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.
The Liar's Girl is one of the eBooks I'd bought that has been sitting on my Kindle waiting for me to read so I'd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour which gave me the opportunity to finally read this book. And what a tense, gripping read it turned out to be.
Alison has not been back to Ireland for almost 10 years but a visit from some detectives from the Gardai, Irish police force, saying they need her help brings back memories and everything that she has tried to forget about that terrible time. As a new student in Dublin Alison had been enjoying her first taste of freedom studying and living in the city with her best friend Liz until the unimaginable happens... Liz is killed and Alison's boyfriend Will admits to her murder and that of 4 other students.
The story alternates between the past and present as we follow Alison in the present day being asked for help by speaking with Will who says he has information but he'll only talk to her, and then flashbacks to the past when we see how moving to Dublin with her best friend Liz was an exciting time for them. But it also shows us that their friendship wasn't always perfect, and that jealousy played a part in the final few days of Liz's life, which has haunted Alison over the years.
I could totally understand why Alison was conflicted, why would Will have admitted to the killings if he was completely innocent? And the evidence certainly seems to suggest that this was a case of a confession under duress and there's a case for misjustice as there are a new spate of killings with similarities to the previous murders, so is a copycat at play or was Will charged with crimes he didn't commit?
Alison was certainly an interesting character. For someone who initially didn't want to be a part of the investigation, and I could totally understand her reasons why, she certainly found herself right in the midst of everything that was going on. With the case under re-investigation alongside the new murders, strange things started happening to Alison that you would have thought would trigger warning bells to her to let the police handle the case but no she can't help following up on clues even when it puts her own life in danger.
There was just the right amount of suspense and intrigue that had me wanting to keep on reading to see what was going to happen next following Alison's return to Dublin and the new investigation. But especially with regards to Amy, the latest girl who has gone missing, I was on edge wishing I could warn her about what was about to happen as we see it all play out before our very eyes.
The Liar's Girl had me hooked from the start as we followed the twists and turns of the story, and boy did Catherine Ryan Howard throw in one final dramatic twist that I didn't see coming. I was convinced that I knew what had happened but it turns out I was so wrong!
Huge thanks for the blog tour support Sharon x
ReplyDelete