White Lies

While driving to a charming village tucked away deep in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, where she is to begin a new job teaching high school English, Katrina Burton picks up a young hitchhiker who turns to be drunk and predatory. Fearful for her safety, she lies about her destination in order to get him out of the car. But when she later discovers that he is a teacher at the same school, she finds herself feeding that initial lie with more lies.

Then Katrina meets a mysterious man. Handsome, charismatic and strong, he is exactly what she needs to extricate her from the expanding network of lies, now spinning out of control. She falls fast and hard for him.

But her perfect solution soon becomes a nightmare that lands her in the middle of a grisly murder. And Katrina's problems don't stop there. She must decide whether to betray her new love or to cover up the murder and hope for the best...until she discovers that the choice may not be hers to make.

"When is it okay to tell a white lie? We’ve all done it and we mean well when we do it, but do we think about the consequences? What if that innocuous little white lie takes on a life of its own and spins out of control? “White Lies” by Jeremy Bates takes us on such a journey...The story culminates in a tense situation and a surprising yet satisfying ending...well written and an exciting thriller. Reviewed by Jenny Hilborne, author of No Alibi, for Suspense Magazine, May 2012

"A cracking good suspense novel, easy and undemanding but a jolly exciting read, to curl up on a cold winter’s day in front of the fire with.” Reviewed on BeadyJans Bookshelf February 2012

"This is an excellent book with interesting characters. There is so much intensity that you need to keep reading.” Bestsellersworld.com & MysteriesGalore.com, February 2012

“Filled with suspense, the heroine learns Sir Walter Scott’s mantra (in Marmion): “Oh what a tangled web we weave; when first we practice to deceive”. – Fast-paced, the tense thriller grips readers as the beleaguered Kat learns to obtain background checks on males if she lives long enough to meet another man. Although readers will need to ignore their plausibility meter, White Lies is an exhilarating taut tale.” The Mystery Gazette, March 2012

“Bates takes an intriguing premise to shocking lengths, revealing the outcome only in an epilogue. A graphically violent story with building suspense and a moral about where weaving such a web may lead.” Booklist, May 2012

"Jeremy Bates writes a very suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat story in White Lies…very action packed, despite a peaceful, nearly amiable start…I enjoy a good mystery and suspense, and White Lies gives you both, almost to the point of exhaustion.” Cupcake’s Book Cupboard