Cover Image: House of Lies

House of Lies

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Member Reviews

This was an interesting thriller with a plot that kept me engaged and well written characters. I will definitely be looking out for the authors other work

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Chidlow House has a history of creepy things happening there. That’s continued when a young teacher ends up dead from a fall. Was it murder? Suicide? Or just an unfortunate accident? Shortly after two teenagers disappear. DS Karen Hart is called in to investigate.

I really enjoy the DS Karen Hart series. This book was no different. There are plenty of twists and turns that kept me reading to find out what happened.

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Another great addition to the Karen Hart series. Interesting storyline whilst continuing the ongoing themes and character development. Thanks for the opportunity to read

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Loved this book and I read the bulk of it in one evening. I was totally gripped and kept changing my mind about the perpetrator. The twist was great, didn't see it coming!

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Brilliant writing style, keeps you hooked from the first letter until the last!
So many red herrings and different pathways that this story could follow, so will keep you guessing all the way through.
Brilliant main character great series!

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I would like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.

I was immediately attracted by the beautiful cover of this book where we see a young woman who tries to escape because she looks behind her if we follow her.

The story takes place at Chidlow house in Lincolnshire where two girls disappear without leaving anything behind. The teaching staff is put on alert. Detective Karen Hart investigates, wanting to know who was with the two teenagers Cressida and Natasha before their mysterious disappearance.

It seems that the Chidlow house is haunted. Karen Hart is convinced that someone knows a lot more about these famous disappearances. She'll have to act fast if she wants to find the two girls alive.

A book read in one go so much I was immediately hooked on the story so gripping, captivating, addictive, full of intrigue, suspense and twists with endearing characters. I can't wait to discover the whole series because I love the author's writing so much.

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This was an absolutely brilliant book. The plot kept me interested, the characters were great, and the story line kept me guessing. This is the type of mystery I absolutely love. I even ended up reading this book before any in the series and had absolutely no problem with it.

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At first I was not happy when I found out this was book 4. As I don’t like reading books like this I like reading book 1. Any way I carried on reading to me this book is set out like a TV programme I could picture it in my head as I was reading. This book was a very easy to read book unlike most of my other crime books I read. The story is about 2 young girls going missing and finding out who done it. There is some talk about something that happened in the previous book which has pricked my interest, so I feel I will have to read the first 3 books. All in all a very good read I was a bit shocked at the end but to me it’s wasn,t really that much of a big reason for why the murder happened it seemed to easy a excuse. There didn’t seem to be much of a mystery I like my crime books to be more of a mystery and a wow I never thought of that. I would recommend this book but not for people that like a lot of mystery in there books.

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I absolutely love DS Karen Hart and her team, this is the fourth book in this series and it most certainly did not disappoint. Gripped from the beginning to the end. Loved it.

Butler’s series is fast paced and addictive and the plots have a thread running through them that keeps you guessing and waiting for the next book. Hart’s family was killed in an accident, which haunts her every day and there’s corruption in the police force. All of this is happening in the background whilst the team carries out its detective work to solve crimes.

As well as this, she also adds a personal element, sharing the private lives of each team member, building their characters, which draws in the reader who will find themselves involved and wanting to know more.

In book four Butler introduces a spooky element, are there ghosts at the educational retreat, Chidlow House?

A teacher falls to her death from the roof. Is it murder, suicide or an accident?

‘’What are you doing up here?’ she asked as her thumping heart slowly returned to its normal rhythm. But the only response to her question was a hard and definite shove. Two hands pushed against her chest and Alison King tumbled backwards into the darkness.’

Sounds like murder to me!

And two students go missing too! Where are they, have they been murdered? Loads of plot twists dotted about here and there.

This is a superb police procedural series. Loads of twists and turns and again an excellent who dunnit at the end?

Brilliant character development all within a plausible and well crafted story line.

Thank you Amazon Publishing UK, NetGalley and D S Butler for this ARC provided in exchange for my unbiased review.

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House of Lies is the fourth instalment in the DS Karen Hart series, set in Lincolnshire, England. When one of the teachers, Alison King, working at a week-long intensive study retreat held at Chidlow House falls to death from a rooftop, after apparently following a shadowy figure, no one knows whether it was an accident, suicide or something even more sinister. The following day, two 17-year-old girls on the course, Cressida and Natasha, disappear, after leaving the camp to have some forbidden fun.

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The fourth installment in this thrilling series.
I enjoyed the storyline and the pace in which it progressed.
The suspense and intrigue grew throughout and really captivates you.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to future books within this series.

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This is the fourth book in the series featuring Detective Karen Hart and is set in Lincolnshire. Karen is called out to investigate the disappearance of two young girls who are students on a week long study retreat at Chidlow House. On arrival Karen discovers that a young female teacher had fallen from the rooftop to her death the previous day. Was it an accident, suicide or something more sinister and are the cases linked? Eventually one of the girls, Cressida, returns but she cannot remember what happened to her or her friend Natasha. After extensive searches Natasha’s body is found in the lake at the house and Karen finds that she has a long list of suspects. This book was an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

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A great addition to the series, unfortunately I have read this ( which is book 4 ) before I’d managed to read book 3 which from what I can gather had a big storyline that was continued in this book ! Looking forward to reading the next book in this series

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Great story. Never know who the guilty party is until the end although you keep thinking certain people are. And I guess they are all guilty of something.

Brilliant

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3,5 Stars

Two teenage girls disappear while on study week, and no one has seen them on the night in question. Can that really be, or is someone lying?
It was basically a good story plot, but at some point D.S. Butler (and detective Karen Hart as well) reached a point where there was nothing new, the story was not moving forward at all but only repeated itself. But thankfully the case picked up again and came to a surprising end, at least for me.

For me this was not the best book in the Karen Hart series, maybe also because there is not so much going on outside of the case. No development on Harts personal backstory or any of the other members of her crime force. But I will definitely go back to this series for the 5th part.

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This was a very good, spooky mystery. I love this series and it just keeps getting better. There are suspects galore to choose from, or is it a haunting?I love the atmospheric writing style.
Many thanks to Amazon UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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This is the first book I’ve read from this series and it didn’t really sell it to me. It can be read as a stand alone but it refers a lot to what happened in the previous book. The actual plot of House of Lies was goo but it was a slow and tedious read with a lot of long winded descriptions that could have been cut. I also didn’t really connect with any of the characters which didn’t help me connect with the story. I didn’t guess the ending but I wasn’t overly surprised and by then I was just ready to finish the book and move on. Not sure if I’d go back and read anymore from the series.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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I love this series. I put down 3 other books before deciding to read this one. Perfect for getting out of a book slump. I highly recommend this series if you need a good crime fiction series!

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Chidlow House is a stately home in Lincolnshire, allegedly haunted by the drowned lady. A study week is being held there when a young teacher falls to her death from the roof. Not long after, two teenage girls sneak off to the pub. When they don't return the house is thrown into disarray. Eventually one girl returns but is so traumatised she cannot remember what happened to her or her friend. Karen Hart, although still struggling to get justice for the death of her husband & child investigates. The police team are not helped much by the house owner & the study director- two of the most unpleasant characters one could wish to meet!

This is part of a series, I've read an earlier book but not the one immediately before this & I think I would have appreciated it more if I'd done so. The repercussions of that, affected the main character & featured quite a bit in the story. It was a well paced story & for a change I guessed 'whodunnit'! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

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Thanks to netgalley and Amazon publishing for a free copy in exchange of an honest review.
That was sooooo boring, i had to finish it just because i got it for free!!
The storyline was so slow paced and the characters weren't likable at all.
The author tried to save it with the twist at the end but for me, it wasn't salvageable

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