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Barry Awards Best First Novel (nominee)
"A dark and smart page-turner." —The New York Times
In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family’s past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.
Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she’s never been able to banish these ghosts. When she’s called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn’t get out much, has been found strangled.
Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice’s husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat—her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn’t telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth?
Determined to close the two cases, Cat rushes headlong into the investigation, crossing ethical lines and trampling professional codes. But in looking into the past, she might not like what she finds. . . .
Genre: Mystery
In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family’s past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.
Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she’s never been able to banish these ghosts. When she’s called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn’t get out much, has been found strangled.
Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice’s husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat—her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn’t telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth?
Determined to close the two cases, Cat rushes headlong into the investigation, crossing ethical lines and trampling professional codes. But in looking into the past, she might not like what she finds. . . .
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"An astonishingly confident and individual voice." - Ann Cleeves
"A killer premise. An original voice. An utterly compelling story that will keep you up all night." - Fiona Cummins
"Taut, gripping, surprising and original - a fabulous read." - Judy Finnigan
"Impossible to put down." - Alex Gray
"An incredibly strong and confident voice that has hit the page fully-formed." - Catherine Ryan Howard
"A blistering debut from a major new voice. I couldn't put it down. Authentic, compelling, unflinching and tender and written with real verve and assurance." - Erin Kelly
"Caz Frear's ability to write tight, tense dialogue with a dark comedic slant is brilliant. I read Sweet Little Lies in one sitting, it is a terrific debut." - Lynda La Plante
"Debut novels don't come better than this one, which begs the question - Caz Frear, where have you been?" - Richard Madeley
"The best debut I've read in a very long time." - William Ryan
"A killer premise. An original voice. An utterly compelling story that will keep you up all night." - Fiona Cummins
"Taut, gripping, surprising and original - a fabulous read." - Judy Finnigan
"Impossible to put down." - Alex Gray
"An incredibly strong and confident voice that has hit the page fully-formed." - Catherine Ryan Howard
"A blistering debut from a major new voice. I couldn't put it down. Authentic, compelling, unflinching and tender and written with real verve and assurance." - Erin Kelly
"Caz Frear's ability to write tight, tense dialogue with a dark comedic slant is brilliant. I read Sweet Little Lies in one sitting, it is a terrific debut." - Lynda La Plante
"Debut novels don't come better than this one, which begs the question - Caz Frear, where have you been?" - Richard Madeley
"The best debut I've read in a very long time." - William Ryan
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Used availability for Caz Frear's Sweet Little Lies