Deception by Lesley Pearse

Deception by Leslie Pearse.

Published in paperback 25th May 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

No one wants to believe their mother is a liar . . .

After her mother's funeral, Alice Kent is approached by a man who insists he's her real father. Initially upset and disbelieving, Alice soon discovers that tugging at this loose thread unravels the expertly woven tapestry of lies which was her mother Sally's life.

Faced with this staggering deception, Alice decides she must learn the whole, terrible truth about her mother.

But is she prepared for the dark journey back to Sally's traumatic childhood and the evil forces which came to shape the woman who claimed to love her?

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To mark the paperback publication of Deception by Lesley Pearse, it is my pleasure to bring you an extract from Chapter One the book.

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As she came off the A38 at the Dartington and Totnes turn-off, she glanced into her mirror. There, almost hanging onto her bumper, she saw a black Jaguar with a male driver. 

When people tailgated her she always wished she had a pop-up neon sign in the back window, saying, ‘Get back, arsehole’, to flash at them. 

She slowed down, pulling as far to the left as she could to let him pass her. The road ahead soon became narrow and winding with many overhanging trees, and she wanted him gone instead of annoying her for the rest of the journey to the church. But he didn’t pass her: he stayed right on her tail.  

As she approached St Mary’s she realized she had at least fifteen minutes before she needed to be there so she drove on past, into Dartington, negotiated a roundabout at speed and pulled up on the forecourt of a shop. 

Looking behind, she saw she’d lost him. He must have gone straight on into Totnes. Rather pleased with herself, she drove slowly back to the church. The sun had come out on the drive down from Bristol, and it had been good to see lambs in the fields and primroses on some of the grass verges. It had seemed a very long winter, made worse by the knowledge that her mother was dying. But it was good that the sun chose to shine today, bringing back memories of Sunday school at St Mary’s with Emily, the Christmas and Easter services with their parents. 

In the last two years her mother and father had started to attend church every Sunday. She and Emily had wondered why ‒ they had never seemed particularly religious before. Maybe it was because of the cancer: perhaps their mum had hoped that having a word with the Almighty each week would help.  

There were at least twenty vehicles in the car park already, and a few people smiled at her, but Alice didn’t stop to speak to anyone. She went straight up to the church to await the hearse and her family. Standing in the spring sunshine, looking out across fields, she felt at peace for the first time in weeks. She knew that the service, the hymns and the vicar speaking of her mother would make her cry, and it would be hard to watch her father and Emily grieving too, but she was focusing on her mother’s last request: ‘Be glad for me that its almost over, Alice. I’ve had my life. Get on with your own now, and tell Ralph and Emily to do the same.’ 

The hearse approached, and the remaining people outside the church scuttled inside. The doors of the second car opened and her family spilled out.  

Dad looked teary-eyed as did Emily, whose three children, Ruby, Jasmine and Toby, bounded up to Alice. ‘We were worried about you,’ Ruby said. Alice and Emily had recently nicknamed her Miss Sensible: although she was only ten she was motherly and very bossy.

‘I was afraid if I came out to the house, you might have left already,’ Alice said, taking the hands of Ruby and Jasmine to get them to follow the pall bearers into the church. She kissed her father, and left Mike, her brother in-law, to go with him, Toby and Emily. 

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Deception is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook, paperback and audio formats. 

Thank you to Ed PR for inviting me to take part in the celebrations for paperback publication.

About the author:

International bestselling author Lesley Pearse has lived a life as rich with incidents, setbacks and joys as any found in her novels.

Resourceful, determined and willing to have a go at almost anything, Lesley left home at sixteen. By the mid sixties she was living in London, sharing flats, partying hard and married to a trumpet player in a jazz-rock band. She has also worked as a nanny and a Playboy bunny, and designed and made clothes to sell to boutiques.

It was only after having three daughters that Lesley began to write. The hardships, traumas, close friends and lovers from those early years were inspiration for her beloved novels. She published her first book at forty-nine and has not looked back since.

Lesley is still a party girl.