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This Is How I Lied

This Is How I Lied, May 2020
by Heather Gudenkauf

Park Row
336 pages
ISBN: 0778309703
EAN: 9780778309703
Kindle: B07TFZSX76
Trade Size / e-Book
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"What happened on that long ago day?"

Fresh Fiction Review

This Is How I Lied
Heather Gudenkauf

Reviewed by Svetlana Libenson
Posted August 27, 2020

Thriller Domestic | Thriller Police Procedural | Women's Fiction Psychological

At sixteen years of age, Maggie Kennedy O'keefe lost her best friend Eve Knox to undetermined murder. Decades later, Maggie is now a police officer for her small town and is excited about having her first child with her husband when a boot that Eve was wearing has resurfaced. Wanting to discover once and for all the true cause of her friend's murder as well help her retired father who was a police officer investigating Eve's murder, Maggie volunteers for the job, even at possible risk to her career, her own life, and that of her unborn daughter. It is a task that will require Maggie to dredge up painful memories at the cost of her life and sanity. 

The biggest strengths of THIS IS HOW I LIED were in the characters and the situations that they found themselves in. My favorite character was definitely Eve's younger sister, the veterinarian Nola, who had peculiar hobbies of dissecting animals and whose bitterness is sourer than a million lemons. She also frequently stole the show with her creepiness and the gray area that Heather Gudenkauf painted around her, causing readers to wonder whether or not she killed her sister. 

I also loved the precarious situations that the characters found themselves in, which I hadn't seen in other books, like the fact that the main character is pregnant and is trying to solve the mystery. There was one particular scene toward the end of the book that ended up being my favorite because of these aspects. 

While the characters and the situations ended up being scene stealers, there were minor plots that didn't feel complete, or that the author hadn't fully fleshed out in THIS IS HOW I LIED, but other than that, this is a twisty ride that's worth a read. 

For readers that are looking for a tale of suspense, mystery, and lots of secrets, THIS IS HOW I LIED by Heather Gudenkauf will whet one's appetite to go on this delightful and thorny path of secrets. 

Learn more about This Is How I Lied

SUMMARY

Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide…

Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold.

For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.


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