Really enjoyed this book and will be looking out for more from the author. Great characters and plot.

This was an enjoyable read. The main character is a smart strong brave female. I recommend for readers who enjoy historical based fiction, strong female characters in WWII era, and good vs. evil

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

This is a page turner right from the get go! It can be a bit intense at times but sometimes that’s what makes it a good read. It is the third in a series but can be read as a stand alone! Pick it up and start turning those pages!

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Excellent read, well written and story line was compelling, I ended up buying The Silent Woman and The Family Secret.

Read as a standalone but very enjoyable main characters and storyline. I love historical fiction and this was what I was hoping for. I am excited to read the others in this series! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first book by this author and I found myself enjoying this novel! Historical fiction isn’t one of my usual genres, but Thomas chose an interesting era and introduced relatable characters.

I was given a copy of House of Lies by Terry Lynn Thomas by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is the third book in the series, I have read the other 2. This book sees Cat in her house for battered wife's. When one of her house mates is murdered Cat and her partner investigate. There is also a new resident but is she what she really seems. A good story, best read as part of the series. An enjoyable read.

As a favorite author of mine, Thomas does it again with this gripping and enthralling historical mystery. Fast paced and gripping I read it in one sitting, which I tend to do with atmosphereic mysteries that capture you in the first pages. This series is brilliant. I loved it.

A gripping look at WWII with a terrific, thrilling tale. Couldn’t put it down.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Although this is book 3 in the series, it reads well as a standalone as there are enough allusions to the previous two for the reader to get the gist of the story so far. There is a lot going on in the novel from a stolen chalice, a murdered young woman, a battered wives home being threatened and long lost loves, just to name a few, however this doesn't detract from the story and makes it a well paced novel which I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next! It is a good historical fiction read and I will now go back and read the first two books in the series and look forward to the next one too.
I read this book as an ARC for my book club.

The third book installment from the Cat Carlisle series, House of Lies, is the first book i have read by Terry Lynn Thomas. I thought it was a pretty good read. I am giving it four stars.

Fascinating story that kept me hooked from start to finish. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this type of book.

3.5 / 5.0 stars

This third installment in Terry Lynn Thomas', "Cat Carlisle" series is a combination of mystery, historic fiction and thriller with a small touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

The time frame is October through December, 1941. The place - a village far away from London's frequent bombings. Catherine Carlisle, "Cat" to her friends, is a widow looking toward her future and making plans for her life. She uses her inheritance to assist battered woman by providing a safe home and facilitating office skill training to develop their own means of support. As noble as this is, her fiancé, detective Thomas Charles, is not comfortable that Cat refuses any male guards from being on the premises at St. Monica and thus exposing its residents to great risk. Who's to say that any one of the ladies' bully husbands might not come looking for their wifely property and drag them home, only to beat them into submission.

Meanwhile, Thomas has been asked to become the guardian of a fine church relic in the form of a gold, bejeweled chalice. It was smuggled out of France for safekeeping, away from the acquisitive occupying Nazis. Arrive on scene a blackmailed master safecracker with designs on the chalice for delivery to his boss. That boss is even more interested in the goings on at St. Monica's.

To this add a long married aristocratic couple whose marriage is on the skids. He's been cuckolded and she's extremely manipulative and becoming increasingly unstable. They have traveled into this village to claim her inheritance and then part ways.

Then a dead body surfaces on the edge of the woods. Who was the murderer? Was it a scorned husband? Perhaps a jealous lover or even a paranoid thief?

What appears to be four disparate threads are carefully woven together to provide quite the thrilling tale.Amazingly, there are no fewer than thirty-one characters in this relatively modest book. The writing is good, the plot twisty and engaging and the frisson of excitement draws the reader in and through to the last.

The mystery is not the usual set up with clues scattered throughout the story, brought to a tidy solution and tied with a pretty bow. The historic framework is just that. There are very few historic details and hopefully one of the glaringly incorrect ones found in my advance reader copy, was corrected prior to publication. A light thriller might be the best classification of this story as there were no grizzly details of crime scenes encountered.

All in all, this was an enjoyable diversion during these uncertain COVID-19 days.

I am grateful to author Terry Lynn Thomas and her publisher, Harper Collins Publisher, Ltd. for having provided a free advance reader e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

This was a very enjoyable historical fiction novel. I loved the time period and the plot was very good., with many elements. I raced to the ending and then wanted more.
Many thanks to HQ Digital and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

4.3 stars.

If I were to write a thriller and had a classy, committed, accommodated main male character all readers had to fall in love with, I would definitely call him Thomas!

The only thing I knew from this book coming into it was that this was a thriller taking place during WWII and that my instincts told me to apply for it. Once again, they were right.

Being the third of a series, I was initially reluctant to start without having read the two previous volumes, but it was possible to read the whole story not feeling I was missing information. This is surely a plus for me.

The historical moment was perfectly depicted not only on that regard, but also socially. Women were back then forced to suffer all imaginable tortures from their husbands, couples had to live their whole lives with someone they did not love because they were "appropriate" for the other, others would never be able to marry the person they loved for they belonged to a different social status.

Characters are well-rounded and relatable. So much so, that you can feel pity for the annoying or evil ones.

For a few chapters, I felt a bit lost and quite curious at the same time, to find out how the author would entangle the stories together, which they did masterfully. Surprises follow you up to the very last page. </p>

Finally, as in life itself, there are as many tragedies as happiness, which made the book more credible every chapter.

Although it takes a bit to kick in, I'd highly recommend reading not only the book, but the complete series. I myself will not be able to wait long to read the first two parts of Cat's endeavours.

Link online on 27th April.

Terry Lynn Thomas’s Cat Carlisle books have a lot in common and the most important thing is that I never want any of them to end.

Cat is a widow, survivor of an abusive marriage, who works for the British secret service during the second world war and edges closer to a new relationship with a decent man. In House of Lies, Cat and her fiancé, Thomas, have relocated from London to the deep countryside where Cat is spending the money inherited from her late husband on setting up a refuge for battered wives. On top of this, the couple are continuing to work for the secret service for whom they are hiding precious treasures recovered from the Nazis.

When a woman is found dead in the woods near the refuge, the couple have to discover the perpetrator — a thwarted, violent husband, or a professional thief attempting to retrieve the treasure?

As always, Terry Lynn Thomas offers her readers pretty much everything they could want from the genre. She gives us complex, captivating central protagonists in Cat and Thomas, and a whole cast of engaging and believable supporting characters, so that we see the world through many different viewpoints. There’s danger; there’s a twisty, turn plot that keeps us going with surprise after surprise; there’s wonderful writing; and there’s a dash of romance.

For me this book is near-perfect in its genre. I can’t wait to read more.

Entangled web of lies, secret and mystery.

This book is set in the WW2 era. The main plot revolves around 4 characters - Thomas, Catherine (Cat), Hugh and Margaret. Thomas and Cat are engaged to be married. Thomas, a local detective, is guarding a French chalice from the Nazis. Cat, a wealthy widow runs a home called Saint Monica for abused women. She takes on immense risk by agreeing to shelter these helpless women. Believing in the greater good, she does no realize how much danger she is putting herself in.

Then, we have Hugh and Margaret, an extremely unhappy couple. Margaret is a notorious woman with many affairs and lavish lifestyle. Hugh, who is not so good with business and a spendthrift wife is given an ultimatum by his mother. In order to get rid of Margaret for once and all he agrees to her devious plan.

Back in the grounds of Saint Monica, one of the woman under Cat's care is found dead. The French chalice is missing. And thus begins the fun!!!

Filled with many characters, the story is fast paced and intriguing. It took me a while to get hang of the intertwining plot. With that being said, the book did not stop surprising me.

For the fans of historical fiction and mystery this is great read.

A great third installment of the Cat Carlisle series. Cat's character has come so far since the first one and it is so refreshing to see a character evolve so fluidly. Her relationship with Thomas is exciting to read about because of the mutual respect they have for each other. I highly recommend House of Lies to any historical fiction fan. 5 stars.

Cat runs a home for women. She takes in battered and abused women to give them a chance to overcome their adversity and to help them start a new life. One of the ladies is murdered and it becomes a threat to all Cat has created.

There is a good bit going on in this tale. Not only do is there a murder, there is a chalice being smuggled out of France. Cat and her Fiancé agree to help hide this chalice and keep it safe. That is easier said than done…criminals are determined to snatch it!

This is a cozy mystery. A good palate cleanser. I have never read a Cat Carlisle story and this hit the spot. Every twist and turn brings on a new question…who, what, when and where!

This is a quick, enjoyable story which just won’t quit!