This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12)

Title: This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12)

Author: Karin Slaughter

Published in: 2024

Date read: 1st October 2024

Score: 5/5

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"This Is Why We Lied," published in 2024, is the twelfth novel in the Will Trent series. It is a suspenseful and claustrophobic mystery that takes GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton out of their usual Atlanta setting and places them in a remote, isolated location.

The story begins with Will and Sara on their honeymoon at a secluded, off-the-grid mountaintop property called McAlpine Lodge. It seems like the perfect place to finally relax and reconnect after their long journey to get to this point in their relationship.

Their peaceful getaway is shattered when they discover the body of the lodge manager, Mercy McAlpine, who has been brutally murdered. With a violent storm raging and the only access road to the lodge washed out, Will and Sara realize that the killer must be one of the few people trapped with them on the mountain.

The novel becomes a tense, locked-room mystery. As Will and Sara begin to investigate, they realize that everyone at the lodge—from the toxic McAlpine family to the other suspicious guests—is lying. They are all hiding secrets about their past, their family, and themselves.

Will, using his sharp investigative instincts, and Sara, with her forensic eye, must untangle a decades-old web of secrets and family betrayals. They soon discover that the seemingly quiet retreat is a hotbed of resentment, manipulation, and dark history. The case also forces Will to confront ghosts from his own past, as he finds a surprising connection to the lodge from his troubled childhood in the foster system.

The tension escalates as Will and Sara realize the killer is poised to strike again. They must work against the clock to expose the murderer before they become the next victims. "This Is Why We Lied" is a classic Agatha Christie-style whodunit, infused with Karin Slaughter's signature dark and intense psychological suspense, as it explores the painful consequences of secrets and the power of a dysfunctional family.

Comments:
This is easily the best best of these books in the past 5 books or more. Although I have loved this series so far, and I loved the Grant County books too, I have been disappointed that the story has been more Sarah than Will. I know that lots of people will hate that comment but I am just being truthful. These books are the Will Trent series and in this novel, it is about Will Trent. The Agatha Christie-style "locked room" mystery set in Georgia is brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done Karin, I was surprised by the twist!

Books that we've read by Karin Slaughter (18):
Blindsighted (Grant County, #1) (2001), Kisscut (Grant County, #2) (2002), A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3) (2003), Indelible (Grant County, #4) (2004), Faithless (Grant County, #5) (2005), Triptych (Will Trent, #1) (2006), Skin Privilege (Grant County, #6) (2007), Fractured (Will Trent, #2) (2008), Genesis (Will Trent, #3) (2009), Broken (Will Trent, #4) (2010), Fallen (Will Trent, #5) (2011), Criminal (Will Trent, #6) (2012), Unseen (Will Trent, #7) (2013), The Kept Woman (Will Trent, #8) (2016), The Last Widow (Will Trent, #9) (2019), The Silent Wife (Will Trent, #10) (2020), After That Night (Will Trent, #11) (2023), This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12) (2024)