One More Lie by Amy Lloyd
A thrilling new novel of psychological suspense from the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of The Innocent Wife
Charlotte wants to start fresh. She wants to forget her past, forget prison and, most of all, forget Sean. But old habits die hard. Despite the ankle monitor she must wear as part of her parole agreement and frequent visits to her therapist, she soon finds herself sliding back toward the type of behavior that sent her to prison in the first place. The further down that path she goes, however, the closer she gets to the crime that put her in prison all those years ago. And that’s the one memory she can’t face. Until, one day, Sean tracks her down.
Amy Lloyd won the Daily Mail First Novel competition for her debut, The Innocent Wife. Now she returns with a chilling portrait of a woman trying to be good, even when she isn’t sure she wants to be.
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About the Author
Hello! Thank you for visiting my author’s page. I am the author of two novels: the first is The Innocent Wife, which became a top 10 bestseller and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in 2018. The second is my new novel One More Lie, which will be available in hardback from April 4th.
Both my books are inspired by true crime. By crimes themselves but also, and perhaps more importantly, by our reactions to crime. In The Innocent Wife I wanted to explore our interest in true crime itself, such as our obsession with podcasts like Serial and blockbuster Netflix series like Making a Murderer.
My second novel, One More Lie, is about a woman named Charlotte who has just been released from a secure institution for a crime she committed when she was a child. These cases seem to fascinate and horrify society in a way no other crime does. What is it about the idea of a child being capable of something so awful that stirs up such levels of emotion? And can a child really understand the gravity of such an act as murder?
Writing this book was an attempt to understand how something like this could happen and what it might be like to live with the burden of being infamous, branded as evil and not knowing whether you are a bad person or simply a person who did a bad thing.
It isn’t based on a particular example of a true crime and all the characters and situations are entirely fictional but people will naturally draw comparisons with some of the infamous cases involving children who hurt or killed other children because these stories remain so vivid in our memories. Instead, I wanted to evoke the atmosphere those crimes created and the stain they left on our collective consciousness.
While writing the book, I tried hard to empathise with my characters who have done things which aren’t easy to empathise with. I hoped that readers would be able to do the same and so I wrote them as vividly as I could imagine, in all their good and their bad. I wanted them to be human, believable and flawed.
I hope that One More Lie will offer a different perspective on a subject which has been much-explored and that people will enjoy it the way they enjoyed The Innocent Wife.
Until next time!
Amy x
My Review
4 Stars
This is the story of Charlotte and Sean, two adults that are being released from prison after they were charged with killing a disabled child when they were 10 and 11 years old. Charlotte is starting life new at a halfway house and with an ankle monitor. She is very childlike and doesn’t have much to do beyond go to work and her therapist. Although she doesn’t remember the murder she has the plan to keep on the straight and narrow and avoid Sean.
This is an interesting story. Charlotte clearly has issues and is not a dependable witness. It doesn’t help that the story bounces around with present day, before the murder, everything but the murder, and some of Sean’s story. I have to say that I was interested in the past but it was so disjointed that I was left confused.
Although this story is brutal it is handled well. It does give you pause to think about these child killers that we are seeing presently. The story kept me engaged and I was curious to see what happened. It’s definitely worth giving a try.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank the Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and share this book.
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