Everything Is Lies by Helen Callaghan

☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Published February 22nd 2018 by Penguin
About the Book:
What if all your mother left you was a confession to a life you never knew she'd had? When Sophia saw the note in her mother's handwriting she felt a chill down her spine. 'I can't do this anymore. I will destroy him and I could destroy Sophia. I must make this right.' That's when she looked out of the window; her mother's body hanging from the big chestnut tree. Her father lying in a pool of his own blood. The police suspect an attempted murder suicide. But Sophia could never believe that of her mother. She needs to clear her name, and to do this she needs to wade into her murky past. But she soon discovers that the woman she thought she knew was involved in something so sinister it's cast a shadow over her whole life.

Do whatever you want, my darling heart. You get to choose. But before you do, first of all, you need to take a deep breath and think.
This book was so wonderfully layered from the start that I enjoyed every minute of it. You realise that something terrible is going to happen right from reading chapter one but not exactly what. But the thing is, with this book it isn't totally about the "big secret" it's actually the journey up to it that's as enjoyable. The author builds up the layers of the plot slowly and carefully, wracking up the tension and making you want to devour and savour every single word. I adore a domestic noir with dark tormented characters like Nina, who is hiding her secrets from the past but still having to live with them everyday.

Helen Callaghan is a huge talent. Everything Is Lies is beautifully written, with a pull that grips and does not let go. I was convinced that I'd worked out exactly what was happening, and who people really were, only to have the wind knocked out of me as this author expertly throws in the most unexpected of twists, turning the whole story on its head.

I loved the language of this book. Helen Callaghan writes as I speak. For example: The train was noisy and hotter than hell. Thats exactly something I would say. I stayed up late to continue reading this novel and it's a real page turner. I really enjoy thrillers and dark novels that explore family relationships, such as this. A superbly written and deeply unsettling book.