3 1/2 stars. I believe this is the first book that I have read by the author but I do have a couple of more on my tbr list.

In the book, House of Lies, there is Emma and Paul a married couple. There is an accident at work that Paul gets blamed for and Paul also has an affair with a woman he works with. Paul decides his family needs a vacation and then that evolves into that they need a fresh start so he purchases a farmhouse in France that needs some renovations. He sends Emma on ahead to France while he ties up some things back home. Emma leaves behind her son Owen, and eventually Emma, Paul and Mollie are in France together for that fresh new start, however, that fresh start doesn't really happen, because there is a relationship under stress, secrets, betrayals, emotional issues, guilt, financial issues, little events that are concerning and then outright danger. There are twists and turns but I am not going to give spoilers but I did like how it wrapped up in the end. This is more of a slower paced domestic thriller with characters that have complicated flawed relationships.

Thank you Netgalley and DP Books for the complimentary copy of the story.

A slow burner domestic psychological thriller full of secrets, lies and twists! 🏡👀

Emma and Paul move to France with their daughter to renovate a farmhouse, hoping for a fresh start, but soon find themselves dealing with secrets, betrayal and growing danger.

There were so many secrets and little twists that kept me guessing, and I was constantly changing my mind about who I could trust. I flew through this one because I just needed to know what was really going on!

If you love a twisty domestic thriller packed with lies, secrets and plenty of suspicion, definitely give this one a go! 📖❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of *House of Lies* before publication. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

*House of Lies* is an atmospheric domestic thriller about a family searching for a fresh start, only to discover that moving abroad cannot erase the secrets and problems they have left behind. Emma relocates to rural France with her husband, Paul, and their young daughter, Mollie, where they plan to renovate an old ruin and create a happier, more secure life. However, Emma is forced to leave her son, Owen, behind in England, and the guilt surrounding that decision follows her into their new home.

The French countryside provides an effective backdrop for the story. The property initially represents freedom and possibility, but the scale of the renovation, their increasing financial difficulties and the family’s isolation soon make it feel more like a trap. As strange incidents begin occurring around the house, Emma becomes convinced that somebody is watching them or deliberately trying to frighten her. The more concerned she becomes, the less certain she is that Paul believes her.

The tension within Emma and Paul’s marriage is one of the strongest aspects of the novel. Their new beginning has been built on unresolved disagreements and information they have not shared honestly with one another. Financial pressure and the demands of the renovation gradually expose those weaknesses, while Emma’s separation from Owen adds another emotional strain. The novel effectively shows how quickly trust can deteriorate when both partners suspect the other is concealing something.

Emma is a sympathetic but occasionally frustrating protagonist. Her concern for her children and her growing sense of danger are understandable, but some of her choices make the situation more complicated than necessary. The story develops through dual perspectives, allowing the reader to recognise that neither Emma nor Paul necessarily possesses the full truth. This creates uncertainty about whether the threat comes from outside the family or from the secrets already existing within it.

The pacing is relatively measured, particularly during the early sections dealing with the move and renovation. The atmosphere becomes increasingly unsettling as unexplained incidents accumulate, and the later chapters move much more quickly. There are several twists involving the family’s past and the real reason their supposedly idyllic new life is beginning to collapse. Some revelations were effective, while others required suspension of disbelief or felt slightly overcomplicated.

Overall, *House of Lies* is an engaging domestic thriller with an evocative French setting, complicated family relationships and a steady atmosphere of paranoia. Although the pacing was uneven in places and not every development felt entirely convincing, I remained interested in uncovering the family’s secrets and discovering who Emma could trust. It will appeal to readers who enjoy troubled marriages, isolated properties, buried guilt and fresh starts that turn increasingly dangerous.

Thank you Net Galley for an Advanced Reader Copy of House of Lies by Helen Matthews.
Paul and Emma have a seemingly happy marriage and are raising their young daughter, Mollie and Emma's son, Owen together in England. When an employee is killed due to a work place accident, and the blame falls on Paul, he does what he thinks is necessary to clear his name-even if that means partnering with Genevieve, a beautiful single woman he works with. He puts his family in debt wining and dining his mistress and begins to lose track of his lies. He is given time off from work while an investigation is started to see who is at fault. He decides to take his family on holiday to France. Although he is preoccupied with Genevieve, he wants his marriage to work out. He decides to buy a run down estate in France that he can s to fix up for his and relocate to. Paul believes by moving to France he can get himself, and his family away from Genevieve. Wrong! This story started out pretty slow-the first 100 pages had me wondering if this book was actually going to be a thriller. It was predictable when Eve showed up in the village and befriended Emma that is was Genevieve. The twist at the end was good-I didn't see it coming.
I thought the character development could have been better. Paul was a sniveling creep throughout the book. Genevieve was a predictable psychopath. Although Emma started out co-dependent, she did stick up for herself in the end. She should have gone back to England to see Owen and work things out before Christmas, no matter what Paul's excuses were.. 3 out of 5 stars.

House of Lies by Helen Matthews is a domestic thriller set against the deceptively idyllic backdrop of the homely French countryside.

When Paul ends up under investigation for a tragic accident at the building site he was in charge of, he makes the decision to purchase a ruined French cottage and relocate the family to France. His wife, Emma, handily studied French at university before she had to drop out when she fell pregnant with her son from her first marriage. Although she has some valid concerns, she ultimately ends up in France alone as Paul needs to take up work in England.

Matthews does a fantastic job of using the isolation of the French countryside to create a slow burning realisation that something is wrong and deeply unsettling. Switching between the alternating viewpoints of Emma and Paul gives us opposing insights into their unravelling relationship. The novel, which is set mainly in 2016, also weaves in a topical edge by tying the narrative to post-Brexit uncertainty for British expats.

Emma is a sympathetic protagonist who clearly wants to do the best for her family but she comes across as a bit of a wet blanket. In the end she does manage to stick up for herself but I spent most of the time frustrated at how blind she was to everything going on. Paul, on the other hand, is a deeply unlikeable man – he is a thoroughly infuriating, cliched husband whose sole trait seems to be wanting to have his cake and eat it, too all while making things as bad as he can for his family.

There are multiple predictable character arcs, especially the mysterious Eve. It is glaringly obvious who Eve is long before the reveal. While she serves as the resident psychopath, her character also feels cliched – especially the bit of unearned salvation.

Although the book is well written and kicks off with a fast pace the story stumbles a bit in its execution as it progresses. After a strong start, the narrative sags considerably in the middle before picking up again as the novel draws to a close.

However, despite an interesting premise, the plot ultimately doesn’t go anywhere satisfying, culminating in a very lame ending. A very generous 3 star read.

A tension-filled thriller with a fantastic, evocative setting! 🇫🇷✨ Really enjoyed diving into House of Lies by Helen Matthews, out on 27th August.

The dual POV worked brilliantly here, giving us a front-row seat to both sides of the story while the suspense steadily built up. The clever little twists throughout kept the plot moving at a great pace and had me constantly turning the pages, eager to piece together what was really going on. Moving to a derelict French farmhouse for a fresh start sounds idyllic on the surface, but the underlying family drama, financial strain, and lingering secrets made it such an intriguing, tense read! 📚👀

(Quick note for thriller lovers: this is a revised new edition of the previously published title Lies Behind the Ruin!)

A big thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the early digital review copy. 📱✨

#HouseofLies #NetGalley #HelenMatthews #UKBookstagram #BookReview

After Paul is being investigated for the death of a worker on his company' s work site, he starts planning for a new life in France.
Emma has a son from a previous relationship and a young daughter from her marriage to Paul. She is no stranger to hardship and feels that she has finally found happiness with Paul. She agrees to move to France with Paul even though she loses her son in the process. Once in France she buys a rundown bar and tries to start a new life.
When the renovations to their house takes longer than expected, Paul decides to return home to raise more money.The problem is that he also returns to the coworker he has been having an affair with.
The book is well written with just enough twists to keep your interest. The ending was a little expected but didn't seem quite finished. I would like to have known what happened to the characters afterwards.

3.25 stars from me. I did enjoy the storyline of this novel. Following the lines of friendship and betrayal you never know who you should really trust that inserts themselves into your life. The story was good and the ending was exactly what I had hoped it to be!
Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC to read and review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I love the plot of getting a new (to you) house to renovate for a fresh start. Lots of stress involved! This was a bit slow for me, I like fast paced thrillers. I did appreciate the twists.

A Story of Secrets, Betrayal and One Woman Who Just Kept Going

The early chapters had me imagining a derelict ruin in the French countryside, a new life, and perhaps a little romance woven into the story. It didn't take long for that picture to change. This is a thriller, and the sense of unease gradually creeps in as secrets, manipulation and increasingly difficult situations begin to unfold.

I really enjoyed the author's writing. The story creates a strong sense of place and atmosphere, but more importantly, the writing made me feel. There were times when I was frustrated, angry, uncomfortable and desperate to know what would happen next. Whatever my feelings about some of the characters, I can't deny that the author succeeded in getting a very strong reaction from me.

I particularly enjoyed the use of dual perspectives. Rather than simply alternating between the two viewpoints in a predictable pattern, the chapters move between them at different points in the story, allowing each perspective to add something to the unfolding narrative. Seeing events from both sides gave me a much fuller picture of what was happening and gradually revealed things that I hadn't necessarily understood from the other perspective.

And then there was the male protagonist. I found him increasingly frustrating as the story progressed. There were so many moments when I wanted to shake him and tell him to grow a backbone! His decisions – and sometimes his complete lack of them – tested my patience enormously. What was particularly interesting about having his perspective was that, rather than making me reconsider my feelings towards him, it often reinforced them. I found myself becoming even more frustrated with his choices.

There is another character whose behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, but I don't want to say too much because discovering their role in the story is part of the experience. This creates a very different kind of tension, and some of the situations surrounding them made for very uncomfortable reading.

And that was the strange thing about this book for me: I didn't enjoy it, but I couldn't stop reading it. The story keeps adding complications, secrets and revelations, and the tension steadily builds. I was frequently frustrated by the characters, but I always wanted to know what happened next. The writing is powerful enough to pull those reactions from the reader, and I think the author deserves credit for creating characters capable of provoking such strong feelings.

The character who will linger longest in my mind, though, is Emma. Whatever was put in front of her, she kept going. When one problem was overcome, another appeared. When life became harder, she adapted and found another way forward. She kept putting one foot in front of the other, even when she had every reason to feel overwhelmed.

What I loved about her journey was watching her gradually discover a strength and independence that perhaps she didn't realise she possessed. She doesn't have an easy path through this story, but she keeps moving forward.

She just kept going.

And ultimately, that is what I will take away from this book.

I can't honestly say that I enjoyed the journey, because I didn't. There were characters who tested my patience beyond measure, and events that made for very uncomfortable reading. But I appreciated the writing, the atmosphere, the dual perspectives and the way the story kept me turning the pages. Most of all, I will remember Emma – not because everything was easy for her, but because whatever life put in front of her, she kept going.

👩🏻‍💻 MoMoBookDiary (2026)