The Woman Who Lied: The thrilling Sunday Times bestseller from the author of THE COUPLE AT NO 9

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have done with all of Claire Douglas books I have read so far. I was crying by the end of this. If you have children it will pull at your heartstrings at times. Incredible storytelling with such depth to all of the characters, you really feel like you know them. I would tell myself I’ll read for an hour a night which always turned into two or three because I just couldn’t put it down and I finished the book almost instantly. Thank you Claire for the good time I had with this! This is a 1000% would recommend.

Emilia Ward always dreamt of becoming a crime writer but, after leaving university and being flat broke, she chose to be a journalist instead. Unfortunately, having then met and married her first husband Jonas – after unexpectedly becoming pregnant – she soon found there was little time to pursue either career. However, when Jonas then decided to leave her for her best friend Kristin, Emilia used the time she had while her daughter Jasmine was at school to start writing her first detective novel, which culminated in the success of her DI Miranda Moody series. Finally, she had achieved her dream. Now, happily married to her second husband Elliot, with whom she has a son Wilfie, Emilia has decided to kill off her detective heroine and concentrate on a standalone novel – a concept she is not sure will go down well with her publisher. However, while she waits for a verdict on her latest manuscript, she begins to experience a series of strange incidents, all mimicking events from her new novel. It is only when she realises that the manuscript had only been read by a few close friends and family, that she begins to suspect someone close to her must be responsible and that, if they stick to the story, it will ultimately end in the death of DI Moody … and therefore potentially her own. I really enjoyed this novel as its complicated format challenged my powers of deduction. Once the initial mystery has been established, the story then divides into three threads. The first follows Emilia’s gradual decline into paranoia as she struggles to understand who is threatening her. The second thread follows a storyline from Emilia’s manuscript, while the third follows the investigation of Emilia’s stalker through the eyes of the detective in charge of her case. This might sound confusing but as the story nears its conclusion, everything falls into place. ‘The Woman Who Lied’ is written in such a clever way that everyone is a plausible suspect. Each time I thought I knew the guilty party, another plausible suspect presented itself to change my mind, keeping me engrossed to the very end when all is revealed. The whole novel is a rollercoaster of action and suspense, and one which I can thoroughly recommend.

Twisting plot throughout. A great read.

I wanted to read more and more until the last few chapters. A very convoluted and lazy ending to a good book.

This is the first novel I read by the author. It was tricky to choose which of her books to go for as I liked the sound of more than one storyline but having seen such good reviews of ‘The woman who lied’, I decided to pick this one up first. The story centres around Emilia, who is due to publish her latest crime novel, when events from her book start to mirror reality. It appears she is being stalked and she fears her life may be at risk. And everyone seems to be a suspect. It took me just two days to devour this book. Very easy to read and certainly kept you hooked and I enjoyed the twists. I wanted to know who was behind the happenings and why. I would definitely pick up another Claire Douglas novel having read this one.

It was a secret santa but the person that received it sait it was great read it in 2 days, couldn't put it down.

This's the first book I read by Claire Douglas. Initially, I read the first few pages but I thought that it wasn't for me. A few weeks later, as I ran out of books to read, I thought I'd give it another go. Well, I absolutely loved it so much so, I read it all within one day. I couldn't put it down. I didn't guess the ending, something that I usually do. I guessed something about one protagonist, but not the full plot. In fact, I thought it was something else all together. She can write were well and capture the imagination. So many plots and twists taking the reader into different possibilities. I good at spotting red herrings, but not this time. I just bought 2 more books by Claire Douglas, 'The Couple at No. 9' and 'The Girls Who disappeared'. They've just been delivered. I'm looking forward to reading them. Great author of crime books.

Enjoyed this but found it a bit complicated hence 4 stars. I've recently read 3 of Claire's books in a row and will take a look at her others. Would recommend as all her characters are well described and the plots intriguing.