The Liar , another excellent novel by Jane Adams, starring Detective Inspector Mike Croft investigating the death of a woman found stabbed on the beach. and it turns out she is not the person who she claims to be. Perfect for anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

A great, thrilling read, which will keep you entertained throughout. A good one sitting read, get the nibbles ready, close the door, and read!

This was my favourite of Jane Adam’s books so far. Great storytelling with a select number of characters. Liked the slight nod to the supernatural and superstition that is often held within areas

Welcome to the 4th book in the Detective Inspector Mike Croft Series! Jane Adams knows how to write a gripping thriller that keeps you turning the pages. I enjoyed the series!

The Liar by Jane A. Adams is the forth book in the brilliant Detective Mike Croft series. This was a book I could not put down once I started to read it (and then forgot to do a review for it Sorry) with lots of twists and turns throughout. Jane's books are always Well written, and an enjoyable read.

I highly recommend this book and all of Jane Adams books.

Fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!!

Against the fear and hysteria whipped up by the sighting of an enormous and vicious animal, former DI John Tynan becomes aware of the death of Martha Toolin, a woman that he had recently begun to see.

As DI Mike Croft and DS Jude Burnett attempt to solve the mystery, they seek to learn more about Martha, in an attempt to find out who might have wanted her dead. It turns out that Martha Toolin wasn’t being entirely honest about herself. She was leading a whole other life as Julia.

Martha had first made herself acquainted with John, claiming to be a relative of his from his mother’s side. She said that she wanted to research the family tree. Tynan assists in her search wholeheartedly.

Croft and Tynan try to piece together what they know of Tynan’s family history to find the answer to who killed Martha. But then another victim falls dead. Tom Pollard, an 18-year-old kid just out of the foster home system, who felt abandoned by Martha.

They also find that Martha made a living out of deceiving people, and that there were many people who might have wanted her dead.

Are the two murders related? And what about the fearsome animal that is striking fear in the hearts of all those who see it?





The book is written mostly in the third person limited viewpoint of Mike Croft, DI in charge of the case, and Tynan.

The setting comes alive with descriptions of the weather, the atmosphere, and the geological degradation making their presence felt.



The mystery was rather weak, and there were too many issues with this book. What's more, the cover image was completely irrelevant.

At first Martha is described as being 18 years Tynan’s junior. But later on in the book, he is described as being 70-odd, while she is 60-odd.

The book was a tad too long. I got more than a little impatient when Mike’s backstory, and descriptions of the interior décor of his house began to show up on the page. The information about Maria’s family was unnecessary. Why does a DI who has a murder case on his hands feel the need to give us a long description of the décor of his house?

The naming convention employed by the author, not coincidentally a J, is another issue. There are altogether too many Js in this story. There’s Jason Matthews, Julie, John, John’s uncle Jerry, DS Jude. There are two Phils. Sure, they are both minor and unrelated, but why use the same name? Then there is the DI Mike Croft, who has a brief conversation with someone called Mark. A news reporter is called Geoff and then some chapters later the same guy turns into Graham Firth.

At the 40 percent mark, the promised twists and turns hadn’t shown up. The investigation seemed to take on forever. This book was painfully slow. I felt bored and lost interest. There were frequent flashbacks, very few of them valuable. Plus, there is a persistent myth about Old Shuck, a large and vicious dog that persists over centuries and is an unmistakable part of folklore. The only reason I didn’t give up is because I can’t bring myself to give up on a book. Things began to speed up only after the 70 percent mark.

Well written, enjoyable read. Many twists and turns. Interesting book! I recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing access to this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Liar was an interesting detective book. Martha Toolin, and the mystery surrounding her, definitely kept things interesting. Trying to piece together who all the characters were and how they were connected kept me on my toes. The one thing that kept me frustrated to the end was the big black dog. I thought it was too unresolved and seemed unnecessary to the plot. I suppose it could be opening things up for the next book, but to me it seemed to not fit. I didn't know until I was partway through that this is the fourth book in a series. That being said, I think it worked ok as a standalone book. I'm sure there was a lot of character information and background that I missed out on by not reading the previous books, but I didn't feel lost about who the main characters were. Overall a pretty good book.

This is Book 4 in the series and I have not read the others. However, this book is good enough for a stand alone read. The plot is well written and the characters are developed well to make the book an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for approving my request to review this book.

The liar by Jane Adams.
This is book 4 in the Detective Mike Croft series.
Really good read. Good story. Even though this is my first book by this author I will read the series. 4*.

Sadly, this one was not for me.

A woman is murdered and when her death is investigated they begin to find out that she is not really who she appeared to be. You get the death early in the book and it doesn't take long to find out that things about this woman's life did not add up. There is also some weird thing with a big black dog that I just did not get.

I tried to like this story. And, I appear to be the minority here because this book received pretty good reviews. The story is a bit drawn out and there is not really very much going on after you learn about the woman's death.

Book 4 in the Mike Croft series, brings him in contact again, with retired detective John Tynan. The woman whose death he is investigating was known to John, but as questions about her true identity come to light, Croft wonders what she wanted with his friend.

I've read all the books in this series, and whilst the first one was the most gripping, all have been a good fusion between police procedural and psychological suspense. Book 4 has the trademark detailed police procedure, an element of supernatural, not defined but there, and a cast of interesting characters.

The plot has many twists and the ending leaves a few untidy ends, which although frustrating, add to the realism of the story. Mike and John are good characters, realistic and complex, and the fusion of genres makes this series authentic and interesting.

I received a copy of this book from Joffe Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Review for 'The Liar' by Jane Adams. Possible spoiler alert

Read and reviewed via NetGalley

This books if the fourth book in the 'Mike Croft' series which I didn't realise when I started reading it and can be easily read as a standalone.

The storyline is set in the UK and begins with one dead body followed by more. I found one of the main characters quite drab and boring but some of the others were quite strong. The descriptions were good and I could easily picture the areas.

During the book there is some mystery and suspense. I found there were a few too many characters and storylines going on which confused me at times. In total I think there were 3 storylines in the one book

(possible spoiler: none of which ended up linking together, which didn't seem to make sense).

I was disappointed by the end which seemed quite rushed and left a lot of loose ends and questions unanswered which is a big NO for me in a bid unless it's left on a cliffhanger which it is then to be expected but this was not.

In summary the book was OK although pretty average and I didn't like the ending. If I would recommend to anyone it would be of fans of crime and murder.
Rated 3/5 on Goodreads and Amazon (It was OK)

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I really tried to get into this book. I kept going back to it but unfortunately it was a struggle too far and I had to admit defeat. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and I really prefer something a little faster paced. In the end I had to put it aside unfinished. Sorry

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy. Thrilling story that kept me engaged. I hadn't realised that this book was part of a series but will definitely read the first three.

The fourth book in the thrilling series did not disappoint. With all the twists and turns will have you on a roller coaster of emotion .

This murder hits close to home for DI Croft. Investigating the murder of a woman of many names and personalities, Mike finds his friend may have been targeted by a con artist. As the detective team follows the clues, the prime suspect changes too often to keep up. Who was this woman that she had so many enemies? A good read that will give your brain a workout as you try to figure out who done it.

I found the novel quite confusing, a bit disjointed and somewhat rushed. Unfortunately, I did not finish it as the narrative did not hold my attention. Fans of the previous novels in this series will enjoy it.

This is the fourth crime thriller featuring DI Mike Croft and the second one that I have read. It's definitely convoluted and a very detailed police procedural that seems to drag in places but the excellent writing saves it.

A woman is murdered inside the Two Bells B&B and DI Croft and his team are on the case. The problem is that the dead lady is known by several other names. She had befriended John Tynan, a friend of the Crofts, and was ostensibly looking into their supposed family genealogy when she was killed. So who is Martha Toolin and what was she doing in Norwich? There are loads of potential suspects and then there is the appearance of the black dog...NO SPOILERS

This was good, but seemed rather longish. The story wasn't as compelling as the previous installment, but I tried to read it in a single sitting in order to make sense of all the plot details. The ending came as no great surprise, but the police procedural minutiae is quite extensive and the reader can feel the net tightening. The narrative is fairly straight forward and I do like tha main characters even as you don't find out too much about the personally as they are so involved with the investigation. It's been 10 years since the last book (case) and much has changed in the life of DI Croft, but that's not the focal point -- I'd like more of his personal life please.

I did enjoy the book and will look for another in this series, hopefully before too much time has passed. Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.