Good afternoon, bookworm, do come in from the rain. Here’s a towel to dry yourself off with. I’ll make you a cup of tea to warm up with and you can snuggle in the comfy chair next to the fire with a cake and a cat if you like. Since it’s October, there’s one thing I need to warn you about while you’re here: Be on your guard for books jumping out at you or nipping your toes to make you jump. The spooky and horror genre books get a tad over-excited in the run up to Halloween, and if they’re like this at the start of the month, you can imagine how giddy they are by the end! Now that you’re suitably forewarned and forearmed, let me tell you about this book which kept me up into the wee hours recently: It’s called The Lie She Told by Catherine Yaffe.

Here’s the blurb:

All Kate wanted was a peaceful life.

All Ryan wanted to do was destroy it.

Living in the remote Scottish Highlands under Witness Protection, life is finally happy for Kate Ward and her young son Joe, until someone from Kate’s past appears. Ryan Albright is the only person that knows all of Kate’s secrets, and what she had to do to escape her previous abusive relationship. Ryan is determined to complete the mission set for him by Kate’s ex-husband. Systematically and violently, he pulls Kate’s new world apart with devasting consequences for everyone around him, including Kate who must face up to the lie she told.

Now, here’s a little about the author: Catherine Yaffe is a former freelance journalist, magazine editor and digital marketing agency owner. Catherine has previously written non-fiction books on Digital Marketing before following her passion for writing crime novels full time.

The Lie She Told is the first in a series of books that challenge the status quo of relationships and makes the reader question how well you know those around you.

Catherine lives in West Yorkshire with her husband Mark and their 2 cats Jenson & Button (she’s also a F1 fan!)

Jenson and Button… I love that Catherine has named her two cats after something she loves! That’s why two of mine are named Greebo and Rincewind, named after characters in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and surprisingly similar to their namesakes. I’ll have to tell you more about them another time…

Now, here’s my review: I started this book thinking I’d dip in and out of it over a few days but ended up reading it into the night as I couldn’t put it down! The characters were well-developed and there were only as many as were actually needed for the plot itself. Too many minor characters is one of my pet peeves when I’m reading a novel so I really enjoyed this aspect of the author’s writing.

It’s not until the very end that the reader finds out what the lie Kate told actually was, although there were a couple of hints along the way. Ryan was a manipulative, vile character and at one point I found myself telling Kate what I thought of her when she kept ignoring her gut instinct and letting him wriggle his measly way further into her life (the cats were not impressed and there was dramatic tutting from the poetry bookshelves). Jack was my favourite character, an older gentleman who helped Kate find her feet in the little Scottish village and inviting her to own part of the cafe he runs. Reading the story from both Kate and Ryan’s perspectives really helped build up the tension as the reader knows what he has planned and has no way of stopping events from running their course.

I was intrigued about DI Ziggy Thorne, who has only a couple of brief appearances in the novel and I hope to see more of him in future novels (please tell me there are future novels?!). Catherine Yaffe handled the relationships between different characters skilfully and her novel serves as a reminder of how fine the line can be between trust, history, jealousy and love. I had to have a strong word with myself to hold back on judging Kate too harshly as she falls for Ryan, because her character only saw the side he presented whereas the omnipotent reader saw the true evil intent and actions when nobody was watching.

I’m giving this a 4 star rating and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a thriller with truly villainous bad guys and a secret that’s kept hidden inside.

Ooh, I’m feeling frustrated all over again as I tell you about the book! If you would like to buy your own copy, you can click on the book image above which will take you straight to the right place in Amazon (I don’t get anything for sharing this link, I’m just being a helpful bookworm).

Quick – put your feet up! Come here, you little terror… there, one horror book successfully removed from a cat’s tail. See what I mean about them getting over-excited? There are some treats in that tin next to you if you’d like to calm the cat down. I’m off to have a word with the horror books before I put this one in the freezer for a couple of hours… see you soon, bookworm!