Name: Jessica Koch's review of This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf
Item: This Is How I Lied
Rating: 5
Author: Jessica Koch

Heather Gudenkauf

Everyone has a secret they'll do anything to hide... Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa--discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold. For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve's death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they're letting on, and they'll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

This Is How I Lied

Jessica Koch

Gudenkauf proves herself the master of the smart, suspenseful small-town thriller that gets right under your skin.” —Gilly Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of The Nanny Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide… Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold. For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep. Check out these other riveting novels of suspense by bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf: The Weight of Silence These Things Hidden One Breath Away Little Mercies Missing Pieces Not a Sound Before She Was Found

A Novel

Jeff Brown 

Recently, I had read a Gudenkauf book. For the first half, I wondered what caused me to read that book ("Before She Was Found"). I partially read some reviews that gave me the impetus to continue on, and the final half was great.

Several weeks later, I started reading this, her most recent. Again, halfway through, I was wondering what made me think that this was from a good writer. I reread my previous review, which kept me going. And, yes, it had a great finish.

I'm not an authority about novel evolvement, but I wonder if her problem is character development. Her books wallow for the first half lamely developing the characters. Then, once the novel makes the big turn, you forget the poor character development and really, deeply, get into the final half of a great story.

I don't know what to tell you. 1) Suck it up for the first half of the book, and watch it explode; or 2) don't bother.

The last book, I thought I should have bumped up the 4-star rating. For this book, I wouldn't say it's generous, but I certainly wouldn't go an inch above the 4-star.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: This Is How I Lied

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: May 12, 2020

Genre: Mystery

Recommended Age: 17+ (violence, murder)

Publisher: Park Row

Pages: 336

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold.

For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

Review: Overall, I liked this book. The book did well with the characters and the world building. The writing was well done and the book gripped me with the suspense. The book had me scared of the dark for a bit as well lol. I really liked the twists as well, even if I saw them coming.

However, I don’t know how realistic the book is. From my experience in criminal justice, they wouldn’t have put someone on that found the bodies and was the victims best friend to avoid conflict of interest and fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine (where when you do something out of police procedure then all evidence found via that means is not admissible in court). The pacing was also slow and the twists and plot were predictable.

Verdict: I liked this one!

Totally Addicted to Reading

Heather Gudenkauf is a new to me author, and I had no clue what to expect in terms of her writing style and ability to pen a good mystery. The blurb provided hints of a page turning story therefore I couldn’t wait to dive into This is how I Lied.

The story introduces Maggie Kennedy O’Keefe a detective with the Grotto Police Department. Eight months pregnant she is preparing to take on desk duty when additional evidence relating to twenty-five-year-old murder case surfaces. This was personal for Maggie as it involved the murder of her best friend Eve Knox. Because of the additional evidence coming to light, the police chief reopened the case. He assigned the case to Maggie allowing her the chance to ascertain what this fresh evidence would reveal. However, someone is not keen on the reopening of the case and will stop at nothing to prevent the truth from being revealed.

Filled with intrigue and suspense This is how I Lied proved to be a page turner which kept me up late into the night. The story is told from the POVs of Maggie, Eve and Nola, Eve’s sister giving readers an inside look into their state of mind up to time of the murder and after. The story moved between the past, and the present, and the events in both timelines were rather disturbing. Reading of Eve’s last days was heart-breaking. The poor girl couldn’t get a break.

As secrets unravelled, the story left me in doubt has to who killed Eve. The suspect pool wasn’t huge however, each of the persons highlighted had motive and opportunity. However, figuring who was responsible was not a simple task. At the point when I believed I had my answer, the author dropped a twist which left me questioning my initial belief.

The author weaved a tale that kept engaged from start to finish. This is How I Lied is a story that will not be forgetting soon. The story was so interesting I devoured it in less than two days.

Recommendation/Conclusion
Fans of small-town mysteries will enjoy this latest offering from Heather Gudenkauf. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s work. 
This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

Becca Futrell

3.5 rounded up!

Content Warnings: I didn't make a full-on list, so a lot has been forgotten -- I recommend reading other reviews for possible trigger warnings. However, some of the big ones that I remember are abusive relationships, animal death & torture, and statutory rape. 

Thank you to Park Row for providing me with an e-ARC of This is How I Lied in exchange for an honest review!

I'm kicking myself right now because I took 0 notes on this read, so I can't get too deep for you. This is How I lied is a fine read, there are a lot of twists & turns, and at times, it's very uncomfortable. If you're into books that make your skin crawl, I think you would enjoy this one. 

This is How I Lied takes you into two different minds: Maggie, the best friend of the victim, and Nola, the victim's sister. & I can promise you that Nola's head is 100% a place that you don't want to be. However, as uncomfortable as it made me feel, Nola's portions of the novel were my favorite parts to read. 

I do feel like the.. I guess.. main twist is obvious, however even though I knew, I did find myself still questioning everything. Literally, everyone kinda sucked -- meaning, they're all suspicious little shits. If thrillers are your thing, I definitely recommend checking this one out.

Jessica Koch &
This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

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