This book took a while to get going but it kept me interested to carry on, and I'm glad it did. I've never read one of Karin Slaughter's books before but I definitely will pick up another one. The character development and plot twists made the slow start worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC.

I don't think I could rate any karin slaughter less then 5 stars. Every book keeps me on my toes and I can not put it down until I find out the truth

3.5 rounded to 4.

A tense, atmospheric thriller, This Is Why We Lied delivers classic Karin Slaughter suspense, but doesn’t quite reach the heights of the previous instalment.

✨ A secluded lodge & a chilling murder 💀 Secrets, lies & unreliable narrators 📚 A locked-room mystery with psychological depth

Will Trent and Sara Linton’s honeymoon takes a deadly turn, trapping them in a storm-ravaged lodge with a murderer among the guests. The setup is gripping, but the pacing feels uneven, and some twists lack the shock factor expected from Slaughter’s best thrillers. While the character dynamics remain strong, the mystery unfolds predictably, making the resolution less impactful than anticipated.

If you love tense, character-driven thrillers, this is still an engaging read.

I enjoyed this audiobook, but it didn't set my world alight.
I felt it was slow in parts, and the pacing could have been improved a lot!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Love Karin Slaughter writing, love her pacing and round complex characters. This book fell a little short for me, because I felt it was a little long.
The idea of a “who done it” in a campsite is very reminiscent of 80’s horror films. I felt immersed in the story and I was for the most part invested in the characters too.
A bunch of awful people, no single redeemable person here.

As most books of this kind there are loads of triggers, from generational trauma, to SA, Incest, murder, there are loads of blood scenesm drug and alcohol abuse, so If you are sensitive to those, please skip this book or most of the authors books. Otherwise highly recommend it.

Book 12 in the Will Trent Series but I read it as a stand alone and it was fine. yes it alludes to previous cases but nothing major.

Sara & Will are off on honeymoon. Will has booked them into a lodge by a lake where he always wanted to go as a kid to camp. Mercy, the owner is found brutally unalived by Will during the night and the 2 newlyweds must figure out who dunnit and why.

I really enjoyed the different characters, each one had a motive. Felt so sorry for poor Mercy. I'm going to have to go back to read the rest of the series now.

I really like Karin Slaughter novels, and especially like the continuing Will and Sarah storyline.
This was another great instalment in their saga. My goodness though, they can't even go on their honeymoon without encountering some kind of crime!
Karin Slaughter always produces the goods, you know you're going to get a good read with her!

I enjoyed this book and all its twists and turns to find the killer when almost everyone had a motive, but I cottoned on to who the real killer was quite early on, I was hoping that I’d be wrong and it was just a red herring but it seemed fairly obvious from the beginning. I did still enjoy the story and hadn't really pieced together the motive so it was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Haven’t read any Will Trent books before and soon realised this is an established character although the book did enough to establish his character and people around him. I enjoyed the book but there was some hard themes and you do feel for the characters. I didn’t expect the ending, the book did keep me guessing what really happened to Mercy and I was constantly guessing, the ending did make me feel sad though.

I hadn’t realised this was part of a series but it didn’t matter at all, it worked as well as a standalone. This was a gripping tale of what should have been an idyllic honeymoon gone wrong. There were some difficult themes in this book and the author wrote them well in my view. A complex cast of characters, each with a secret that built to a dramatic climax.

Karin Slaughter reliably delivers exciting books with pacey plots and good characterisation, and this is no exception. This is the 12th in her Will Trent series, and Will and Sara are on honeymoon in an idyllic location in the middle of the mountains, miles from civilization. Of course, being Will and Sara, their honeymoon cannot be straightforward and they are soon caught up in a murder mystery with a cast of dysfunctional guests and toxic family members, any of whom could have been the perpetrator.
Karin Slaughter is very readable, so I expected to enjoy this and I did. Although I guessed the identity of the murderer early on, the plot development was very good and believable.

I hadn’t realised this was book 12 in the series. This did hold up as a stand alone.

Will Trent investigator with the GBI is off on his honeymoon with his new wife Sara, a medical examiner. They’ve arrive at a secluded cabin retreat that can only be reached on foot. With beautiful surroundings, it’s the perfect place to go off grid and unplug from the world.

Will and Sara meet the family running the retreat, which includes Mercy Mcalpine the lodge manager. When a piercing scream is heard and Mercy is found dead, the secrets, history and lies that swirl the mountain start to unravel. With a suspect at every turn Will and Sara discover the truth that has lurked in the darkness for decades.


I enjoyed this book but found the chapters to be ridiculously long with no natural breaks which makes reading the book harder than it should be.

Love Karin slaughters books and each one just gets better than the last! Im always completely hooked and this was no exception! Definitely pick this up as you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough

This is Will Trent story. Will is an agent in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He is on honeymoon with his new wife Sara, a medical examiner. There's a murder, obviously, and they start investigating. It's a dark story about physical and emotional abuse and the murder is pretty brutal. I liked the insight into the character's nature and what motivates them and what demons they are fighting. IT's a good story and I liked it a lot. Would recommend it.

I love Ms Slaughter’s books and this wasn’t a disappointment at all! The setting, the characters, the story line were all executed perfectly! Brilliant read!

This was another gripping Will Trent book focused on a murder discovered whilst Will and Sara were on honeymoon. This proved to be very well plotted with some interesting characters and suspects with plenty of twists as the story unfolded. I struggled to put this book down as it was so compelling and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

This is the first book I’ve read by Karin Slaughter so I’m not familiar with the characters in the series. In this thriller, in which a murder takes place in an exclusive, isolated resort with a limited number of suspects, is full of twists and unexpected reveals. However, I found the writing a bit difficult to get past - it felt more like a student draft than a polished professional finished work. I’m not sure I’ll be coming back for more from this author though I understand she is exceptionally popular so it might just not be for me!

I had never encountered Will Trent before, so not knowing some of the backstories might seem negative. However, you quickly slip into the book's theme, the complexities surrounding Will Trent. A honeymoon in a peaceful place, what could go wrong? A murder, a chaotic family, where does it all lead, and is the past catching up with Will Trent? I am hooked on Will Trent and want to explore more!

Excellent thriller by Karin Slaughter - she never disappoints her readers!!!! The book is a real page turner. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

Not even on their honeymoon can Will and Sara take it easy. Despite keeping a low profile, they are soon pulled into a murder case when a woman is found murdered with plenty of suspects.

I love the Will Trent series, and I was eagerly waiting to read This Is Why We Lied. It's a good book with plenty of nasty people who could easily be the killer. However, I found the pacing a bit slow sometimes; too many times, I felt that I lost a bit of interest in the story.

This Is Why We Lied is a good book, just not one of the best in the series.