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Staff Pick
Detective Constable Cat Kinsella has always suspected her father had something to do with the disappearance of a young woman back in 1998. Investigating the recent death of a woman found near her father’s old pub is bringing back all her old suspicions. This whodunit is riveting, full of great characters. plot twists, and family drama. Recommended By Jennifer H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family's past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.
Your father is a liar. But is he a killer?
Even liars tell the truth...sometimes.
Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she's never been able to banish these ghosts. When she's called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn't get out much, has been found strangled.
Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice's husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat — her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn't telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth?
Determined to close the two cases, Cat rushes headlong into the investigation, crossing ethical lines and trampling professional codes. But in looking into the past, she might not like what she finds....
Review
“[A] taut, psychologically twisted debut...Readers will root for the spiky Kinsella, with her emphatic center, and hope to see more of her in future books.” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
“Cat’s evolution from one-dimensional sad sack to complex, honest adult is both believable and welcome, putting her on par with Susie Steiner’s and Tana French’s female detectives. A truly satisfying — and gritty — mystery.” Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
“This remarkable debut features detective Cat Kinsella, who still experiences ‘constant low-level dread’ from festering family secrets. When a body is discovered near her dad’s London pub, Cat shakes off the fear that once ‘muzzled’ her, and unleashes herself on the investigation.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Review
“A blistering debut from a major new voice. I couldn’t put it down. Authentic, compelling, unflinching and tender and written with real verve and assurance.” Erin Kelly, author of Broadchurch and He Said She Said
Review
“Sweet Little Lies is a tremendous debut. Caz Frear delivers on a compelling premise with taut prose, snappy dialogue, and a fresh, confident voice. Highly recommended!” Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife
About the Author
Caz Frear grew up in Coventry, England, and spent her teenage years dreaming of moving to London and writing a novel. After fulfilling her first dream, it wasn’t until she moved back to Coventry thirteen years later that the second finally came true. She has a degree in History & Politics, and when she’s not agonizing over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at Arsenal football matches or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about. Sweet Little Lies is her first novel.