mitabird
Written on Nov 21, 2020
Shortlisted for the Edgar Award, Best Novel 2019
Irish Times' Best Book of the Year, 2018
'Dark, yes, but tender too. The Liar's Girl is tightly plotted and crackles with suspense.' Ali Land, author of Good Me Bad Me
'A killer premise that totally delivers. A creepy, claustrophobic tale that never lets up on the tension while also managing to strike a truly tender note.' Caz Frear, bestselling author of Sweet Little Lies
Her first love confessed to five murders. But the truth was so much worse.
Dublin's notorious Canal Killer, Will Hurley, is ten years into his life sentence when the body of a young woman is fished out of the Grand Canal. Though detectives suspect they are dealing with a copycat, they turn to Will for help. He claims he has the information the police need, but will only give it to one person - the girl he was dating when he committed his horrific crimes.
Alison Smith has spent the last decade abroad, putting her shattered life in Ireland far behind her. But when she gets a request from Dublin imploring her to help prevent another senseless murder, she is pulled back to face the past - and the man - she's worked so hard to forget.
- ISBN10 178239897X
- ISBN13 9781782398974
- Publish Date 1 March 2018 (first published 27 February 2018)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Atlantic Books
- Imprint Corvus
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback
- Pages 336
- Language English
Reviews
Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading
Written on Apr 18, 2019
The story started out slow, but it gradually progressed and pulled me in page-by-page until I found myself deeply invested. I had to know the identity of the Canal Killer.
Will is considered Ireland’s most prolific serial killer. Found guilty for the stalking and drowning of five young college females at nineteen. Currently serving time in a Psychiatric hospital in Dublin. However, ten years later when a young woman’s body is found in the canal and the evidence shows similarities to the murders they sentenced Will for, it gave rise to questions. Was Will innocent or did he have an accomplice?
Allison has spent the last ten years of her life trying to escape her past. Knowledge that she dated a serial killer and the fact her best friend was one of his victims weighed heavily on her. Just when she believed she had it under control, the Gardai showed upon her doorstep requesting she returned to Ireland has Will had information they needed and would only share it with her.
What followed was a tale rife with secrets, uncertainties and questions. I kept wondering is Will guilty or innocent. After all, he confessed but then you discover they coerced his confession, and it raises more questions.
The story moved between the past and present. In doing so we get a contrast Allison’s, emotional struggles then and now. It would have been nice if Will’s perspective then and now was provided, throughout the story. It was not until near the end that things were revealed through his eyes and what a revelation.
Allison struggled not only with the memories from the past but also with the bombardment from the media. After all she is the ex-girlfriend of a serial killer. In addition, she struggled with believing Will’s Innocence I understood why she would feel that way and it could not have been easy for her.
The contrast between Allison of the past and present showed how much she had grown. Allison of the past was young, immature and gullible. Allison of the present was smarter and not easily led.
Conclusion/Recommendation
Overall an exciting read. I am glad I got the chance to read this one. I would definitely read more from this author.
zooloo1983
Written on Jan 5, 2019
Welcome to my first blog tour of 2019 and I am opening the tour with the awesome Hayley at Rather too Fond of Books so make sure you check out her review! Spoiler alert, the less you know about this book…the better for sure!
Annoyingly I did not have the time to sit and read this in one sitting because I was rather hooked on this little gem. Following the story of Alison in the then and now, the then back at St. John’s College before the Canal Killer killed and the now where are there more murders. So did they catch the right guy 10 years ago?
I liked Alison, in the then we learn of her and her best friend Liz setting off to college, leaving Cork to the bright lights of Dublin. Here she meets Will, the man who would become the love of her life, the man the world would know as the Canal Killer.
In the now, Alison has tried to build a life for herself in the Netherlands. She has shut herself off from love and kept her secrets but she has her best friend Sal. Until one night the Garda detectives turn up on her door one night asking if she would help them, as the murders have started again.
Only issue is they want to speak to Will, but Will only wants to speak to Alison.
The book is so beautifully written, as the focus is on the characters to drive this book. The newer murders are not the focus, as everything is from the point of view of Alison bar a couple of unnamed chapters which is from the killer, these were a little unsettling, to say the least. I loved the way the book was set out, just as things get intense the author keeps changing the POV focus, making me scream wanting to know what was going on.
Now the hook of the book
Her first love confessed to five murders. But the truth was so much worse.
Reading the book with this in my head constantly dreading what could be worse and when you discover the truth, MY GOD, why did I not see it before! Ms Howard has a way of making of hiding the truth completely in plain sight – just epic. A true testament to some amazing writing!
This book is not a million miles a minute book, instead, it builds the tension slowly... The scenery of the book is also a driver, as you are sucked into the idyllic Dublin and Bray and the depictions by the author. Everything is described so clearly that I could be there side by side with Alison.
I really enjoyed this book, it was thrilling, suspenseful and most of all gut-wrenching twisty! I cannot wait for Ms Howard’s next book Rewind!