The Liars by Katherine Fleet

 

The Liars by Katherine Fleet.

Published 15th August 2024 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

I thought I saw her today. Down by the water. It was her hair I noticed. Do you ever see her, Lex? Does she haunt you too?

I haven’t been back to Eos since I first met my step-sister, Lex. It’s been twenty-five years since that summer.
Since we went from strangers to sisters. Since Abigail went missing.

Since we told the first lie..

Now we’re back together on the island. So much has changed since we were teenagers. We’ve both tried to move on from the past – from each other. But the island won’t let us escape our secrets.

Only me and Lex know the truth about Abigail. We’ve been living a lie for so long. And if the truth comes out – neither of us will survive it . . .

***********

Zoe has not been to Eos since the summer her mother married Richard, and she met her step-sister, Lex. Twenty-five years have now passed, and Zoe is returning to the island for her step-father's funeral, and an uncomfortable reunion with Lex, who became a stranger after the events of those fateful few weeks.

Back together on the island, teenage memories come flooding back, heightening the already tense situation. The weight of things unsaid between Zoe and Lex is unbearable, and the island refuses to let their secrets stay in the past. They know a lot more about the case of Abigail, the girl who went missing that fateful summer, than they have admitted - and now the case has attracted fresh attention, just one wrong move may expose the lies they told, and bring their lives crashing down...

The story unfurls in simmering slow-burn in dual timelines, flipping between the events surrounding Zoe and Lex's first meeting twenty-five years ago (Then), and the story that plays out following their reunion on Eos for Richard's funeral (Now). You learn pretty soon that Zoe and Lex are keeping secrets about what happened to awkward Abigail, the girl that came between them, but Fleet keeps you guessing about the full truth until the timelines clash gloriously together.

In a masterclass of plotting, Fleet drops her reveals like the tastiest of breadcrumbs, tugging you on through dysfunctional family dramas, excruciating coming-of-age experiences, and intergenerational strife. The environment is described in lush detail, the characters are deliciously unreliable, and you can cut the tension with a knife as every intense moment commands your attention. 

Fleet knows how to pack a gripping mystery with compelling themes too, weaving in explorations of class, money, blended families, grief, trauma, consent, estrangement, guilt, envy, and memory. And I absolutely loved how she channels mythology and female rage, echoing themes and events in present and past, and examining changes in attitude. She delves nicely into the things that bind as well as those that divide too.

This was so darned good that I consumed it whole, from intriguing beginning to cracking twist and twist again ending.

The Liars is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Katherine Fleet is a writer and author coach for The Novelry. As a journalist, she wrote for The Guardian, Sunday Times, Red, Stella and Grazia. 

She lives in a Cotswold valley with her two rescue dogs, where she writes and coaches full-time.

A trip to the small Greek island of Paxos was the inspiration for The Liars.