Tense, Compelling…
A joint fortieth birthday party on an exclusive and remote private Scottish island, a group of interconnected guests and every luxury - what could possibly go wrong? When a seemingly innocuous game begins and threats emerge the group is startled, then afraid - with no way off the island and no contact, tensions begin to rise. Beginning with a revelation and working backwards, the reader is immediately immersed in this suspenseful mystery with a plot populated with a deftly drawn and credible cast of characters, twists aplenty, an underlying vein of menace and a well imagined setting. Tense and compelling.

A group of friends travel to a remote island to catch up and celebrate birthdays, but when a game of Truth Truth Lie reveals something sinister, the group realise they could be in danger, especially as they seem to be trapped on the island. Is someone else here too, or could one of the group be out for revenge? An original and thrilling story that keeps you guessing until the very shocking ending. Really loved this book!

You cannot go wrong when you see the author is Claire McGowan. This is another cracker! Well written characters who are very easy to dislike. I'm not sure how many times i changed my mind about who killed who but i found myself racing through to find out what the hell was going on!

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Big five stars from me.

Just finished this book today - wow, full of twists and turns - everyone has something to hide - did not expect where it was going. very good writing and plot, highly recommended.

I LOVE Claire McGowan and snap up every thing she writes. I felt like this book was written FOR ME as who doesn't love a vacation-gone-wrong?

In Truth Truth Lie, Amira has traveled to a private island with her husband and his best college mates to celebrate the birthday of the center of the group - twin Vicky and

Amira always feels the outsider and she and her husband are even more on the outs for this lavish and expensive get away. When the boat drops them off and leaves them for two days she get nervous. When she learns there is no cell service she doesn't know what to think. It's not until a threatening note appear and an unfortunate death occurs that Amira begins to panic.

But at that point, it is far too late. With no phone reception and no way off the island, the group are trapped here until the end of the weekend with only each other to count on. Will they survice? #thomas&mercer #Truthtruthlie
#ClaireMcgowan

A group of friends are spending the weekend on a private island, which used to be owned by the family of the woman celebrating her birthday.
The game they play "Two Truths and a Lie" causes a lot of consternation when an extra piece of paper is found in the container with the contestants truth and lies.
Who would threaten them? Who knows their secrets? Who wants revenge?

This ended up being an absolutely riveting read. At first, I was confused with the plethora of characters, I was a little slow sorting out and remembering their relationships to each other.
However, once I had done that, I found the book to be chillingly dark and realised that there were many resentments among the friends.
Unravelling the murders and deaths, I was completely wrong about who was actually responsible.

A 5/5 star read. I recommend. You won't regret it, this is a thriller in the best sense of the word.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Claire McGowan's writing, so I was very excited to receive a copy of this new book. It takes a somewhat familiar trope, and delivers an absorbing read through the well-plotted story and character arc that emerges from its pages.

A group of friends are gathering on a remote Scottish island to celebrate the joint birthday party of 40 year old twins Jonathan and Vicky. Amira, whose point of view is one of the perspectives that appears in the book and in whose perspective I was most interested, is something of an outsider here since these are all her husband's friends from his university days.

At one point, the guests have the idea to play the game 'two truths and a lie', though the reveal is likely to be something well beyond what anyone bargained for. Because once each friend has sent in their anonymous contributions, one set proves to be decidedly threatening.

The question is, has this been sent in from someone within the group, or is it an external "contributor"? And how much truth is there to their assertions - and which is the lie?

There are aspects of the book which become a little far-fetched towards the end, but it is still a very enjoyable read. I like the way McGowan brings her characters alive and the emotions that she manages to infuse into the pages. A good locked-room thriller, for sure.

Wow! Let me start by saying I absolutely love Claire McGowan and her writing style! So, when I read the blurb, I knew I would have to read this new novel. I am a sucker for locked-in mysteries, it is my favorite genre!

What I loved about the book:
- The setting, the way it started right in media res, and pulled me in. The descriptions and the flawless transitions made me forget I was reading a book;
- The idea for the game, even if not the most original, was executed really well, and the intertwining of the stories of the victims really tied everything together;
- The plot and the pacing, No unnecessary thoughts and ramblings like you get in other thrillers. Here we get action and suspense!

What could have been done better:
- This is a personal preference, but I like it when this type of story is told in first person, and by one singular character
-I would have preferred to remain in Amira's POV, and not jump around in multiple POVs.

But these did not ruin the book or pull me out one bit, so it was fine.

I give it a wholehearted 5 star review and I absolutely recommend it!!!

If you are looking for a compulsive murder mystery, then look no further than the prolific Claire McGowan’s latest story, ‘Truth Truth Lie’. Rather like Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’, the narrative involves a group of entitled people meeting up on a tiny deserted Scottish island to celebrate twins Vicky and Jonathan’s fortieth birthdays. However, it soon becomes apparent that not all is as it seems. On playing the game Truth Truth Lie on their first night, they discover that someone is sending them death threats. Could it be one of this tightly-knit group or is someone frightening them from further afield? And why?
Through McGowan’s meticulous plotting we gradually learn the secrets that everyone in the group has been keeping. All seem to have caused someone’s death; all appear to have escaped justice. Whilst the author gives us vivid sketches of the dead, allowing us to fully appreciate who they were, she ensures that these brief chapters in no way distract from the main story. Rather, they enhance it.
Though it becomes increasingly clear who may have the motive to draw these people together on this particular island, there are a good number of twists and turns that stops this being a predictable read. Perhaps it is a little too eventful to be entirely credible towards the end but the moral centre of the novel remains strong. Will the lessons learnt ensure that the younger generation will not make the mistakes of their parents? Uncertain.
My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

It goes without saying that the author's inspiration for this book was Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" but that is not a bad thing. She has taken the basic premise of the characters being trapped on an island in fear for their lives but the rest of the story is all her own. Claire's powers of description really made the isolated island seem creepy and the bitterly cold storm had me shivering in my centrally heated house. I loved the idea of having every character narrate their own chapters, it really showed how the situation had them turning on each other and descending into a state of almost paranoia. The random chapters added to the suspense and I couldn't read quickly enough to find out who they related to. All in all this is a tense thriller of the type this author excels at and I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.