Book review #19 Don't believe her by Jane Heafield

Don't believe her by Jane Heafield

About the book

A weekend getaway leads to a deadly game of deceit between two cunning sisters-in-law in this British psychological thriller.

Though Lucy and Tim have been married for years, she has never gotten along with his sister. So when they plan a weekend in the country, they certainly don’t expect Mary to show up. But it’s Mary who’s shocked when she arrives to find Tim missing. His belongings are gone, there’s a bloodstain on the floor, and Lucy’s story doesn’t add up.

Lucy insists that he left her, but Mary suspects foul play. When the police are called, each woman tells her own story—but Detective Reavley doesn’t trust either of them. Accusations of affairs and violence only add to the tension, but soon explosive secrets come to light that no one could have expected.

About the author

Jane Heafield works in healthcare, but in her free time she writes stories. 

My take

Lucy and Tom are a couple with the usual differences a married couple has. Mary, Tom's sister hates Lucy and vice versa. So when Tom disappears from the rental cottage Lucy and Tom were vacationing at, Mary is convinced that Lucy has murdered him, and Mary leaves no stone unturned to get anyone she meets to believe this, including the police.

Lucy's story certainly doesn't add up, and there are some large gaping holes in her version of events, she ever keeps changing that version, yet she denies she has anything to do with Tom's disappearance.

The story alternates between the POV of Lucy and Mary. Both the main characters are equally dis-likable, and I am not sure whom the reader hates more. Their rivalry just makes us weary.

Neither of them is telling the truth. But the first person POV spoiled the reliability of the story for me when the final twist came. Like I always say, when the main character is unreliable, the story is better to be read in third person. Because no one lies to themselves in first person. So the ending seems completely unrealistic and far fetched.

The flow of the story was easy and even though the theme was good, and fast paced, the shoddy base on which the story is built takes off its charm.

The cover is beautifully designed, and one star from my rating is entirely for the cover.

I rate it 3 stars.