This book is extremely topical, with the podcasts and the TV shows taking up the side of the potentially wrongly incarcerated. I enjoyed the idea behind this book, however the execution felt off to me. First, I felt like it should have been told from Jack's point of view. The third person narrative really took me out of the story. I also just didn't like any of the characters.

The story itself was good, though I did think it was a little more drawn out than necessary. There certain parts that I didn't really feel were important to overall story, which made the story drag in parts.

A mystery that takes a true crime show and spins it into real life! What starts off setting a criminal free after a documentary looks closer at missed evidence for a murder years ago, turns into a copycat murder after the "criminal" is home. Everyone is fair game, and the television producer is now thrown into the mix as well.
I didn't see the end of this one coming, which is a good thing! Lots of twists, turns, and great characters. I loved this one and devoured it quickly.

This novel is based in and around Sydney Australia. It centers around a documentary about a murdered woman, Eliza Dacey, and her killer behind bars. The documentary lead Jack Quick believes Curtis Wade was wrongfully imprisoned the murder of Eliza. Once the documentary aired Curtis had a re-trial and was cleared of the murder. 4 years behind bars and he is finally free.
Once released his defense attorney Alexis is murdered. Same style as Eliza; two fingers in her mouth and all.
As evidence is found everything is stacking up that it's Curtis again. But small towns have secrets. Some even worth killing over.
The questions start to mount up. Is Curtis the true killer and Jack helped set him loose on the world. Is someone in fact setting Curtis up?
Read this juicy novel and find out. I can promise this, the end is not what you think. Benjamin Stevenson brilliantly captures his readers with this docu-drama-thriller!!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jack on investigates a murder for his television show and gets caught up in a web of tangled lies and half-truths. The people who are not guilty in the murder and/or coverup have their own secrets and crimes to conceal. Then a second murder occurs that is either by the same killer as the first or a copycat killing.

This is an excellent mystery set in Australia's wine country. There is an unexpected twist at the climax.

Trust Me When I Lie

This is a dark but good book. Taking place in Australia, Jack works in the TV industry. He is working on a story of a murder that took place years earlier. But then killer is released from prison and an eerily similar murder is committed. This book has many twists and turns, keeping you on guard. Recommend. Four stars!

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy for an honest review. Four stars

Loved the premise of this story! A true crime documentarian searching for the truth of his latest series. Questioning the innocence or guilt of the man in jail soon turns in to a wild ride of who else is guilty or innocent. Half of the story is all about this case and the other half is the personal demons Jack faces every waking minute of his life. And as the ending comes near... nope not quite over yet! Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!!

😱😱😱 I loved this book. It’s original and one heck of a story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I flew through it in a just a couple hours and couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend!

A gripping debut by Benjamin Stevenson

Jack has a podcast on true crimes. He finally has a big break with a docu-drama story he is doing for TV. Curtis Wade was convicted of a murder of a girl named Eliza. Jack's drama showed that Curtis was convicted with insufficient evidence and was released after 4 years in prison. Soon after another dead body shows up.

Now Jack isn't so sure that Curtis is so innocent after all.

The story is set in Australia, has great character development. The triple twist at the end omg.

Thank you #netgalley and #sourcebooks for the advanced readers copy for an honest review. 4/5. #trustmewhenilie
Release date August 13, 2019

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the copy of Trust Me When I Lie by Benjamin Stevenson. I enjoyed this book. The true crime podcast aspect of it was very interesting to me, as I listen to a lot of them. The first part of the book I was a little confused and felt like I needed more back story. The rest of the book flew by and I loved it! I will definitely read this author again!

There's a LOT going on in this book. It boils down to a true crime podcaster who gets a break when it goes viral and gets turned into a TV show (I think, I kind of lost interest in that part. It was definitely a podcast at some point though), 2 different murders 4 years apart, small town wine politics, and a grown man with both an eating disorder and PTSD from childhood trauma - completely armchair diagnosis on that second one, just what I gleaned from the writing and from the flashbacks from his brother's accident and the near constant guilt he carried from lying about it and the development of the eating disorder as a result of lying about it.

So breaking it down into it's separate parts - I LOVE true crime and podcasts so I was a little disappointed to be so utterly bored by that part of the story. I think there were just too many moving parts/story lines/characters/dual timelines - something was just throwing me off and I couldn't keep up with all the players on the board. The main bad guy who went down for the first murder is sometimes guilty in some people's mind, he sometimes not guilty, it's hard to keep track of who thinks he is and who thinks he isn't, and then the end is just absolutely mind blowing-ly WTF-ery that you're left with, ?? none of this pieces together, but ok. It was an entertaining ride nonetheless. I guess.

The small town wine politics - again, kind of mishmash smashed into the story, although it was more brilliantly handled than the hamhandling of the murder plotlines. Once all the truth comes out about that, in trickles throughout the story, it's kind of genius how it all falls into place and everyone was working at odds with each other. If they'd all worked together so much of this could have been avoided.

The true shining star in this entire book was the handling and depiction of the eating disorder, IMO. I've never read a book that had a grown male protagonist with bulimia and everything from the development of it - explaining the origins, to his struggle with it as an adult, a brief slip during the most stressful part of the plot line, and the truly artistic, nearly poetic way Stevenson describes eating disorders - having a tightrope walker that is always balancing one way or the other and can tip at any given moment - was absolute art.

It's disparate parts aren't all that great but when read as a whole it's a pretty good book. I think some of that has to do with it being an ARC and the formatting being confusing - the chapters didn't always indicate what was present and what was previous, and some of the dialogue between characters was pretty ambiguous when it came to the original murder suspects guilt too so that added to the confusion as well. All in all though it was still a good read.

First of all thanks to the publisher for this advanced review copy. The premise intrigued me right away, being a fan of true crime documentaries. I liked the main character, Jack Quick, I felt he was likable and sympathetic, even though he did make some questionable choices. What I felt was lacking in the book was action. Throughout the first two thirds, very little actually happened. There was a lot of talk about what had happened in the past, a lot of self-examination by Jack, but surprisingly little investigation, considering he was supposed to be solving two murders. But the last of the book definitely picked up speed and had a few surprises, which I enjoyed. I'd definitely read a book from this author again.

This is an interesting murder mystery with a memorable protagonist. However, the book could have been a little bit shorter because it does drag a little in that middle. Overall, the plot twists are good and the mystery is compelling.

Jack Quick is doing a documentary on Curtis Wade. Curtis is in prison for murder, but is he really guilty? Sloppy police work may have contributed to his conviction. Now Curtis is possibly getting a retrial and could get released. After doing his story Jack needs to find out what happened. Did he help an innocent man or get a guilty man released.

This is the first book for this author and it is a solid start. It dig drag once in awhile, which is the reason for 3*. I would call this a mystery-thriller. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

I hate to admit defeat, but I could not finish this book. I stalled at 20%. I then gave myself 2 months to get back into it, but it just didn't happen. If you know me at all, you'll know what an aberration this is for me. Set in Australia, this thriller poses the hypothetical "what would happen if the producer of a true crime podcast has skewed moral compass"? Would he meddle in the investigation in order to create a more gripping story? Would he tamper with evidence to set a potential murder free? Would he live to regret his actions and their consequences? Unfortunately, the sad truth is that I didn't care enough to find out the answers to those questions. I did not find Jack, the protagonist, a very likeable or compelling character. As the reader I felt like I could actually see an angel on one of Jack's shoulders and a devil on the other. Regardless of what the angel said, Jack only saw dollar signs and subsequently did the devil's bidding. I couldn't bear to watch/read any more. I feel badly for rating the book when I didn't finish it, but I couldn't finish it and that speaks volumes.

I picked this book up and never let it go until the very end. Definitely for your Thiller/Mystery fans. This is one you don’t want to miss.
Definitely would recommend.

A good television documentary story. Was a good read and kept me guessing throughout. I loved the setting in this story. A good mystery story x

A thriller that could have been better.
With amazing character development and an interesting plot, this book is a great debut.
I did feel that the book would have benefitted from a bit more of the brisk writing that is evidenced in bursts here and there.

Great thriller! Great set up, and really good character development as well. The premise was good- it wasn’t your usual murder mystery for sure!

Good read especially for those who are fans of like 24 Hours or Unsolved Mysteries. An enjoyable read that will have your attention for sure until the end.

I really enjoyed most parts of this book, but some did feel like it dragged . The ending did relinquish itself and had me in the edge of my seat.