Just One Lie-Harrow-Review-Psych Thriller-Available Now

Just One Lie by Ruth Harrow is the kind of psych thriller that leaves me with mixed feelings. There is a decent plot, but the writing style is more confusing than it needs to be.

I’ll also start with a warning that the whole thing revolves around kids. I mean, a LOT is about kids. I don’t know, some people just don’t like kids, right? So, they may not like this book.

Anyway, we know right off the bat that something bad happened at a beach – but we don’t know to who or when it actually figures in the bigger picture.

We then hop to Alison, who is dealing with a tragic loss. At first, you might think that it is the loss from the prologue, but it’s not (no spoiler).

In short order, she hires Rebecca to help in her photo studio. Is Rebecca too perfect? Does she have an ulterior motive?

When bad things start to happen to Alison, of course Rebecca is a suspect. But is she guilty? If so, what is her angle? Or is someone else to blame?

I’d like to say that these questions are answered succinctly, but it isn’t as simple as that.

The story is told from two different points of view (at least as far as I could tell) but one of them is very ambiguous. As a result, I spent a lot of the book in a state of confusion, trying to figure out what was happening to who and when.

I suppose that this could be solved if you are paying close attention as you read? Maybe this just isn’t a book that you can catch here or there; it needs your full attention.

I think also that the author, in trying to be cagey and sustain the psych suspense, didn’t provide enough information for the reader to easily follow along.

Holding secrets and not being overly explanatory is a good technique, especially for a psych thriller. But as a reader, I like to be able to connect some dots. I wasn’t able to do that here.

I guess where that leaves me is Just One Lie has a good plot that suffered a bit from execution issues. But again, if you focus on the story, maybe you will have better luck figuring it out than I did.

I’ll still look forward to the next psych thriller from Ruth Harrow.

Author Bio
Ruth Harrow was born and raised in England and graduated from university before embarking on an unfulfilling career in an office job. Following the success of her first novel, her second and third books followed shortly afterward. She lives in the UK with her husband, two children, and chocolate Labrador, Rolo.