Setting the Scene: As a decorated former homicide detective fleeing her past, Coyote Cove was a much needed haven to Chief of Police Maggie Riley. At least it was until she finds the bloody body of a man in the forest near her home. As she struggles to preserve the scene before the arrival of a fast approaching storm, she is startled by the appearance of a local teenager, Heather, emerging from the woods in obvious distress. As Chief Riley investigates, she uncovers suspects faster than she can clear them, and then she makes another gruesome discovery in the forest that leads back to Heather. Big city detectives descend and condescend, but it's Maggie's town, and she will find out what is happening.

What I Thought: The synopsis I read before selecting this book compared it to books by Melinda Leigh, and they were not wrong. This is a thriller that includes very dark themes, including infant death, but I found Maggie interesting enough to push through the macabre to find out more about her. She is kind hearted, a woman of integrity and strong emotion. She respects the law, and will neither allow it to be used as a weapon nor superseded by personal feelings. I like her. I like her neighbor, Steve. They both have secrets. They work well together, and there is a promising future there. The twists and turns provide sufficient surprises along the way, and I thought I had it solved a couple of times only to find there was more. I will read the next book in the series when it is released, but only when I am in the right fame of mind. I also look forward to learning more about those secrets..

The narrator did an excellent job.

Great thrilling and fast read! Thanks Netgalley for the audiobook! I listened to this in only two days! It was addictive right from the very beginning and I just couldn’t put it down I had to know what happened! A must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was wonderful! I loved how there were so many different view points throughout the book that provided different hidden secrets. The multiple perspectives really added dimension and depth to the book. Heather was one crazy character and for most of the book I really felt for her and hers were my favorite chapters. I look forward to more books in this series because the characters and all their secrets are so intriguing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

A well-written captivating mystery about an emotionally wounded but mentally strong female Sheriff with a deep dark secret in her past. She came to this small town hoping to only encounter trivial (boring and routine) crimes, for the most part, that is what she encounters, however more challenging mysteries are to be had in this low-key environment.

I was sad the girl who lied, lied, but I wasn't terribly surprised...

A solid police procedure with good character development.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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The Girl Who Lied is the first of three in the Chief Maggie Riley series. The first two will be released on August 2nd and the third will be released on September 1st on Kindle Unlimited. The Girl Who Lied was a great first installment that captured my attention immediately and kept me hooked until the very end.
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The Girl Who Lied is a multiple point of view story set in a small town in Maine where literally everyone has a secret. Right from the start there is a murder that needs to be solved. I found it super easy to navigate through the characters and easily remember who was who. The chapters are short and the story flows really well, incorporating the revelation of each characters secret and how it is ultimately tied to the murder victim. There wasn’t too much fluff thrown in which makes me happy as anything to report.
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Some of the secrets were disturbing, shocking and twisty that just makes this one hard to put down. The reveal of each secret was perfectly placed to keep you hooked throughout! That last ending twist was great, though I definitely had my suspicions that this would be the final twist. I loved that ending. And I’m excited to see where this series leads us.
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I listened to this one via audiobook. It was easy to follow each of the characters but the narrator Amelia Sciandra was not my favorite. Unfortunately I found her male voices to be very over the top and I don’t think she was the right fit for so many characters. I feel like the narrator has to be phenomenal when playing the roles of everyone in a multiple point of view story. I wish this one was a full cast! Overall still enjoyed the story though.
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Overall, great police procedural thriller. Tons of secrets and deceit and shocking twists and revelations. I very much enjoyed this one. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Shannon Hollinger for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.
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TRIGGER WARNING: Death/abuse of multiple infants

3.75⭐️

<i> The woods are hiding more than Chief Maggie Riley could ever imagine. Including her own worst nightmares…

There’s a blood moon rising over the tiny Maine town of Coyote Cove. Chief Maggie Riley is driving home ahead of a storm when she comes across the body of a man, blood seeping from stab wounds into the damp forest floor. And Heather, a local teenage girl, standing terrified, a silent scream on her lips, beside him.

Maggie, a redheaded decorated former homicide detective and more than over-qualified for a two-horse-town police chief, has been hiding from her past for three years. The quiet of Coyote Cove was everything she needed after… what happened. But with this murder, the life she left behind has found her. The townspeople believe Heather—already an outcast, and an easy suspect—is the killer, but Maggie isn’t convinced. To uncover the truth, Maggie must use the skills, and contacts, of her former world, however painful that will be.

As Maggie digs into the victim’s background, she is horrified to unearth another body, this time an infamous local, as callously killed as the first. But Heather’s in custody; there’s no way she could be the culprit, and Maggie’s investigation turns to the townspeople. Who has a secret so dangerous they’d kill twice to keep it hidden?

Then Heather goes missing. The race to identify the murderer is now a race to save Heather. As the search turns to the woods, the hunt is on for the killer so skilled, so twisted, no one knows how many bodies it will take before they’re found. And whether one of those will be Heather’s… </i>

This is the first book in a new detective series starring Maggie, who’s gone from big-deal big-city detective to small town cop. She has to solve a murder, in a case that leads both her and the reader to a number of unsavory characters, and just enough twists and turns to keep you interested and guessing. It was a nice quick read.

Amelia Sciandra did a decent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Shannon Hollinger, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was an intense mystery thriller with lots of twists and turns! And the final one was the most shocking of all!

I listened to the story in an afternoon, as it was hard to put down and kept my interest. It's definitely a fine start to a new series and I look forward to future installments. (I think...)

Thank you to Shannon Hollinger, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Great story line with an acceptable amount of character development. Enjoyed the story being told from the individual characters. Twists and turns kept me listening. I enjoyed this as an audiobook but would have possibly enjoyed it more if I were reading it. It seemed to drag on at times and some of the voices did not match the characters. Look forward to reading/listening to more from this talented author!

Secrets, lies, and deception in a small town.

A police procedural and mystery that had me intrigued from the very beginning. While I did figure out early on one part, I still enjoyed this book very much. So many twist and turns that we’re great! I thought the narrator, Amelia Sciandra was okay. I ended up listening at a 2.0x rate. I had to pay close attention on the female voices but overall I enjoyed it after I increased the speed.
I really like the MC, Maggie and I'm very eager to see what happens in this small town next.

The ending of this boom made my jaw drop. Once I am able to, I will for sure be physically reading this book!

This was my first audio book and I personally had a hard time following but I really did enjoy the book

3.5⭐️

The Girl Who Lied is book#1 in a new series introducing Chief Maggie Riley. It’s atmospheric and is a good introduction to police Chief Maggie Riley and Coyote Cove, Maine.

As a storm rolls in to small town Coyote Cove, a grisly murder is discovered in the woods. Found scared and wandering close to the crime scene is a local teenager, Heather. Is she a victim? Is she the perpetrator? And this murder is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s clear that Coyote Cove is a place where everybody has secrets. It’s a place where a number of its inhabitants have come to escape their past, including police Chief Maggie Riley…

Maggie is clearly a complex and complicated individual and as the story develops more about Maggie’s past and how she’s ended up in Coyote Cove start to be revealed. Told through several characters POV, that has us navigating twists and turns and propels the story forward. It’s definitely piqued my interest… There’s so much more to Maggie that hasn’t been revealed & I can’t wait to see where this series goes…

3.5 Stars
Good but not mind-blowing, compared to her other novels.

I have been loving this author's other novels (Best Friends Forever and The Slumber Party). Her novels are captivating and usually filled with unexpected/shocking twists. However, this time the story was too fast-paced. There wasn't enough detail/explanations to the storyline or depth to the characters. Not to mention, the ending was a tad predictable. Don't get me wrong. The story was still good. It just wasn't on the same level as her other novels.

If you're looking for a quick and easy mystery/thriller, this novel is for you.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Shannon Hollinger, and Bookouture Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

This was a great book and I am so excited that it's a series and I have the ARCS to the other 2 books! I can't wait to read them! I was hooked into this book right from the jump and couldn't put it down! I am totally here for Maggie & Steve's relationship and can't wait to see how they are able to break down each other's walls!

#TheGirlWhoLied
#NetGalley

What a gripping and hard to put down first book in a new series by Shannon Hollinger! This is how you do it! I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and didn't want to put this down until the very last page! I enjoyed the POV's, the mystery, the use of secrets, and deception in this book.

Chief Maggie Riley is the Chief of Police in a small town, Coyote Cove, Maine. Maggie moeved to take the job 4 years ago from Florida. She left under a cloud after interfering in a crime of a family member. Steve Winters is her boyfriend. Both Maggie and Steve have secrets that they don't talk about. On one night Maggie discovers a body on a logging road. Then she meets Heather McGillis, and they form a bond over several days. Maggie wants to know why Heather is out in the middle of the woods at night. So begins the mystery behind the body and Heather. This story is told through different people. It is well written and great descriptions of the location and people.

A thrilling and sometimes heartbreaking tale. The story is easy to read, twisty and full of intrigue to find out the secrets that everyone is keeping. I really enjoyed the characters especially Maggie. This book sets up for a great start to a new series, one that I will definitely want to continue reading. I have no idea who I can trust in this series or how dark their secrets go.

Interesting, fast paced story told from many points of view, which made it a little confusing at times. I enjoyed getting to know Maggie and Steve as well as the setting to the book. I’m not sure how I really felt about it otherwise. There was just so much going on and it felt all over the place. The twist was intriguing but wasn’t really unexpected. I’ll try the second in the series to see if any of the issues work themselves out.

Coyote Cove is a small town, it's typically quiet for Chief Maggie Riley. That would all change when on her way home she comes across a body. Teenager Heather was at the site of the murder but things aren't as simple as they seem. Chief Maggie Riley has two mysteries she's trying to solve but are they connected?

As the bodies begin to pile up, Maggie is in a rush to solve who is bringing on this nightmare in her small town. It seems everyone in this town has a past, including Maggie herself.

I found this book capturing my attention but not completely riveting which lead me to rate it at a 3.75. It seemed like your typical cliche small-town crime story. I think what kept me intrigued was the background framework of the characters.

It showcased some old-school male detective vibes and the ever-so solid female detective lead. Read from the points of many characters you can’t help but put yourself in Chief Maggie Riley's shoes. I look forward to following this series as there is still much to unpack.

If you are looking for a small-time crime story with many twists in all directions, this book is for you. It is a good start to following the series of Chief Maggie Riley's career.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

This audiobook was not terrible but not my favorite that I’ve listened to. The story was decent but didn’t really have anything going on that kept me drawn to the story. The ending had a couple of twists that I hadn’t fully guessed, but overall it wasn’t overly suspenseful.

I listened this whole audiobook in 1 DAY! Shannon Hollinger kept me wanting to tune out the world so I can find out what was going to happen next which rarely happens because you know… life and all. BUT LIFE BE D*MNED - no one was going to talk to me until I finished this book!

Everyone in Coyote Cove has a secret, but it seems one person will go as far as committing murder in order to keep theirs. The narrator does a great job making the twists and turns even more captivating by giving each POV a depth to their personality that can only be expressed through their “voice”.

Maggie Riley, is an infamous detective with an amazing closed-case track record and a heavy burden of secrets. Three years ago, she left everything behind to become Chief of Police in a small town named Coyote Cove where she met her love, Steve, with secrets of his own. As you can imagine, being a woman Chief of Police is no easy task but it is even harder when she stumbles across a man stabbed in the woods lying in his own blood with a young woman named Heather standing next to him. Heather is unable to explain how she came across the man’s body in the woods without revealing her individual secret as to why she was in the woods. Chief Maggie Riley needs to use her detective skills to quickly preserve the body and the evidence before a storm rolls through and destroys everything. Of course, since her past life is a secret from the small town - every action she takes as Chief is scrutinized not only by her peers but by other men of the law who have come into town to assist with the murder investigation (and of course, thinking they can handle it better than she).

Not only will you, the reader, want to find out who the murderer is, but you will also be reading as fast as you can so you can figure out who the victim is and what on earth is everyone trying to keep secret?! The end of this book had me running to see when the second book will be released because I was ready to start it right then and there! Sadly, I will be waiting until August 2 to continue Chief Maggie’s series but all other books will be on hold that day while I quickly consume the next book.

Book one in a new series about a female police chief in rural Maine

I didn't feel this one. I listened to the audiobook, which may have contributed. This story is told through several different POVs. I like when books have multiple POVs, but there are times where I feel like it is too much. This was one of them. It is also harder to keep track of the POV changes (and characters) in an audiobook. ESPECIALLY when only one narrator is used.

So, anyway, I considered DNFing after struggling to pay attention, but I did not. While the "twist" did not surprise me, it did help me reconcile some issues I had with the plot. There are plenty of clues. Just don't dismiss them like I did. I think I'd have figured it out if I hadn't drifted so many times. Instead I just thought there was something guilty about the killer and also that the killer's speech was off.

The ending got better. Enough that I am curious enough to look out for book two once it is released.

Amelia Sciandra narrates the audiobook. Most of my issues with it come from the many different POVs, but some of her dialogue was annoying.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC.

This book tells a story from several different point of views. We get our main heroine Maggie Riley, a detective turned chief in the small town of Coyote Cove. We get Heather, an innocent teenage girl who has had a hard past, We get secondary characters, Riley's coworker Murphy and her boyfriend Steve's POV as well.

Overall, I found the story intriguing. It was well paced, and I never felt bored. If you like crime thrillers this one will fit in nicely. I enjoyed the character of Maggie Riley and felt that she was relatable. The twist at the end was interesting but its not something I could say really surprised me.

The things I didn't like were the narration of the male characters. The narrating was done by a female and her voice for Murphy was nothing but distracting to me. I wish they would have found a male narrator to narrate those chapters. I also find it annoying when they try to make male characters sound different than their regular voice. I don't understand that.

Overall this is worth a read or listen if you are into this type of book. It was a fun way to pass the time for me.