A summer block party on Laney Bird's block goes massively wrong when one of the neighbors is shot in the butt, another drives a stolen pick-up into his own living room, and two women go missing.

Laney is a former NYPD detective who moved to small, rural Sylvan, New York, with her son Alfie after a difficult divorce. She is now working as a private investigator for a local firm specializing in tracking down runaways. Alfie is fifteen and a unique individual who's somewhere on the Asperger's Spectrum. He seems to have a talent for choosing really inappropriate friends.

One of the missing women is Holly Dubois who is also a one of the viewpoint characters, and Laney's first and only friend since her move to Sylvan. It is her husband who drove into their living room. The other missing woman is Vera Volkin whose husband was the gunshot victim.

Holly is the glue of the neighborhood. She's constantly busy taking care of her home, her husband, her three children, her brothers - one of whom is battling cancer and the other is recently out of drug rehab, and anyone else who comes to her attention. Holly is overcompensating because of the guilt she still feels over the death of her sister who drowned while high on drugs when Holly was only thirteen.

Holly's need to be everything to everyone has led her deep into debt. The house she inherited from her grandparent's and on which she has taken several mortgages is going to be foreclosed. Vera and Step Volkin have wormed their way into her life and have a really great plan to get her out of debt; all she has to do is steal proprietary information from her husband's lab where he is working on longevity drugs.

Meanwhile, Laney is investigating the disappearance of a teen from a camp nearby. The same camp where her son's new much-older girlfriend Mona worked. Laney learns that the boy's disappearance isn't the first from the camp and that the Volkins and Mona were instrumental in the boy's disappearance.

This is a twisty tale including missing teens, corporate espionage, and foreign agents with nasty agendas. It was a bit slow at the start, but the action picked up quickly and the story became a real page turner.

A transplant to the upstate New York hamlet of Sylvan, all Laney wants is a peaceful life for herself and her son. But things rarely remain calm in Laney’s life—and when her neighborhood summer block party explodes in shocking violence and ends with the disappearance of her friend and another woman, she’ll need all her skills as a PI to solve a mystery that reaches far beyond her small town.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As with “Hide in Place,” Naymark’s first book featuring PI Laney Bird, I consumed “Behind the Lie” in two big bites. I couldn’t help it. The story flow is very compelling, the characters and settings are sketched out so well through dialogue and description that I could easily picture people, places and things, and at each chapter’s end I just had to read on to find out if Laney's hunches are on target (mostly yes, sometimes almost but no).

“Behind the Lie” begins with Laney’s best (and only) friend, Holly, being kidnapped during the annual gigantic block party. However, with everyone’s attention focused on Holly’s husband -who has just driven the neighbor’s truck into his own front door - no one notices who is present and who is missing and who was – shot?

Laney works at a local detective agency, her assignments limited to missing children and adultery cases. Then her employer’s son, the swaggering Jack, starts asking a lot of questions about her relationship with Holly. And also asking her out to lunch. Is this co-worker friend or foe? Laney has great detective instincts, but is perplexed as to the basis of her co-workers intense interest. And that is what makes this story so compelling. Is her judgment of people right or wrong? Is her general distrust of people misplaced? Not just regarding Jack, but also about Holly and her husband, her son and his secret girlfriend, and whether her client's son is a typical runaway or something more sinister? And what is up with her very strange neighbors?

It’s a page turner. “Just one more chapter before lights out” may not apply here!

Thank you Crooked Lane and Netgalley for the EArc-
Behind the Lie was a well thought out book. It is very descriptive and set the story very well.
While I did enjoy this book. I do believe it could have been a little shorter.
While most of the story was fast pace, but I do feel like some parts drug.

This is a gripping suspense novel that hooked me from the first page. The author was excellent at clearly personalizing each character so each was distinct from the other. There was an interesting mystery to solve that culminated with a satisfying finale. The romantic connection between Laney and her love interest was underdeveloped but that was not an issue for me. This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be looking for more by her.

Behind the Lie has a good storyline but no intensity. The author, Emilya Naymark, has a very descriptive writing style. The characters and setting are well developed. The story details quite a block party and its aftermath, but I struggled to keep engaged.
Thank You to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Naymark's second novel gives us two solid leads, a compelling depiction of suburban calm gone all kinds of wrong, a sharp, dry sense of humor, and a badass antagonist. All of Naymark's characters pop, none more so than Vera Volkin, who will likely haunt my nightmares (and my dreams)..

An express-train fast read that doesn't take itself too seriously and leads to a thrilling climax. A damned good time.

Excellent story! Totally engrossing!. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Could not put this down!

This was a pretty fast, light read. It is your typical detective narrative with a female lead. The book lacked twists and turns, but still a page turner! The book was well-written with a good plot and character development. It is a decent read and I did enjoy it.

I found this one really interesting. The story flowed well and kept my attention. I really enjoyed the writing style and the twists and turns. I’ll definitely be following this author to see what other ones they have written! I would recommend this one to a friend.

I really enjoyed this book. This is written in third person and it is told from two different POVs. It also dips from past to present.

The suspense and mystery in this was amazing, it really kept me on my toes. The character build up was done nicely. Each character back story was such a key element as it really the story more of an oomph factor. The only issue I had with it is at times it would just jump from one scene to another, which was a bit frustrating as it ruins the flow of the story. Other than that it was an enjoyable read.

This book has a good setting and some well drawn characters. The relationships between the characters ring true, be it mother-son, husband and wife or best friends. It was an enjoyable read ,but it felt overly long in places. I would have liked more suspense, and the central romance was not developed enough to make it satisfying.

Good enough story to keep reading, not good enough for me to recommend. I couldn't seem to connect with any of the characters and I think that was part of the problem. They all frustrated or annoyed me throughout the book, and the ending was anti-climatic. Not a fan of this one, but I would try other books by this author.

Thank you Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Author Emilya Naymark for this ARC.

So, it was an investigative thriller with mild thrill and decent female leads and two stories--one from the past and one in the present--that collide. Nothing extraordinary, surprising, or even really impressive. There aren't any twists, no shocking truths, no explosive revealings. Not an ounce of suspense, actually. The book is mild--just enough going on to keep you turning pages.

This is my first novel by Emilya Naymark, and I could say without a doubt it will not be my last .

Behind the Lie is a well written novel based on a retired NY police office who moves to a small town with her son. Curious to get to know the town she has just moved to, she attends a block party. What happens at this block party is bizarre to say the least but also has Laney now questioning everything she thought she knew about her new neighbors.

This was a very fluid novel that I breezed right through. There are also hints of romance ! Who doesnt love a steamy little love connection?

All in all this novel is very well written and enjoyable, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a crime fighting novel with a female lead.

This was a light mystery but had a good plot that paces along nicely with enough twists and turns to keep you entertained and to keep reading.

I like me a good Mystery book, so it was rather a pity that the last two I've read weren't so great. So I was simply happy when I started reading the prologue of Behind The Lie and was thrown right into the action. No explanation, just stuff happening (during a block party) that immediately hooked me, because after this intro, I just want to find out what happened!

The story then continues to alternate between two timelines, Holly a few months in the past, and her best friend Laney in the present. This is actually done quite well, because the past events will fuel your imagination about how they were leading to current events. (At around 60 % the past timeline catches up with the present and you'll know what happened right before the prologue.)

Both women - Laney and Holly - are strong female leads, their characters are well written, they're easy to sympathize with and their actions are relatable. To me, that's an important part to mysteries.

It's also means this novel is a two-pronged tale in more then one sense, a tale of two women, of family and love, loyalty and betrayal, hope and despair, new problems and old guilt. About the way we judge (and misjudge) people.

Laney is a former police detective turned private eye, and naturally she is the one trying to make sense of what happened. While she's busy trying to unearth the truth, things are going from bad to worse. It doesn't look good for her best friend or her son either, neither for her when she finds out her gun was stolen.

Holly's story is different. She's a good Samaritan - up to the point of self neglect. While reading her story, you can see exactly the moment she made the wrong decision, but you can't really fault her for that. The way her character is described, her actions make absolutely sense. Up to a certain point. And then it seems she just reached a point of no return.

There's a part of this story that seems a little far fetched for me. I won't be going into details - no spoilers - but there is a certain cold war flavour to it, mixed with industrial espionage. It's an elemental plot part, and it does work, but I think it's a tad too much. It doesn't really vibe with the suburbia aspect of it's surroundings and the rest of the characters.

But luckily, there's Laney, slowly bringing order to the chaos.

In the end, the picture of what happened will be laid bare for you.

This is a good Mystery book, hooking it's grips into you with the psychological parts. It's becoming a little slow after it's fast start, but the end is satisfactory. Especially the fact that there is a whole different layer of what's happening behind the scenes.

I'll give this 4 out of 5 stars. A great read with a few lengths in the middle, but that's criticism on a high level.

3.5 Stars

This was a good light read. While I didn’t find it extraordinary in any way, it was a solid story with decent characters. If you enjoy investigation-driven narratives with a female lead, this book is for you. There are no crazy twists or turns but enough unknowns to keep your reading (although I did find it dragged a bit near the end).

Laney is a retired NYPD officer who has relocated to a small town with her teenage son. During an annual block party, bizarre and shocking events unfold leading Laney to question everything she thought she knew about her neighbours, particularly Holly and Oliver Dubois. Laney uses her position as a private investigator to unravel the mystery. The story is told through two POVs, Laney’s and Holly’s, and together they tell the tale of how life on Oak Drive changed dramatically once the mysterious Russian couple, Vera and Step Volkin, moved in at number 46.

Strengths: well written, decent story line, good character development, slight bit of romance, great portrayal of female lead.

While I won’t be shouting recommendations from the rooftop, I did enjoy this book enough to read more from the author and see what else she has up her sleeve!

Thanks to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This book was provided to be by #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

I wasn’t overly impressed nor disappointed by Behind the Lie. Unfortunately it wasn’t memorable as I probably won’t suggest it to others. It’s a good read if you want something easy and to detach.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this advanced ebook copy!

Behind the Lie was such a good quick read.
Her book Hide In Place was awesome and this is no different. I simply loved the book.
It was fast paced, well written, great characters.
This is a great book! Well written, complex storyline with various moving parts. The descriptions of setting were amazing and the inner feelings and motivations of our main characters were explored in a way that felt authentic and believable. 
This was overall a good story and one I will recommend.