Book Review: The Perfect Lie by Jo Spain

Yes, yes, yes! This book was AMAZING. Just two months into 2021 and I may already have found my book of the year. Read the review below to see if it could be yours too.

Goodreads Blurb

The Perfect Lie by Jo Spain

Five years ago, Erin Kennedy moved to New York following a family tragedy. She now lives happily with her detective husband in the scenic seaside town of Newport, Long Island. When Erin answers the door to Danny’s police colleagues one morning, it’s the start of an ordinary day. But behind her, Danny walks to the window of their fourth-floor apartment and jumps to his death.

Eighteen months later, Erin is in court, charged with her husband’s murder. Over that year and a half, Erin has learned things about Danny she could never have imagined. She thought he was perfect. She thought their life was perfect.

But it was all built on the perfect lie.

Review

The Perfect Lie gripped me from the very start. That’s not unusual but what doesn’t happen a lot is that it kept me enthralled until the very end. I read a lot of books so I’ve seen quite a few tricks by now. It takes a lot for a book to keep me guessing but The Perfect Lie did just that. While I had my suspicions regarding where the story was going, I was often taken down another path or a spanner was thrown in the works and changed my outlook. The good thing was that, despite many twists and turns, they all felt natural and slotted in perfectly to the overarching story.

The Perfect Lie jumps between the past ad the present and also includes the side story of Ally and Lauren, set in Harvard in 2016. This means that you do have to read more carefully in order not to get the characters and events confused. If you read very closely you will see some well-placed clues that will help you unravel the truth. I personally thought the various timelines and POVs were slotted together very well but I know some readers don’t like this in a book so here is a head’s up.

Finally, we have the characters. I know I keep swooning over this book but I loved all of the characters. The character development for each, no matter how big a role they played in the story, was spot on. I especially loved that the characters weren’t separated into black and white. Instead, most sat in the grey zone where their flaws were slowly unveiled but the reader can’t fully commit to liking or hating them. The most “perfect” character is Erin but even she might shock you along the way…

I’m not sure I really have to wrap up my opinion here; it’s quite obvious but I loved The Perfect Lie. I’m relatively new to Jo Spain so now I have to go and binge everything else she has written.

The Perfect Lie by Jo Spain will be published on May 13th 2021 by Quercus.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.