who volunteers to return to France as a British agent to work with the French resistance. 

Bouchard is still trying to deal with the death of her lover when France is invaded by Germany in 1940. She flees ahead of the German army and makes her way to the UK. She is recruited and trained to be part of the SOE. She is returned to France and becomes a teacher while secretly serving the resistance. 

She is faced with many risky situations and becomes romantically involved with both a fellow resistance fighter and with a member of the German Gestapo in her role as a teacher. The story is told by the elderly Bouchard to her daughter in 2001. 

I enjoyed the 9+ hours I spent reading this 300-page WWII novel. The story portrays the typical French refugee recruited and sent back to work for with the resistance. This one is more complicated as the primary character develops romantic ties that put her at even greater risk. This is really a story about a strong and heroic woman. While there was more romance in the story that I usually like, I do think that it is a good read. I like the cover are. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

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I've given up on thinking that I don't like romance, because clearly I have been loving it lately - and Conspiracy of Lies was no exception. It starts of with a whirlwind romance in Paris (um hello, beautiful daydream much?) and is followed dramatically by a complete immersion in the SOE and a deployment to occupied France. I mean, oooft! Does it get any better?

I loved the tenacity of Claire Bouchard, and especially the retrospective introduction to the story. We see Claire at the end of her journey sharing moments with her daughter, so we know that she survives. Yet despite this, the events that Claire endures in 1943 had me on the edge of my seat wondering how she makes it through. I seriously doubted that Claire was going to survive her landing in Brittany, ad certainly not her unexpected infiltration of the Nazi elite as she fell into the bed of a Gestapo Commandant. 

I enjoyed too, how Claire's past and present were interspersed throughout the book. Her return to Brittany and reconnection with her daughter cut the tension of Claire's mission at the best possible moment. Not only did they provided glimpses of insight into Claire's character, but they also dolled out key clues into the history of the geography in which the story takes place. I found that it really helped to root the narrative in reality, and to make it feel like the past isn't so far away.

And the scenario with the Gestapo Commandant was an absolute trip as well. It really brought to light the degree of subterfuge and infiltration undertaken by members of the SOE and the complicated situations that had to be navigated in the aftermath of the war. And keeping in mind the secrecy to which SOE agents were sworn, I can only imagine how shocking discovering the truth of a parent or grandparent's real past might have been. 

Yet, the magnitude of this drama was subtly balanced by the opulence of the Nazi elite. The dresses, the hotels, the parties and the food in the face of such drastic austerity was almost overwhelming. And once Claire was embedded in this world, I couldn't shake the feeling of Stockholm Syndrome despite Claire's obvious commitment to the SOE. The depth of detail provided a sense a grounding and realism that made every scenario believable, and solid foundation on which some extreme events can take place. And the best part was that despite having some knowledge of the French Resistance and the events leading up to the liberation of France, I never once felt that I could guess what was coming around the corner or that I knew an outcome before it came to pass. 

This baby is truly the best of both worlds with enough pulling at the heartstrings to give you a flutter, and a riveting game of SOE cat-and-mouse espionage to keep those pages turing. It's detailed, dramatic, and incredibly well written.

Read it book lovers, you won't be disappointed!

Kathryn is such an amazing writer. This was a truly intriguing book and I couldn't put it down. It was so good, took me only 2 hours to soar through it and enjoyed it so much.

Conspiracy of Lies was okay. The historical details are great. The plot just didn't keep my interest. I skimmed through this one. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I gave up at 40% in reading this book. With so many five star reviews, I thought this would be a great read. It was an okay read, but I didn’t connect with the characters, or the plot, hardly at all. While the mystery was interesting enough to keep on reading-just what did happen to Marcel?-I couldn’t force myself to continue as the characters kept giving Sarah grief over her divorce with Alastair and basically treating her as if she was mentally incompetent, and that her mother’s heart attack was her fault. At least, that’s the way it read to me.

The historical bits were fascinating. I liked reading about the first attacks, the newscasters, and the stories the family told about experiencing the war in France. It was interesting, and well researched. My main problem with the story was just the characters. I didn’t connect with them, and found Peter and Alastair and others to be quite annoying.

Others may enjoy this story more than I, but I still appreciate being given the chance to read it. My thanks to the publishers for approving my request, and apologies that I can’t leave a more glowing review.

3/5 stars, and my second book for Buzz-Word-a-Thon.