The Liar's Sister
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Sarah A. Denzil
Bookouture
September 24 2019
ebook
298
English
August 25, 2019 August 28, 2019
Ten years ago Samuel Murray went missing from the small village of Buckthorpe and was never found again. A quiet boy who loved walking in the woods and tending the animals on his parents’ farm. Family, friends and neighbours all say they didn’t see him on the dark, rainy night he disappeared. But surely someone in the close-knit community must know something?
Rosie Sharpe cried for weeks after. But her little sister Heather knows that Rosie’s tears hide the truth. Because the night their friend Samuel was last seen, Heather saw her older sister climbing back into the window of their childhood bedroom. Her jacket torn, her eyes wild and her body trembling with fear.
Heather has never told anyone what she saw, but secrets can’t stay buried forever…
When Rosie and Heather are forced to return to the home they grew up in, to spend the last days with their dying mother, they must confront what really happened a decade ago. But the people of Buckthorpe make it clear they are unwelcome – they’ve always suspected the girls knew more than they said about the night Samuel went missing. And as the shocking lies of the past begin to unravel, they have the power to put the lives of both sisters in terrible danger…
This twist-filled, page-turning psychological thriller will keep you hooked until the final, jaw-dropping pages.
About the book
I would like to thank NetGalley and the author for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Liar’s Sister talks about the conflict between two families in a small, narrow-minded village. The two families are the Sharpes and the Murrays, who have known each other for a lifetime, but the secrets that exist between the various members lead to a split that has lasted for ten years. On one side there are two sisters, the main characters of the book Heather and Rosie and on the other side Samuel and his adopted brother Peter. Ten years ago something happened, something serious and obscure enough that will put the two sisters in danger.
The book starts with a letter that Heather writes to her older sister Rosie and here we discover a fact that will be the main theme of the whole book. In fact, ten years ago Samuel disappeared and Heather is sure her sister knew something. Both return to bid farewell to the dying mother and at the funeral the two are treated coldly, but Heather wonders why she, too, is treated poorly and knows that everything started by Samuel’s disappearance and therefore wants to shed light on what happened. But will it be a smart move? Or will she only endanger herself?
I read Only Daughter by the author and bought Silent Child so when I saw this book on Netgalley I had to request it.
I must say that I like the story because I like the case and it is quite complex. The case is like a puzzle and a small piece is given at the time and until the end you don’t have a complete picture of what really happened. Throughout the story the author gives that little extra information but it isn’t explained till later and I really like that. I also like the style of the author, narrating everything in first person and mixing past and present to the end. The present is narrated by Heather and the past by Rosie.
Heather is the one who reflects, Rosie the one who acts before thinking, Heather takes no risks, instead risk and danger are Rosie’s middle names. The country in which they lived as children and where they return to bury their mother doesn’t seem like a country where I would like to live. The bashful people subjugated by a person who should not do that job, I would run away like hell, instead Heather wants to stay to understand what happened. I don’t understand her. Of course without this, the book would not exist.
The only thing I don’t like about the book is Heather, in fact. I couldn’t stand her from mid-book onward. But despite everything, I adore Rosie, the “bad” sister, despite all she did, I find her a complex and strong character. I like the rivalry between the two families, why Rosie did what she did, all in all it was not easy to understand even though I understood the truth, without revealing it here, the rest was not easy to understand.
I like the fact that the book begins and ends with a letter.
I recommend this book.
