Tropical Girl Reads

Hello all!!! Just finished with an amazing book written by a duo, Anita Waller and Patricia Dixon, called Liars, published just last month!!!

One Fatal Night. One Deadly Secret. One Huge Regret.

Wendy and Nell have been best friends since childhood but when someone threatens to ruin their relationship, tough decisions must be made. Nell leaves for France while Wendy embarks on marriage and motherhood.

Both keep in touch, sending letters baring all, or are they?

They hide the truth that homesickness, violence, loneliness and murder form the backdrop of their lives.

Some truths are too hard to face and, as time goes by, shame and fear keep Wendy and Nell apart.

But when a twisted, deceitful face from the past turns up, obsession and heartbreak wreak havoc on their lives. Someone is seeking revenge and recompense. And someone is a killer.

It’s time for Wendy and Nell to face their demons and the truth. But can the bond that has held them together for three decades survive or, will the seismic repercussions of buried secrets break them forever?

Liars is a collaboration between bestselling authors Anita Waller and Patricia Dixon. An unmissable psychological thriller, it will appeal to fans of authors like  C.L. Taylor, Fiona Barton and B A Paris.

Print Length: 308 pages

• Publisher: Bloodhound Books – crime, thriller and mystery (May 11, 2020)
• Publication Date: May 11, 2020
• Genre:- Thriller/Women’s Fiction

Anita Waller was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1946. She married Dave in 1967 and they have three adult children.

She has written and taught creative writing for most of her life, and at the age of sixty-nine sent a manuscript to Bloodhound Books which was immediately accepted.

In total she has written seven psychological thrillers and one supernatural novel, and uses the areas of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire as her preferred locations in her books. Sheffield features prominently.

And now Anita is working on her first series, the Kat and Mouse trilogy, set in the beautiful Derbyshire village of Eyam. The first in the series, Murder Undeniable, launched 10 December 2018, and the second in the series, Murder Unexpected, launches 11 February 2019.

The trilogy has now been promoted to a quartet following the success of the first book; she is currently working on book three, Murder Unearthed. Book four doesn’t have a title, a plot, a first sentence… but she remains convinced it will have!

She is now seventy-three years of age, happily writing most days and would dearly love to plan a novel, but has accepted that isn’t the way of her mind. Every novel starts with a sentence and she waits to see where that sentence will take her, and her characters.

In her life away from the computer in the corner of her kitchen, she is a Sheffield Wednesday supporter with blue blood in her veins! The club was particularly helpful during the writing of 34 Days, as a couple of matches feature in the novel, along with Ross Wallace. Information was needed, and they provided it.

Her genre is murder – necessary murder.

Patricia Dixon lives in Manchester UK and is the best selling author of nine books.
She has written multi genre stories set in her home city and the Loire, a place to close to her heart and from where she gathers inspiration for her characters and tales.

In May 2018 she signed with Bloodhound Books, leading crime and thriller publishers.

Recently Patricia was long-listed for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and has been nominated in the Crime Fiction Addict Readers Choice Awards. Her books regularly appear in the top slots for readers and bloggers book of the year.

If you would like to get in touch please follow the links below. Everyone is welcome.

Both in the Goodreads and Amazon had some great reviews on this book so I decided to try this book out. Bought this book on Amazon and I just finished this book like this morning!

The stories has two parts–the first part is set in late 1970s to early 1980s and the second part is present, from 2016 to 2018. The story starts with two best friends, Wendy and Nell, who had been friends for a long time are exchanging letters with each other. Nell is seemingly traveling around the world, citing that she was happy though in reality, she was feeling homesick and wishes to be near her friend. Wendy is married to Mike and in her letters to Nell, she writes that she was having a happy and blissful marriage but in reality, Mike was abusing her and was cheating on her. Then something dreadful happens that would eventually shatter their friendship.

So I will tell you my thoughts about the book here.

• The book was well written. Both the authors did a good job of keeping the reader hooked into the story of which I was. I was so hooked into the book that I didn’t mind staying up all nights just to see what was going to happen next.
• There were some twists in the book, particularly towards the end–you would never have guessed that twist!!!
• The plot is told from two different types of views–from Wendy’s point of view and Nell’s point of view. Through the letters, they lie to each other that they are living happily but in fact by reading through their perspectives, we realize that they are not.
• Despite the strong friendship bond between Wendy and Nell, we find that both of them try to hide the secrets from each other, and that both thinks that if the secret was found, that might destroy their friendship.
• However, my favorite character here is Nell. Towards the end, I was supporting Nell more than Wendy, whose character changed drastically by the middle of the book. To be honest, I don’t know why she changed suddenly from a concerned friend to someone who is not. I also like the woman named Margaret who comes into Wendy’s life and the friendship between Margaret and Wendy, though we know that Margaret is not the woman that Wendy thinks she is, which makes it more mysterious.
• The abuse part was realistic, horrific even to read and you instantly hate the character Mike who is the root cause of ending the friendship between Wendy and Nell (not going to spoil too much here) . It was also emotional at times, particularly when reading Nell’s parts.
• Only problem I had with this book is this book is labeled as a psychological fiction but this is more a women’s fiction and domestic fiction with betrayal, friendship as the main theme.

Overall, this is truly captivating book to read, and I really enjoyed reading this book! Worth five stars!