What happens when the trust has gone?
Cat Kinsella was always a daddy’s girl. Until the summer of 1998 when she sees her father flirting with seventeen-year-old Maryanne Doyle.
When Maryanne later disappears and Cat’s father denies ever knowing her, Cat’s relationship with him is changed forever.
Eighteen years later, Cat is now a Detective Constable with the Met. Called to the scene of a murder in Islington, she discovers a woman’s body: Alice Lapaine has been found strangled, not far from the pub that Cat’s father runs.
When evidence links Alice to the still missing Maryanne, all Cat’s fears about her father resurface. Could he really be a killer? Determined to confront the past and find out what really happened to Maryanne all those years ago, Cat begins to dig into the case. But the problem with looking into the past is that sometimes you might not like what you find.
For fans of Erin Kelly and Belinda Bauer, Sweet Little Lies is a suspenseful page-turner from a talented new voice.
WINNER OF THE RICHARD AND JUDY SEARCH FOR A BESTSELLER COMPETITION
‘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
‘Debut novels don’t come better than this one, which begs the question – Caz Frear, where have you been?’ RICHARD MADELEY
‘Taut, gripping, surprising and original – a fabulous read’ JUDY FINNIGAN
‘Caz Frear’s ability to write tight, tense dialogue with a dark comedic slant is brilliant. I read Sweet Little Lies in one sitting, it is a terrific debut’ LYNDA LA PLANTE
‘BRILLIANT! Unputdownable and great writing. Recommended’ MARIAN KEYES
‘An astonishingly confident and individual voice’ ANN CLEEVES
My Review: Firstly I need to say OMG is this really a debut? Sweet Little Lies is a cracking thriller, original, pacy, gripping with some fantastic characters that for some inexplicable reason got under my skin.
Cat Kinsella is a Detective Constable on the Murder Team in London who I instantly connected with – not sure if it was her mention of vomiting on the escalators at Brent Cross, living in Radlett or being devastated when Geri left the Spice Girls – but the overall feeling when reading Cat’s story was familiarity. I personally love a book which has alternating chapters and without giving too much away the story begins with the discovery of a female body in a park and Cat realises she knows the victim and has connections going back to 1998 which has shaped her entire life and relationships with her family. However she is determined not to tell her fellow officers the truth (or at least her version of the truth) until she has uncovered the full story.
With a complex but plausible plot, some fabulous dialogue and humour thrown in, Sweet Little Lies really does deserve all the high praise it has received. 4.5 stars
About the Author: Caz Frear grew up in Coventry 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 writing dream finally came true.
She has a first-class degree in History & Politics, which she’s put to enormous use over the years by working as a waitress, shop assistant, retail merchandiser and, for the past twelve years, a headhunter.
When she’s not agonising over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at the TV when Arsenal are playing or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about.
