There were many interesting aspects to this good mystery. There are insights into the long lasting effects of being raised in a cult. There is the whole issue of lies and whether it is appropriate to lie to keep another person from hurting. Then there is the difficulty of forgiveness. Even though this novel is basically a police procedure mystery, there are a number of subplots that keep the story interesting and moving at a good pace.

Because of the many spiritual and relationship issues, the novel is mostly character driven. Even so, this is a good mystery with many possible suspects and a good twist near the end. The plot is very complex and at times seemed almost unrealistic. Coble is good at crafting a complex plot, however, and it kept my interest. The only flaw, I felt, might have been that the villain's motive and ultimate evil desire was not set up well enough.

This novel is the first in a two part series so be prepared to be left hanging. I think you will find the characters interesting enough that like me, you will be waiting for the sequel coming out later this year.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review.

One Little Lie by Colleen Coble is the debut of The Pelican Harbor Series. Jane Hardy escaped a cult fifteen years ago with her father. They have been living in Pelican Harbor, Alabama where Jane was just appointed the chief of police following her father’s sudden retirement. Reid Dixon, a journalist who makes documentaries, is making a film on small town police department’s and he will be following Jane around for the next two weeks. Jane is shocked when the FBI arrest her father for theft and money laundering. Jane knows that someone is setting him up and she intends to discover who is behind the plot. She will need Reid’s help if she is to save her father while solving a string of vigilante crimes. Reid has another reason for being in Pelican Harbor, but he is not yet willing to reveal the truth. But who knows what trouble his silence will cause. One Little Lie is described as a romantic suspense, but I believe it is more of a police procedural with a little romance. I enjoyed all the action happening in the book. It kept the book propelling forward at a quick pace. I liked that I was pulled into the story right away. Fifteen years have passed since Jane and her father escaped the cult. Jane still wonders about her mother who refused to leave with them. Jane has her hands full with a series of vigilante crimes. After the first two incidents, a woman is found murdered. Then a torso is found in a cooler in the bay where shrimpers are known work. Then Jane’s father is arrested, and she knows that someone is setting him up. Jane needs help if she is going to help her father and find the vigilante. I liked the complex crimes with various twists and turns. There are good clues to help readers solve the crimes before the solution is revealed. Those who are avid readers of whodunits will find this mystery a piece of cake. The take down scene was filled with suspense and action. I loved the addition of Parker, Jane’s K9 dog. I like that the romance was just a small part of the book. It was a natural evolution of Jane and Reid being thrown together. The Christian element was light but powerful. I like how the author handled it. I admit that I was reluctant to pick up One Little Lie because it was written by Colleen Coble (but I really liked the blurb). I have not enjoyed her books in the past, but One Little Lie was different. I am now eager for the next book in The Pelican Harbor Series.

This book contains exciting action throughout the whole story that kept me on the edge of my seat! There are twists and turns that I definitely did not expect. I liked how the action slowed down intermittently to develop the characters more deeply and craft a really interesting backstory to the two main characters. I think I was a little disappointed that although the action and main suspense storyline wrapped up well at the end of the book, the overarching character story left me hanging. I am, however, really excited for the next book and the rest of the series! The romance is unique and complicated, which drew me in and involved my emotions nearly from the beginning. The characters have their flaws and their failings but I loved watching them grow and change with God’s transforming power throughout the novel. I highly recommend this book to those who like contemporary mystery! I cannot wait to read more by this talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I love Colleen Coble!!! <3

There isn't much fiction that I've found dealing with cults as the backdrop. That's an interesting setup. I figured out pretty quickly that <spoiler> Jane was Button and Reid was Moose, making Will the baby son who was ALIVE</spoiler>! Still, the details were a little fuzzy. I'm super excited to know that this will be a series focused on these characters, rather than a series where each book has a different MC that are still connected to the others in some way.

I may have missed something, but it felt abrupt, Jane bringing up her past to Reid. Like, she just up and mentioned Liberty's Children and there hadn't been a transition. I never suspected the criminal or the motive for it. So sad and twisted. Rather than being thankful for grace and opportunities, they threw it all away for bitterness and revenge.

I'm really excited to see where this series goes and get to know the characters better. I'm not super connected to them yet, but I think I will get there.

The first book in Colleen Coble's new suspense series, The Pelican Harbor, begins with riveting suspense and continues till the very end which left me hanging with some threads and screaming in my head "don't stop now!" One Little Lie is only the beginning with many more lies adding to the danger, confusion and hurt. With lost souls and complicated relationships, the two main characters, Jane and Reid, both were struggling with a childhood spent in a cult; yet only Reid knew that there was more to their connection then just a present day spark. Will, Reid's son, was a mature young adult who knew exactly what he did and didn't want in his life, and Harry was a little one you wanted to hug, hold close and keep from all harm. Throw in a well behaved K-9 dog, along with some secondary characters who were debatedly good or evil; and the cast, along with the plot, took off like a bang and never stopped.

I loved that Coble's main female character was a police chief in a small town. It's wonderful to see a woman in a not so common vocation. This book will keep you reading and leave you hungry for the next book in this series. Please Colleen make it soon!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.

There is nothing better than a good suspenseful story that has all the elements that make you want to read as fast as you can. I loved the characters and how their problems seeped into each others lives. What is so good about this story is the undeniable intrigue that had my heart pounding as danger seems to lurk right below the surface.
Jane has been appointed Police Chief after her father retires. It is obvious that not everyone is happy with this news and Jane finds herself deep in an investigation where bodies turn up, her father is being investigated and lies tarnish people’s integrity. Oh how I loved reading that Jane didn’t back down from anyone and was determined to get to the truth. Jane’s past is very secretive to most and she can’t shake that maybe it will come out at some point.
Reid was an interesting character and I wasn’t quite sure what his true motive was . He has been granted to follow Jane and do a documentary on her because she is a female Chief of Police. Does he know about Jane’s past? Reid has his own secrets that start to pop up and he knows he needs to deal with them. I did find it interesting that his son never knew his mother and the author gives subtle hints that may tie him to someone in the story. This is the type of writing the author is known for. She weaves several characters together and has their lives intersect at critical moments. The author is also very good at placing faith elements in her story that are gracefully done. I did find it a bit odd that Reid would allow his son to tag along at some of the places him and Jane went. It bothered me that a teenager would be allowed to listen in on investigations and be put in danger.
As the title implies, lies no matter how many you tell always find a way to the surface. We often think one little lie won’t hurt anyone. This story proves how wrong that thinking is as secrets, lies, deceit and revenge unravel lives and put people’s reputation on the line. My heart went out to Will as he realizes he has been lied to all his life. How do you trust someone who has never been truthful to you?
The story is filled with action and lessons in forgiveness, overcoming your past and trust. I loved how the author takes a story and captures realistic issues while keeping readers guessing of the outcome. Not all questions will be answered in this book, so be looking for the next in this series.
“A lie is a betrayal that hits you where you really live.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

Colleen NEVER disappoints, you'll always get a book that's not only keeps your interest, but has you rapidly turning pages long into the night! This new series keeps up her standard, with a solid debut entry! Jane is obviously flawed by her childhood experiences, turns a blind eye to her dad's eccentricities, and now has mere days to prove that she CAN be the new chief and handle a department that might not want her there AND solve multiple cases, including a homicide (or two). While there are many things that the reader picks up on quite early, it watching to see how Jane picks them up, that keeps the readers attention. A quick read, this is perfect for getting lost in small town shenanigans,

This is an excellent mystery book. The characters and the story line is complex except for one part (miner) that I guessed halfway through. This is the first book in a series that I will definitely be following..
#netgalley #thomasnelson #coleencoble

Wow !!! I loved this book !!! A deliciously chilling and brilliantly written thriller filled with secrets , betrayal and lies !! You will find yourself so immersed in the story that you won't want it to end ! Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to read and review this book ! I received a complimentary copy of this book . Opinions in this review are completely my own ! #Netgalley #ThomasNelson #OneLittleLie

Welcome to the Pelican Harbor series, set in Alabama’s Pelican Bay area. Colleen Coble introduces Officer Jane Hardy as she is named interim sheriff after the longtime sheriff (her father) retires. Their relationship is strained and tense. Fifteen years earlier, father and daughter escaped from a cult, tragically, without Jane’s newborn baby. Jane, known as ‘Button’ because of her small stature, was only fifteen when she gave birth.

“It’s a boy!” Her mother plopped the baby on Button’s breast. “He’s good sized too. And listen to those lungs. He needs to nurse.”

Tired after giving birth, Jane falls asleep. She wakes to the smell of smoke and the sound of screams. She searches frantically for her baby, but her father grabs her and hauls her to his Jeep. Where’s her mother? She wants to stay with the cult leader. Button is hysterical: “She took my baby? She can’t keep him here. He’s mine!” but her father gently tells her that her baby is dead.

Her dad held her gaze. “I saw him, honey. He was blue and cold. Your mom gave me this photo for you to keep to remember him by.” He thrust a Polaroid picture into her hand.

Fifteen years later, the faded Polaroid is her most treasured possession.

Early one morning, when “sunrise pinked the clouds in the eastern sky and spread an iridescent shimmer over the waves,” a grizzled old shrimp fisherman and his young assistant make one last haul. They’ve snared an oversized cooler in their net. Inside the heavy container they find a decapitated corpse wearing a bloody wedding dress. The new chief of police will have to hit the ground running.

Soon after the discovery of the body in the cooler, Jane is called out at sunrise to investigate another corpse. Before going inside the house, she “caught the sight of something metallic.” Her dog Parker, a K-9 officer, goes after the person and pins him down.

She immediately recognized him as the man who invited her for coffee yesterday morning. Reid Dixon. She didn’t see a weapon on him, but a video camera was tangled in the brush.

Why is he at the scene?

“The mayor has given me permission to follow you around for the next few weeks, Chief. I’m doing a documentary on small-town police departments. You’re one of the few female police chiefs around, so I’ll be focusing the bulk of my video on you.”

Mayor Lisa Chapman confirms Reid’s statement. When she appointed Jane police chief, she took Reid up on his offer, telling Jane, “he called last week, and I knew he’d be even more interested in doing a documentary when he found out we had a female chief.” There’s no way Lisa is going to pass up such “great exposure.” Jane doesn’t have a choice, but she still snaps at Reid to keep out of her way while he videos her. The crime scene is horrific.

A naked woman’s body sagged in rough stocks, and she was covered in feathers sticking to some kind of black substance. Tarred and feathered like some kind of medieval punishment. A crudely painted sign with the word Homewrecker was attached to the stocks with one rusty nail.

Is this murder connected to the woman found in the cooler? It seems like a vigilante with a moralistic axe to grind is behind the killings. Thankfully, Reid and his 15-year-old son Will, (Reid’s temporary cameraman) chronicle Jane’s activities in an unobtrusive and respectful way. She lets go of her resentment and even starts to bounce some of her theories off Reid. Conducting two homicide investigations is a baptism of fire for the new chief. It gets worse: Mayor Lisa asks Jane into her office and tells Reid and Will to stay outside. She tells Jane the FBI have arrested her father for swindling funds from the police department. Reid tells Jane to hang in there, insisting on taking her for emergency ice cream at nine in the morning. As a solitary sole, used to taking care of her own problems, this is a difficult proposition. Jane finds herself wondering: can she really depend on Reid?

But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross—especially once her father’s lie catches up with him.

What lies behind the title One Little Lie? Is unraveling the ironically labeled “little lie” key to understanding the trajectory of the overarching plot? Not every lie is revealed but readers won’t have to wait long for answers as Two Reasons to Run is coming in September 2020.

One Little Lie is shelved under the Christian romantic suspense label, defined as a clean read, one that is “heart-warming and heart-pounding,” and “enriched with faith and hope.” Jane Hardy’s excruciating personal story makes her suspicious of religion, organized or otherwise, but she is a work in progress.

I have read nearly all of Ms. Coble’s books. She is a wonderful storyteller and infuses her tales with mystery, suspense, romance, and faith.

One Little Lie, book #1 of The Pelican Harbor series, deals with themes of healing from the past and overcoming fear and self-doubt.

It includes a light element of romance, but I’d classify this as suspense or mystery. There were times the mystery seeped into my reading, though. Sometimes there were numerous things going on and so many linked events that I got a little confused. In the end, most things wrapped up nicely.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Prism Book Tours.

There’s more than one lie at the heart of this mystery – and none of those lies are exactly little ones.

This is also a story about revenge being a dish best served cold – but it never gets all that cold in the Gulf Shores. And the revenge story, while fascinating, turns out to be a smokescreen for the bigger reveal. But no less deadly for all that.

When this story begins, it’s not where we think it’s going to be. It’s also not when we think it’s going to be. But that beginning sets up the wider story in a way that doesn’t become clear until much later in the book, after we’ve gotten to know these characters and have learned why at least some of them relate back to Button, 15 years old and 15 years ago, fleeing a religious cult with her father as bullets fly around them.

Fast-forward those 15 years and the focus turns to Jane Hardy, the newly minted police chief of tiny Pelican Harbor, following in her father’s law enforcement footsteps, occupying the office that was his not long ago.

There’s a crime spree in town. Someone claiming to be a vigilante has been punishing, let’s call it moral turpitude, all over town. The exposure of the wrongdoers has generally been embarrassing, but not deadly. At least not until now.

Jane suddenly has not one but two murders to investigate. One looks like the vigilante just went too far, or simply didn’t know that his victim was allergic to feathers. The intention was to leave the adulterer tarred, feathered and locked in the stocks, but instead her allergy killed her.

As strange as that may have been, it makes more sense than the body that one of the local shrimpboats hauls up in its nets. Or rather, the headless, armless and legless corpse that the old shrimper finds in a cooler that he hauls up in his nets.

So Jane has two murders to solve and a documentary filmmaker in tow. The Mayor wants to reap the good publicity of having a female Police Chief in an era where they are fairly thin on the ground.

But that publicity may not be all that the city fathers and mothers hoped it would be. One of Jane’s officers is a suspect in the tar-and-feather murder. He’s certainly the married man the victim was having an affair with. Jane’s father, the former chief himself, is arrested by the FBI for a whole laundry list of crimes.

And the documentary filmmaker has an agenda that Jane will hate and love in equal measure. If they live long enough to learn the truth about that one, long ago, little lie.

Escape Rating B+: I have to start off by saying that I am absolutely one with Jane Hardy’s taste in reading. The two books she is mentioned as reading are Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series and C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. Both are old favorites. And there’s an audiobook of John Cleese reading Screwtape that is marvelous if you can find it – and still have a cassette player around.

But seriously, that peek into Jane’s reading habits made it easy to get inside her head and really feel for her as a character. Readers identify with other readers.

Climbing down off my librarian soapbox, I should probably talk about the two mysteries in this story, because there are definitely two – and surprisingly for a police procedural type mystery they are not related to each other.

Come to think of it, there are really three mysteries.

The most sensational is the vigilante turned killer, not that vigilantes don’t usually turn out to be killers. Pelican Harbor is a small town, which means that everybody knows everybody else’s business whether they want to or not. That someone would take their frustrations with other people’s immorality out in some kind of public shaming doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. But when it turns into murder it feels like a strange kind of escalation – only because it is.

The arrest of Jane’s father doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere with what’s happening, until it does. When that plot thread wriggled up out of the blue I’ll admit that I thought they had to be connected even if neither the how nor the why was obvious. And they were, just not in anything like any of the ways I was expecting.

But the heart of both of those mysteries leads to the third. While they aren’t all part of the same thing, they all have one big thing in common. Both of these mysteries involve the betrayal of someone close to Jane. Someone that she has misjudged all along. Which leads back to that first lie.

While she worries that her father has lied to her about who and what he really is, that he might be guilty of the crimes he’s been accused of, that’s not the real betrayal. His real betrayal occurred 15 years ago on that night they fled the cult compound, the scene that opens the book.

Jane had a child. Had literally just had the child. Her father told her that her perfect little boy was dead. He lied. And that’s the lie that comes back to haunt them all.

What made this story so fascinating was that it was so easy to empathize with so many of the characters. There were two who were just a bit out there, notably the vigilante killer who had a much bigger plan than anyone realized and was just a bit cray cray. And the documentary filmmaker’s ex who just felt tacked onto the story without really being integral to a plot that already had plenty of meat to it.

But at the heart the story revolved around Jane, her father, that documentary filmmaker, and his son. All of them felt like real people and what they did and the reasons that they did it all made sense. Even, in the end, the lie at the start of it all.

The first few pages of the book just grabbed me and I I thought I was on the way to an intriguing book. While it was intriguing, it was also confusing at times. There was enough mystery and suspense to keep me engaged in finishing One Little Lie. It just seemed to drag at times.
With that said, there are many twists and turns you don’t see coming. Not a great read but definitely a good read.
Colleen Coble is a new author to me and one I hope to read more from. I look forward to reading more in the Jane Hardy series.
Thank you to NetGallery for the opportunity to read and give my honest review of One Little Lie.

An engrossing thriller that will hook you from page one. Colleen Coble continues to demonstrate why she has become one of my must-read authors. One Little Lie is a perfect balance of mystery, small town living, law enforcement and light romance. Jane is following in her father’s footsteps, making a name for herself, and now forced to prove his innocence. Enter Reid, a man on a mission who discovers that things are not always what they seem. I thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry of the characters and the pace of the story. For those who like closure to their story, be forewarned, this is the first installment of three and does leave you at a cliff-hanger. I cannot wait for book two! I received a complimentary copy of this book and all opinions expressed are my own.

One Little Lie is the first book in Colleen Coble’s new Pelican Harbor series. Jane Hardy has been made acting police chief in the small town of Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after the sudden retirement of her father Charles. Town mayor Lisa Chapman has agreed to have documentary journalist Reid Dixon follow Jane and document her time as a new police chief in his new project to examine what it is to be head of a small town force. But neither Jane nor Lisa know of their connection from the past.

On her first day, Jane is presented with the death of a young woman, which seems to be the work of someone calling themselves the Vigilante, as well as the dismembered torso of an unidentified man found in a large ice chest when caught in a shrimp boat net. When the journalist and her father become entangled in the investigation, Jane must clear them both and determine what is behind these seemingly unconnected crimes. Once the identity of the torso is determined, other crimes ensue and Jane and Reid find themselves in the crosshairs of a merciless person set on revenge.

This is yet another intense thriller by Ms. Coble. Her descriptions have you right along side her main characters and will keep you rapidly turning the pages late into the night. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Good suspense, great pacing, and worthy characters. The details were revealed at a nice pace, and even though I surmised who the bad guys were pretty early on, I still wasn't sure about my choices until I reached the ending where they were revealed. For an unproofed copy, it mostly error free. Fun, fast read for a weekend of rest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

When you are so invested in a story that you catch yourself suddenly praying for one of the characters, that’s when you know the story is a winner. That is exactly what I did while reading One Little Lie by Colleen Coble.

The story begins in a prologue fifteen years prior to the rest of the novel. A fourteen-year-old girl named Button gives birth to a son shortly before a police raid bursts into the compound in which she resides with the rest of the cult her parents entered when she was only five. With the place burning, she and her father make their escape, but not before her father delivers devastating news: Button’s son is dead.

Pelican Harbor is a small town in Alabama, and Jane Hardy has been given the news that she is the new chief of police after her father’s retirement. Not everyone is thrilled about this news, and with a string of murders recently popping up complete with the murderer’s signature – a Kennedy half-dollar – suspicions abound, including Jane’s father.

This novel was not just about these murder cases, however, nor did it just focus on the cases the police department had been following, crimes executed by a yet unknown offender the police called the vigilante. There was a human aspect to this story. When Reid Dixon and his fifteen-year-old son Will show up in Pelican Harbor to create a documentary about small-town law enforcement, the past that Jane has tried to forget springs to the surface, bringing with it old nightmares she thought had ended.

The pacing of this novel was perfect; it neither dragged nor did it rush. The characters took on their own personalities, from the most eccentric to the most humble, and I was interested to learn their backstories and see where they were going to end up, especially the three main characters.

Colleen Coble kept me on my toes. I struggled to decide who was guilty, and at times hoped that my assumptions were wrong. What I appreciated most was the fact that not only did the author keep me guessing until the wrap-up, she was kind enough to slowly leak certain information about another aspect I had my suspicions about. I was not left in the dark about everything.

Remember what I said in the beginning? It’s true, but it wasn’t about any of the main characters. There is a sweet four-year-old boy who got caught up in this whole mess, and when he went missing, I honestly caught myself praying for his safety. The words had already been written. His fate chosen. And yet, I threw up a quick prayer. I was that involved.

And speaking of prayers, God was present in this story. Reid and Will were believers and held strong to their faith while Jane struggled with the idea that God was good. Christianity wasn’t in your face, but it was just enough.

By story’s end, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the lives of these characters I had just met. Though the case was solved, their stories were just beginning. I read to the end and was surprised to start reading the author’s letter to her readers. What? No! It’s done? Ah, but it will be continued in the second book of the Pelican Harbor series, Two Reasons to Run, which comes out in September 2020.

If you’re into suspense with dynamic characters whose stories are just as good as solving a murder case, then read this book.

Is a lie ever okay? What if it is to protect someone-maybe even save their life? Does one lie lead to many? What about lies by omission?
Jane Hardy lives in the little town of Pelican Harbor and has just been promoted as chief of police. Will the other officers be accepting of her new position, especially Paul who has animosity towards her already.
Her new position is immediately challenged with two murders and it is thought due to the nature of these crimes that there may be a vigilante living among them.
Reid Dixon writes well-known documentaries and has arrived in town, along with his fifteen year old son to do a documentary on the police force. The mayor gives an order to Jane to allow him to follow her around taking notes an videotaping. While Jane is definitely not pleased about this, she has no choice.
Jane grew up in a cult from which she and her father fled when she was fifteen, and had just given birth to a sweet baby boy. She woke up being told her baby had died and they must leave immediately as fire and chaos were breaking out all over the commune. Her mother chose to stay with the cult leader. Where is her mother? Is she still alive? Her father has no desire to talk about her to Jane.
Now, her father has been arrested for murder. Did he do this? It's not possible is it? He was a former chief of police. Jane has high regard for her father and believes he has always been an honest man. Has he?
You'll have to read the book to find out this and so much more.
I loved this fast paced story. I was terribly disappointed when I got to the end and realized it was a big cliff hanger. I look forward to reading Book 2 in this series for 'the rest of the story.'
I was given a complimentary copy of this by the publisher, Thomas Nelson and Netgalley. I was under no obligation to leave a positive review.

Loved the premise of the story! The fact Jane had escaped a cult at an early age really added an amazing layer of intrigue. Thought I had the ending figured out at the get-go, but for the first time in a long time, I was caught completely off guard. I would highly recommend!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley, but my opinions are my own.

I know it's totally crazy since I read tons of authors in the romantic suspense category but I have never read this author before this book! I've heard of her plenty but have never actually read any of her books! That will change quickly, thanks to NetGalley asking me to read this book, the beginning of her new series about Pelican Harbor on the Gulf Coast. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed the characters and the story line. It did have a couple negatives - too many things going on at once, which overloads the story sometimes, and a couple "farfetched" police procedures - but all in all, something I enjoyed very much and can't wait for the second book already! Just to let other readers know - it does end on a cliffhanger and I wasn't ready for that! However, it just makes me want to read the next book even more! Jane is the new police chief in Pelican Harbor, after her father has retired and the poor woman has more than she can deal with when the crime wave hits fast and furious immediately upon her taking the job! Then, she's told by the mayor that she will have a documentary filmmaker shadowing her - not at all what she wants! However Reid and his son become indispensable to her. As others have said, this book is not much on romance but heavier on suspense. I would have liked more romance but perhaps the next book!
I received this book from NetGalley but was not obligated to review it. These opinions are my own.