This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf (Review by Joanne Henry)

Rating: 4.5 stars

I’ve been in somewhat of a reading slump since covid19 hit. Not much is grabbing my attention, except of course my beloved Harry Potter! I was hopeful when I picked this one up, Heather Gudenkauf is an author I’ve enjoyed before and I’ve heard some great things about this one.

The story starts twenty five years ago with the murder of 15 year old Eve. We then jump to present day with the discovery of a new piece of evidence. Investigating the cold case is seven month pregnant Maggie. Eves best friend and current detective. The story is also told from the POV of Nola, Eves younger sister who is somewhat odd and shows sociopathic behaviour.

I am a huge fan of multiple POVs, especially those with a flash back. I love the slow reveal of information from the past that we get from Eves perspective. Gudenkauf does this expertly, giving enough hints and ideas with each chapter to keep you reading until you get back to the POV to find out more information.

With a full cast of characters who also are suspects, I was never fully on any one characters team. With everyone seeming to be hiding something, my trust levels were definitely low. Gudenkauf took the unreliable narrator device to the extreme and pulled it off. Although I never felt like I could trust any of the narrators fully, I never got frustrated with the use of the trope. The most intriguing character to me was Nola. She is complicated, a little scary and someone I’d expect to find on an episode of Criminal Minds!

This was a fast paced thriller, that had me gripped from the start. Every one seemed to have secrets, everyone was a suspect and somebody seems determined to ensure the truth is never found out.

Unfortunately, the ending was a little anticlimactic for my tastes but overall it was a great story that had me constantly guessing and changing my mind about “who dunnit”. This was the first thriller in a while that I didn’t figure out quickly, or fully before the reveal at the end! I recommend This Is How I Lied for any mystery/ domestic thriller lover!