Her Best Friend's Lie: A completely gripping psychological thriller

Her Best Friend's Lie is a twisty psychological thriller, evoking echoes of Agatha Christie's masterpiece And Then There Were None and the many homages it has spawned, including Ruth Ware's One by One, Gretchen McNeil's Ten and C.A. Larmer's And Then There Were 9. Reunion-based mysteries such as Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party and Ruth Ware's The Lying Game also spring to mind. The book opens with Megan, from whose first-person perspective the narrative unfolds, meeting up with her college possé, Sam, Charlotte, Jenna and Kaitlyn. The women have decided to meet up after a break of five years, to celebrate their fortieth birthdays, travelling to an isolated cabin situated on a picturesque lake in a remote corner of Wisconsin. Immediately upon their arrival, the women are disconcerted by the dilapidated condition of the house (it doesn't live up to its online photos), the complete lack of telephone signal or wi-fi and the intimidating demeanour of owner Travis. Laura Wolfe builds a feeling of hidden menace and tension as the women spend their first, uneasy, night at Crooked Lake. The first half of the novel builds the reader's understanding of the complex relationships and shared history between the central five characters. Resentments, secrets and feelings of guilt lurk just below the surface of their reminiscences and bonhomie, occasionally breaking through into small confrontations and revelations. Flashbacks to the friends' lives at college are told through Megan's lens, and we're aware that she has more than her fair share of secrets and regrets. We also know that she's had misgivings about coming to Crooked Lake from the outset, and is subject to crippling panic attacks - how far can we rely on her perspective on events, both past and present? The tension is ratchetted up several levels after the women explore a nearby abandoned holiday camp, where a suspicious death occurred a year previously. One woman is injured in an avoidable accident and they return to the lake house to find both front tyres of Charlotte's minivan, their only transport, irreparably punctured. They're trapped at Crooked Lake and will need to rely on Travis's co-operation to communicate with the outside world, at the same time suspecting that he is behind the damage to the vehicle. When one of the women is found strangled the following morning, the remaining four realise that they're engaged in a fight for their lives. While Travis makes a convenient focus for their fear and blame, they each begin second-guessing whether the culprit might actually be closer to home... I imagine it's quite difficult to construct a plot which maintains mystery while the pool of suspects is gradually reduced, and Laura Wolfe achieves this well, withholding just enough information at each stage to leave the reader questioning the motives of each of the surviving protagonists at each stage. It's a well-worn basic plot idea, but I felt Wolfe maintains reader interest with her well-developed (albeit dysfunctional) character relationships and wonderfully oppressive setting. The conclusion is a satisfyingly thrilling race for survival, with just a few little extra twists towards the end to reward the reader. I found Her Best Friend's Lie a riveting read, perhaps only slightly let down by occasionally unconvincing dialogue and character behaviour that really stretches credibility at times. At some points, the action seems to mirror more teenage slasher movie fodder than a group of mature, successful women facing a hidden threat. I'd recommend Her Best Friend's Lie to readers who like twisty psychological thrillers and dramas arising from the complex webs that are female group relationships. My thanks to the author, Laura Wolfe, publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Suspenseful does not even begin to describe this mystery! Make sure you have enough time to finish this in one sitting because you won’t be able to put it down! And don’t think about reading The Lake House at night if you are alone. Megan, the narrator, and friends Sam, Charlotte, Jenna and Kaitlyn, have planned a long weekend getaway and reunion. They’ve been friends for 22 years and are all turning 40 this year. Charlotte has found the perfect place, a charming cabin decorated with pots of red geraniums and marketed as “Secluded Cabin on Crooked Lake Sleeps Six” and, in smaller type “a no-frills escape to rustic living”. The latter is true, if no-frills means cobwebs, dead squirrels, and no TV, internet or cellphone service. Soon after they arrive, they are visited by Travis, the cabin’s owner. He’s a skinhead with a gun and swastika tattoo. He has a key to the cabin. Obviously, this is not going to be the weekend they had planned. And it isn’t. Over the next three days, there are disappearances, escapes and murder. Secrets from long ago are revealed, as are more recent ones. Lies are told, as is truth. And you won’t know it all until the last page. The Lake House is a TV movie waiting to be filmed. It’s a quick exciting read and deserves 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Laura Wolfe for this ARC.

Sam, Charlotte, Kaitlyn, Jenna and narrator Megan head off to a girls weekend to celebrate their collective 40th birthday. These five women are college friends who have stayed in touch but drifted apart over the years. The trip, two years or so in the making, is meant to be a relaxing, low key weekend at a cabin on the lake to allow the women to reconnect. During the early part of the book, we get background on each of the ladies and throughout the current stories, there are flashbacks of significant points in their college days. Early on, things start to get creepy, with a sketchy care taker and no cell service. Tensions rise quickly and it becomes apparent that some of the friends may be less happy in their lives than they have led the others to believe. The story is fast paced and keeps the reader guessing. Who's lying and who can our narrator trust? I read this book really quickly and while it's the first I've read from this author, I am eager to read more from her. Highly recommend this book if you love fast paced, female friendship thrillers. Thank you very much to Laura Wolfe, Bookouture, and Netgalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!