Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant @SabineDurrant @MulhollandUK

A few little lies never hurt anyone. Right?

Wrong.

Paul has a plan. He has a vision of a better future, and he's going to make it happen.

If it means hiding or exaggerating a few things here and there, no harm done.

But when he charms his way on to a family holiday...
And finds himself trapped among tensions and emotions he doesn't understand...
By the time he starts to realise that however painful the truth is, it's the lies that cause the real damage...

Well, by then, it might just be too late.

Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant was published by Mulholland Books in July 2016.


My hardback copy of Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year, I had heard great things about this novel and have enjoyed reading this author in the past. I always take some time out during the Summer months to catch up with the books that I've missed along the way, and this was my first of those reads.

Set on a fictional Greek island, but one that bears a remarkable resemblance to Corfu, Lie With Me is a masterfully written story of dark anger, intrigue and hidden secrets. The author sets her scene incredibly well, and her descriptive style transported me to Greece. As the lead character, Paul, arrives on the island, the sights, smells and sounds are magnificently portrayed - anyone who has visited a Greek island will recognise that first hit of hot diesel fumes mingling in with charcoaled meat, and the stonemasons and garden centres that dot the landscape of the outskirts of the cities.

Paul Morris is the lead character, and narrator of this intriguing and immensely satisfying psychological thriller. He's mid-forties, the author of one mildly successful novel and also one of the most hateful characters ever imagined.  The reader will hate him, the other characters dislike him, and I don't really think he actually likes himself; this is what drives this story; his total self-absorption. Paul uses people, he thinks he's clever and tries to manipulate people. When he bumps into an old friend, and then begins a relationship with Alice, he thinks he's hit the jackpot. Widowed Alice appears to be vulnerable and lonely and when she invites him to join her and her friends in Greece, Paul jumps at the chance.

The holiday doesn't quite begin as Paul would have wanted, and this is just the beginning of his misogynistic and appalling behaviour, which only gets worse throughout the holiday. As long held secrets and crimes are slowly uncovered, the tension in this clever author's writing increases right up to the surprising and unexpected ending.

Lie With Me is populated with characters that are complex and intricate, the plot is multi-layered, clever and intriguing. Sabine Durrant has produced an unsettling, disturbing and twisted story that plays with the mind and lingers for days after the final page is turned.

Sabine Durrant is the author of two psychological thrillers, Under Your Skin and Remember Me This Way.

Her previous novels are Having It and Eating It and The Great Indoors, and two books for teenage girls, Cross Your Heart, Connie Pickles and Ooh La La! Connie Pickles.

She is a former features editor of the Guardian and a former literary editor at the Sunday Times, and her writing has appeared in many national newspapers and magazines.

She lives in South London with her partner and their three children.

Follow her on Twitter @SabineDurrant