Lucy is a famous crime writer but when she decides to kill off the main character of her novel, Eliza, things in her personal life start to fall apart. Dan, her husband and failed writer, decides to buy a house near Lucy's old childhood neighborhood. This causes Lucy great distress as she's been hiding a secret or two, when she was a child she took her brother into the woods and left him there, he was never found. Eliza, also happens to be Lucy's childhood imaginary friend who she still sees and talks to today. After an argument, Dan also goes missing. Is this just an awful coincidence or are Lucy and Eliza hiding something?

I'm conflicted about this one. I originally liked the whole idea of the imaginary friend but as the plot went on it did feel a little bit forced and perhaps unnecessary. I enjoyed how the story jumped back and fore between the two stories and overall, I think the ending was good.

However, I found it hard to connect to any of the characters in here so found I had lost interest by the end of the book.

Unfortunately, this one was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with a copy to read.

I really enjoyed this book, keeps you guessing, with lots of twists and turns. I didn't expect the ending. Good gripping thriller storyline.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing and wondering where it was going. Having said that, I really didn't like the main character Lucy very much.

I thought the end was a little disappointing as it left some questions unanswered. What did the landlady know? What happened to her brother Teddy?

Like I said I did enjoy the book and would recommend it..

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC.

This is the first Gilly Macmillan novel I’ve read and I’m not really sure how I feel about it.

Overall it is well written and the story was definitely intriguing. I particularly enjoyed the flipping between the past and present investigations but the ending seemed very rushed and inconclusive. It has left me asking many questions. Arguably that could be seen as a good thing but for me it felt as though there were too many loose ends. For example: what does the landlady know? Why does she want to blackmail Lucy? Was this just to make Lucy feel she had nowhere to turn? Does Lucy have a split personality? Why does Eliza have such a hold over her? Was Dan’s motive just jealousy? And what did happen to Teddy?

All that said, I would recommend this to a friend as would consider reading more Gilly Macmillan in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an advanced copy of this novel

I think this is the quickest i have read a book in a while. Very unputdownable. Loved the characters, the setting th plot and the twists.

To Tell You The Truth is the fourth stand-alone novel by British author, Gilly Macmillan. Best-selling author of the DS Eliza Grey books, Lucy Harper has just completed the fifth book in this very popular series. Surely a cause for celebration? But Lucy is a little nervous. Her agent will soon discover that Lucy has taken a brave step with the latest book, and he might not be too pleased.

“…how naïve I had been when I first got published. How I hadn’t realised what a treadmill I was stepping on to. How the sheer pace of it, and the exhaustion, eroded your confidence and then chipped away at your sanity, how it made you vulnerable because the books crowded every corner of your brain, every minute of every day, until your main character stepped off the page and compromised your real life, which made you feel crazy.”

Eliza has been with Lucy all her life, playing, sharing, advising, telling her what to do and say. Eliza is Lucy’s alone: no one else can see or hear her. She was with Lucy that night of the Summer Solstice when her little brother Teddy disappeared. And then Eliza became her muse, her star character. But by the third book, she became more real to Lucy, maybe a little too real. In this fifth book, Eliza had been incapacitated, much to her indignation and anger.

While Lucy has been wholly absorbed in creating the source of their future income, her husband, Dan has been doing some anticipatory spending, but Lucy truly wonders, when the purchase is revealed, how he could ever have imagined it could meet with her approval. As for his newest literary project, it’s not until much later that Lucy discovers just what he has been up to.

Macmillan’s sixth novel is brilliantly plotted: red herrings, twists and surprises keep the reader guessing as the story races to a nail-biting climax. The present-day story is interspersed with a second-person narrative relating the events of the summer of 1991 when three-year-old Teddy Bewley vanished, never to be seen again.

The story is so cleverly constructed that the reader will be asking themselves: Is Lucy an unreliable narrator, or is her apparent paranoia well-founded? Is she a consummate liar or just an inventive story teller? Is she a murderer, or is she a victim?

As always, this author has a way with words: “The familiarity felt disorientating, like seeing a face you think you recognise before realising it’s your own. Aged, subtly changed, but bearing traces of everything you ever lived through, even the things you want to forget.” Once again, Macmillan does not disappoint.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK.

This was a weird and wonderful story. A very unique take on a psychological thriller written from the perspective of a crime writer with a difference. I was gripped throughout and left with questions at the end. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Really enjoyed this book, I read it in a day (and I've had much less free time recently) it was absolutely brilliant and I didn't want to put it down.
I really liked how it was written alternating between the current story and the past and how all of the characters were utterly unlikeable.
I did like Eliza though.
It was the first book I've read by Gilly Macmillan but I'll be looking out for more. It kept me guessing right until the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

Tense thriller with many many level of deceit. Did she, didn't she - will she remember if she did. Kept me guessing until the end

I was sure that this was going to end up being a predictable story with a neat and tidy ending. So I was presently surprised when all my predictions didn’t happen and instead I sunk into the novel and let the story carry me along page by page.
Lucy is a bestselling author, with a secret past. When she was 9 she took her brother into the woods to watch people who had gathered to celebrate the Solstice. But her little brother is tired and wants to go home so Lucy puts him in a hidden bunker so she can carry on watching the others. Of course when she goes to take him home he is gone. Jump to present day and Ben, Lucy’s husband has surprised her with the gift of a mansion that backs onto the same woods that Teddy went missing from, she doesn’t want to live here.
Then Ben goes missing and once again Lucy has police at her door.
This was a really good read, lots of interesting characters, including the one in Lucy’s head, a character so real that I expects her to be the voice of a deceased sibling. Interesting premise.
#totellyouthetruth #netgalley

When Lucy was nine years old, her three year old brother, Teddy went missing.
Fast forward to now and Lucy is a successful crime fiction author and married to Dan. The character in her book, Eliza Grey, is hugely popular with her readers, but Lucy is eager to break away from Eliza and finally be free of her. Her husband Dan, also an aspiring writer is jealous of Lucy's success and after an arguement one night, Dan disappears.
Lucy tries to find Dan and also uncover some devastating truths from her own painful past.
I found this book to be well written with interesting characters but unfortunately it didnt fully grab me throughout. I struggled with Lucy's relationship with her alter ego, Eliza and in the end I just wasnt altogether impressed. This one is not for me unfortunately.
Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Thank You to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for this ARC!!

Lucy was nine years old when her brother vanished in the woods near home. As the only witness, Lucy’s story of that night became crucial to the police investigation. Thirty years on, her brother’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Now Lucy is a bestselling thriller writer.But her husband, Dan, has started keeping secrets of his own, and a sudden change of scene forces Lucy to confront some dark, unwelcome memories. Then Dan goes missing and Lucy’s past and present begin to collide.

Absolutely loved this book!! A very well written psychological thriller !! I was never quite sure where the plot was going but it was my curiosity that lead me through this book. I loved all the characters and the twists. The ending was totally unexpected and surprising.

Highly Recommended!!

Lots of mystery to grapple with: and a fascinating main character who is a bestselling crime writer with her fictional detective hero who seems to live beyond the pages, so that she becomes almost tangible. Fantasy blends dangerously into reality. There is the past and the present, lies and truths spinning their webs. It has all the mysterious elements you need: missing boy, secretive older sister, imaginary detective, suspicious neighbours,, creepy woods..... a joy to read despite my disappointment at the ending. Maybe because not all my questions got answered. Sequel maybe?

An enjoyable book with some good twists and turns, but I wasn't completely convinced by the imaginary Eliza and I did feel the ending was quite rushed.
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

So, having never read anything by the author before, I requested a copy of the book purely on the summary which really peaked my interest. I found the book very intriguing and I really wasn't sure where the story was going to end up. The story is suspenseful and you do find yourself 'on the edge of your seat'. It is well written and you become invested in the characters.
I'll admit though, I was a little disappointed with the ending. I found it quite unsatisfying but, overall it was a good book. I would read more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book was really enjoyable and fast paced. I didn’t want to put it down!

I felt like some more character details could have been added but nothing major.

I was slightly disappointed by the ending and the mystery of Lucy’s brother which I felt dampened the overall feeling of the book.

A very well written book with plenty of drama and twists. Keeps you hooked from the start and guessing till the end. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and love the style Gillian writes in. Couldn't put this down, just had to keep reading till end.

I really enjoyed this book interesting how the main police character in the novel was her childhood and present , pretend friend . I was a bit disappointed with the ending with her brother ,was waiting all the way through to see what had happened to him but that’s my only criticism and only my opinion . Will look forward to reading more from this author

What an intense rollercoaster of a read! From the outset, the dual narratives are interwoven to create a fast-paced, exciting tale of one woman's fight to shake off the disappearance of her little brother, Teddy which has haunted her for her entire life.
This was my first Gilly Macmillan story, but it certainly won't be my last.
Thank you for the advanced copy.

Tragedy and lies have built Lucy's world and her future. her past is something she is trying desperately to leave behind, although her imaginary childhood friend Eliza is firmly still by her side and causing Lucy to doubt herself at every turn.
As a wealthy woman, made famous by Eliza appearing in her crime novels, she finds her husband has purchased a new house for them right back where she does not want to be.
Dan gets a little over-involved with some of the neighbours and then goes missing and in the course of the investigation into his disappearance her past and the lies she told are exposed and unwound in an unexpected way.
The book is unsettling and uneasy in many places and it is easy to see how Lucy gets herself entangled in fiction and lies to hide her past.