I mean, what do I say here? Karin Slaughter just knows what she’s doing. Always an amazing time with her books and this was no different! I loved it and thank you for letting me read it!

I love author Karin Slaughter, but being honest I haven't kept up with all these novels so I read This is Why We Lied as a sort of standalone novel and it made sense.

Main characters Will and Sara are newly married and for their honeymoon they are off to the lovely yet remote McAlpine Lodge. Run by the McAlpine family who learn are not exactly close knit and the parents of Mercy are planning to sell the lodges and Mercy is not happy.

There are other couples on the week long trip and we are thrust immediately in to a dead body being found - that of Mercy McAlpine and Will and Sara are on the hunt for how it happened.

This is a fast-paced novel with a fair few different characters and I really enjoyed it.

The characters are exactly how I remembered and it has left me feeling like I need to go and read the novels that I missed.

Excellent writing by author Karin Slaughter which many people will enjoy.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for letting me have an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is Why I Lied Karin Slaughter

5 stars

This is one of many books involving Will Trent, a Georgia FBI agent and Sara Linton a Medical Examiner. I have read 5 of these books and have seen how their relationship has grown and at the beginning of this book they have finally got married and are honeymooning at the idyllic McAlpine Family Lodge.

On the very first night of their honeymoon, one of the owners of the lodge, Mercy McAlpine is found murdered in a particularly vicious way. Her whole family are totally dysfunctional, her parents, her brother, her ex-husband, her son all of whom could be guilty of her murder for various reasons but there are also 6 other guests with motives.

Will cannot help but become involved and as the story unravels it reveals what an awful life Mercy has lived and how anyone of her family or the guests could have been responsible for her murder. Ms Slaughter is always a great read if you are not put off by graphic descriptions of violence both physically, sexually and mentally. I really enjoyed this book, the characters, although unpleasant are brilliantly described and the ending was shocking.

I just hope that Will and Sara get to enjoy a second honeymoon with less drama in the next book but, somehow I don’t think that will happen!

Karen Deborah
Reviewer for Net galley

When honeymooners Will and Sara arrive at their honeymoon destination, a remote and rural lodge in the mountains, it seems idyllic. However, it soon becomes clear that the family-run place is a business in conflict as the McAlpine family struggle through historical and new conflicts. When a body is found, the finger of blame can be pointed in multiple directions. But who had the most motive for the cruel and vicious death of owner Mercy and why?

This was an interesting narrative with lots of flits between chronology and perspective of different characters. The backstop of the McAlpine family is complicated but this added to the confusion of who could have committed the murder - family or guests.

A little slow in places but overall a real page turner.

Thanks to the author, Harper Vollins and @Netgalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

Only read one other book by this author, so gave this one a go. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. However, I'm afraid I didn't love it. It was fine. I did like Will as a character and his new wife, but I felt the overall plot was far too long and complicated for what turned out to be a simple ending. Did I guess it? No, but looking back now it was obvious. I didn't like any of the other characters either. I found myself skipping big paragraphs because there was too many descriptions and not enough action moving the plot forwards. However, this is my personal feelings of the book and I can see many lovers of the author racing through it.

This is the second Will Trent and Sara Linton book I have read and preferred this one to the previous book. Karin Slaughter is a Sunday Times bestselling author and as such will gain many readers of this genre. I found the twists and turns in this book slightly confusing at times and as with the previous book I think it could have been edited down a little. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

This Is Why We Lied is essentially a locked room murder set on a mountain resort in Georgia. If you haven't read Karin Slaughter's series on Dr Sara Linton and her new husband GBI Agent Will Trent, a lot of this book will go over your head. I find with this series that it continually reverts back to Will's awful childhood and the repercussions of that. At this stage of the series it's getting boring and predictable. However, I did read this and for the most part it was fine but just fine. Our victim is Mercy McAlpine, she runs the lodge where Will and Sara are honeymooning. There are a host of characters who had reason to be angry with Mercy, her ex husband and extended family in particular. Virtually everyone there is a suspect and remain in situ until the killer is caught. Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy.

I've read a few of the Will and Sara series now and have to say that this one was by far the worst so far.
My opinion was that it appeared to be a bit dumber down compared to normal with lots of repetition outlining the current facts by bringing in new characters or reflecting on the situation by the present protagonists. It did get a little annoying in this regard in the end.

Will and Sara have finally got married and despite the setting of an idyllic honeymoon ahead on a remote resort a murder straight away gets them back to their normal routine. The vast majority of the book then unravels around the family that live and run the resort plus a few different people staying at the resort at the time.
You get narration from lots of different characters, a few too many if totally honest.

Overall this one didn't quite grab me. There were a few twists and turns in working out who the murderer was and a rather sad underlying theme around the victim and her family but this was the weakest Karin Slaughter book I've read unfortunately.

5/5 - I’m not sure Karin Slaughter can write a bad book! I was so excited to get an ARC copy prior to release, I’ve read all the Will Trent and Grant Counties series and this latest book in the series is so good. Will and Sara have finally gotten married and are on honeymoon and find themselves investigating a murder. The usual twists and turns and I just couldn’t put the book down. The characters are all excellent and I hope there is many many more books to come in this series!

An interesting novel with lots of suspects that could have carried out a murder in a remote location.i found it a good read although I did find the storyline a bit repetitive. Keeps you in suspense but.,a somewhat disappointing ending. Still worth a read..

Fan’s of Karin Slaughter will be eagerly awaiting this book.It feels different to her previous books. Maybe because it’s a ‘locked room’ mystery. 

Of course, Will and Sara couldn’t just enjoy their honeymoon. In fact, the honeymoon was off pretty much before it started. 

Will and Sara fight against the elements, fellow guests, the residents of McAlpine Lodge, locals and try to solve the crime. 

There is definitely no shortage of suspects: despicable parents, ex-husband, aunt, brother's friend. It could be any of them. 

In my mind, it’s always the least expected. There were a few red flags throughout the book, and I was right with my choice of suspect. What I didn’t get right was the reason for it, and it left me reeling

The letters that Mercy wrote to her son Jon tug at your heartstrings. The McAlpine are the most vile family I have ever encountered. 

Please be aware of the triggers if you are reading the book. Karin Slaughter doesn’t shy away from heavy subject matters, and it’s a dark story. 

I highly recommend This is Why We Lied to anyone who enjoys complex & dark thrillers that will leave you reeling.

I love all Karin Slaughter books and particularly the Will and Sara stories. This is an un put downable book, with Will and Sara on honeymoon at the remote McAlpine lodge estate. The McAlpine family who run the lodges are a mixed bag and things soon turn sinister when the daughter Mercy McAlpine is murdered and everyone is a suspect.
Will and Sara are soon involved in trying to discover the killer with lots of twists and turns, loads of action, a great read and a real page turner.
Look forward to the next book in this fantastic series from the terrific Karin Slaughter.

Will thinks he is taking his new wife,Sarah, to the perfect mountain retreat for their honeymoon. The lodges are only reachable by hiking in. The site has been owned by the McAlpine family for years and therefore there are many secrets. When Mercy the daughter who now runs the site is murdered, Will, who is a detective and Sarah,a medical expert soon find that finding the killer is a much harder job than they expected and ofen puts their own lives at risk. Just when you think you have solved it..............

Whoa. This is one of those books that gives me pause... I've never been a huge Karin Slaughter fan, not because I don't like her books, but more because I haven't read many of them, and those I did read were years ago. (Maybe starting on Book 12 of the Will Trent series wasn't the best idea, although I'm not sure it matters).

I'm also not sure I'll pick up the first, at least not for a while. The story started off slowly, and to be honest I thought 'ho hum' more than once. But when it picked up, well. It was horror after horror. These are unspeakably awful people, I cannot stress that enough.

You need a fairly strong constitution to process these characters, so if you have triggers - sexual abuse, child abuse, drug abuse, rape, extreme violence against women and children - anything vaguely along those lines - this isn't for you. I always look out for animal abuse, if there is even a sniff of it I give it a wide berth.

There was nothing like that in This is Why We Lied. Having said that... Let's just say I got through most of it fairly unscathed, but one particular incident gave me pause. And more than a few hours of going between despair and horror (there were a few but this was especially awful). Side note, my extreme thirst for vengeance sadly wasn't fulfilled on this point, which I feel was a bit of a loose end on the author's part. I can't say who or what as it will spoil it, but oh my, had I been there eye drops, kitchen knives and rope burns would have been the least of their concerns. Just saying.

There is that class or genre of books that really cuts to the chase of human nature, I'm not sure what you call it. Tall Bones, The Last Thing To Burn, The Dry, that ilk... this veers that way. It's shocking, it's sad and it's very, very brutal. A curve ball was thrown in at the end that I did not see coming. But in retrospect perhaps I should have. I'm still turning the events over in my mind, even though I finished the book two days ago. That tells me something. I might pick up the first Will and Sara book after all.

Wow! We are now at book 12 of the Will Trent series, but also remember that before Will Trent, there was Sara Linton and the Grant County series, the two merging after the 3rd/7th with Genesis. So if you want to play catch-up, there's a fair few to do it with. But it's worth it...
Anyway, if you have read the previous books, you'll know that the last one featured Sara and her past. This one flips to Will and his. We meet a face from his past which kinda forces him to face some things. All at the same time as the two of them trying to solve a case. But I get ahead of myself a bit there. We start with Will and Sara are married - yay - and setting off on their honeymoon. One which Will has organised. A secluded cabin retreat accessible by a substantial hike. It is a family run concern and offers off grid seclusion as well as rural activities. A great place to relax and unwind and, connect!
Until during a dip in the lake, Will and Sara hear a blood curdling scream... They rush to assist and find a burning building and also Mercy McAlpine, the manager, about to die, having been stabbed.
Having previously tried to hide their law enforcement connections, Will and Sara have to fess up in order to start investigations. They have no choice as the retreat is cut off by storms and it'll be a while before assistance will arrive. But as they start to question the rest of the family and the other guests, it becomes clear that this is no open and shut case.
I do love Sara and Will. Especially Will, as his challenges bring out the nurturing instinct in me. As they do with Sara. They work well together as a team and this is definitely challenged herein as Will's past rears its ugly head in the shape of a fellow care-home boy who made his life difficult.
With more than its fair share of secrets, lies and dysfunctional behaviour, with a healthy dollop of obfuscation, they sure do have their work cut out for them as they try and work out what has happened, as the body count continues to rise.
I love everything about this book. The characters, the setting, the story. The pacing is consistent throughout, matching the narrative all the way through. There is a claustrophobic undertone which adds to the suspense and the whole thing kept my attention and indeed kept me guessing all the way through, all the way to the final, most satisfying conclusion.
In fact, the only bad thing about this book was coming to the end and realising that I would once again have to say goodbye to Will and Sara and wait patiently for the next book.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Sara and Will have just got married and now Will has taken them on a hike up a mountain to Sara's annoyance as she thinks they'll miss their flight to the secret location Will has booked for their honeymoon. She is then delighted to discover that the mountain lodge hideaway they reach is their destination. However, events of their first night, after meeting the other occupants, reveal some strange relationships in the MacAlpine family who own and run the lodge. When Will discovers Mercy, the daughter of the owners dying on the lakeshore late that night , he and Sara are dragged into a strange world of hate, incest, lies and abuse. This is not a gentle read, but very dark and grips the reader from the start.

As Tolstoy noted, “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. The McAlpine family illustrate this, in spades; they all hate each other, but historical circumstances mean they have to work and live together. For generations they have lived in the southern Appalachians, a few hours from Atlanta, Georgia, running an upmarket outdoor lodge. Until a few years ago it was run by Cyril (known as Papa), a violent, abusive, coercive pater familias, now chair bound following an accident, but still as domineering as he can be. The rest of the family are: Bitty, his mean, vindictive wife, Christopher, their weak willed, incel son, Mercy, their daughter, a former alcoholic, ex-junkie but now straight and successfully running the Lodge, Dave, their adopted son who combines all the worst features of the family, a violent, abusive, coercive, mean, vindictive, alcoholic, junkie, thief. Also wife-beater, since he is ‘married’ to Mercy. The youngest member of the family is Jon, Mercy and Dave’s sixteen-year-old son, born when she was fifteen and Dave was eighteen.
Will Trent, a Special Agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, has just married Dr Sara Linton, Medical Examiner for the GBI. She organised the wedding and he organised the honeymoon. When he booked a cabin at the Lodge he was, of course, unaware of the family dynamic, but it didn’t take long to realise that they were not ‘The Waltons’. The newly-weds had booked in as a mechanic and a chemistry teacher, and were determined to keep a low profile, enjoy the delights of the area and have eyes only for each other. This plan lasts until late on their first night when, responding to a scream, Will discovers Mercy with multiple stab wounds and breathing her last. Realising that the local Sherrif is an incompetent with too much of a link to the family, Will calls in the GBI, in the form of Faith, his usual partner, and Amanda, his boss. For technical reasons, Will cannot work the case but that isn’t likely to stop him. So whodunnit? Given the isolated location, opportunity must be the first factor to be considered, method and motive will come later. The killer is almost certainly still around, either one of the family( 5), one of the staff (4), a visiting aunt (1), Christopher’s live in friend (1) or one of the other guests (8). Eighteen suspects! That’s as many as “Murder on the Orient Express” (8) plus “Then There Were None” (10).
It is not surprising, therefore, that this is a very long story, although it does move relative quickly in time. I think it could have been a bit tighter. The writing is very strong (which is par for the course) and the violence is frequently quite graphic (that’s also par for the course). This is the 12th book to feature Will, Sara, Amanda and Faith but it is perfectly readable on its own, since enough background is given to enable a new reader to engage with these four, and understand how their personal histories influence the way they respond. It is quite hard to solve, but I wasn’t surprised by the resolution. It’s a good edition to the Slaughter Canon, but not the best, so I’ve given it 4.5 which will round to 5.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Karin Slaughter, where have you been all my life ? I realized after starting this book that it must be part of a series but that didn't lessen my enjoyment, I was totally engrossed from the first page.
GBI Investigator, Will Trent had surprised his new wife, Medical Examiner, Sara Lindon, with a honeymoon at luxury, McAlpine Lodge, complete relaxation, miles away from anywhere, hiking, swimming, fishing, horse riding and gazing at the stars, it was a place that Will had dreamed of since being a disturbed child in a care home.
The magic didn't last long when, after hearing a scream, Will found the mutilated, dying body of Mercy McAlpine, the Lodge manager.
This wasn't the honeymoon that Will envisaged, he was back in work mode with a bang.
This story unfolds to uncover a totally dysfunctional family, the controlling mother, the crippled, abusive and cruel father, the silent brother, his creepy friend and Mercy's ex, abusive, greedy Dave and her troubled, disturbed son, Jon, no one liked Marcy, everyone had a reason to want her dead, throw into the mix the other guests, all having their own agenda and this story hits the stratosphere.
This is a roller coaster journey, there are so many suspects, all of whom I had pinned as the murderer at some point. This story has nail biting suspense, it throws red herrings from all directions, it covers so many emotive subjects. I loved the authors description of the dangerous but beautiful terrain and I really loved the characters and the fact that I had no idea whodunit until the end and just how evil this family was.
A well earned five stars and I look forward to reading more of this authors work.
Thank you Net Gallery and Harper Collins for this preview copy, my review is totally voluntary.

Love the Sara and Will series. Plenty of thrills and a quick and easy read. Great characters. Enjoy the style of writing. Plenty to keep you enthralled. Look forward to the next instalment. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for chance to review it.

It took me a while to get into this book and it was surprising considering I really love Karin Slaughter.

There was so many twists and turns in this book that if felt interminable and most of the characters weren’t likeable. But I did enjoy finding out the family’s messed up past and I also didn’t firgure out who was the killer was untill the big reveal.

Overall it was a nice book but definitely not my favorite.

Thank you Karin Slaughter, HaperCollins UK and Netgalley for a digital ARC copy.

#ThisIsWhyWeLied #NetGalley