Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A man in hiding. A marriage in pieces. A secret that won’t stay buried.”

No one writes a thriller quite like Liv does. I thought that after I read Silent Waters last year, and I’m even more sure of it after reading her latest, To Love A Liar, which is out TODAY! I was pulled into the pages of this instantly; Liv’s beautiful, atmospheric writing combined with a plot that will, quite frankly, take over your life once you start. It’s a dark and twisty story of lies and love, yet it’s written with such heart and that tug of emotion. It’s utterly perfect. I’m so very happy to be sharing my review!

About the book

One woman dead.
Nineteen years ago, policeman Chris Fletcher’s lover was found dead in an abandoned house.

One woman missing.
Now, his loyal wife has disappeared without a trace.

A man with everything to lose.
There’s no doubt that he’s guilty, but of which crime?

The beginning

Ahh, I just looove Liv’s writing!! As expected, I was sucked into her words and this story straight away, and I couldn’t get enough of it. Ex-undercover cop, Chris Fletcher and his wife Jill moved to Sardinia, but are called back to Scotland to attend an inquest. Years ago, he met Sophia Roy on one of his undercover operations. A girl who became his lover. But she tragically died. Now, new evidence has come to light about her death, and Chris is back in the media spotlight. The fear of being spotted back in the UK was strong, Chris needed to keep a low profile until this inquest was over. Until they could head back to Sardinia and forget about this whole damn thing. There was something unnerving about this whole situation, even though we don’t know the bigger picture just yet. And as Chris and Jill are eventually spotted, with Chris’ face plastered on social media, I knew it would only get worse from here. This was such a strong opening and I was completely absorbed in Chris and Jill’s life. How she’s stood by him, even after everything he did. Even through this media shitstorm.

“I’ve thought about drugging you. How you would fall asleep, and I would drag your heavy, naked body out to the loch and fill your mouth with stones until it was all you were made up of… and then I’d watch as you sank down into the depths. Into blackness. Into nothing.”

The story is told through dual timelines, present day and back in 2002, where Chris first met Sophia. His line of work truly fascinated me, and I became obsessed by the other side of working undercover. The wives and families who suffer, the sacrifices they have to make. It’s clear that Jill still suffers. Their marriage is in tatters, broken beyond repair, trust non-existent these days, yet she stays…. until they have a new argument. Jill leaves the house early one day and never returns, leading Chris to believe she’s in trouble. When she isn’t found days later, it got me thinking even more. Was she in danger? Liv writes characters and their relationships so wonderfully. She really gets into their brains, developing their traits and describing their actions with such precision and attention to detail. Her characters always feel like real people and that’s such a big reason why I get so invested in her books. I felt there was a lot more we were about to learn about Chris, and potentially his wife and Sophia, too. Such a gripping start to the book, even though I knew I’d love it before I started!

The middle

The passion of Chris and Sophia’s whirlwind romance back in 2002/03 was so striking, and even though what he was doing was wrong, you can’t help but get sucked into their chemistry. And as more and more information comes to light about their relationship, we understand just how deeply Chris became anchored in this other life. But it’s so clear Chris loves Jill, and he will do anything to find her. I loved the mixed media scattered throughout the chapters; quotes from BBC interviews and social media comment threads help us to see how the world saw this scandal, how people close to Chris and also Sophia felt about everything. It all worked so well together! I also really enjoyed certain chapters from Sophia’s perspective. Despite everything, I felt really attached to her. She searches tirelessly for answers when Chris disappears one day, abandons her, leaves her with nothing but a measly note. I felt as pained as she felt, her desperation coming through so strongly in the author’s words. The lengths she went to back then was heartbreaking, but love makes you do stupid things.

“What do you think happened to Jill?” she asks. He pauses, looks to the loch. “I don’t know.” But his mind goes to the worst place, of course. She could be there, beneath the big and endless blue.

We watch as Sophia slowly untangles the complex web that is Chris’ life, his real identity and his job, what he has to do, the things he has to compromise on. And along the way, the picture I had of Chris became clearer, new parts of him revealed, slotting together to create his full character. And knowing Sophia’s fate, it got me thinking. Just how much of an input did Chris have in her death? Did she cross a line? Did she look too deeply into his uncover life, did she piss off the wrong people? The more I read and thought about all this, the more I wondered whether Sophia’s death and Jill’s disappearance were connected in some way. Was someone out for revenge on Chris? I was completely absorbed in the whole mess, and with the inquest imminent, it seemed we’d be getting some answers pretty soon. We become aware that lies are being told, something is being covered up. Was Chris even a victim in all this? Just how much more was there to uncover? It felt so easy to binge-read this book here. I was so ready for the truth, for what Chris is hiding. And where the hell was Jill?

The end

We finally learn more about a traumatic undercover operation, the horrifying things Chris saw, the things he had to do. How on earth do you ever get over something like that? How do you erase such trauma from your memory? Everything in his past and everything in his present collide and puts him in such a strange place. He loses it. His breakdown and traumatic experiences were so disorientating and written so powerfully. He becomes hysterical, like nothing matters anymore. These unnerving parts of the book left my stomach in knots. It was quite saddening seeing Chris from being a confident cop to crumbling before our very eyes. And Liv writes this in a way that no other author could. After an unexpected visitor leaves a note with the worst message, we finally uncover what really happened on the night of the 12th October 2005, the day of Sophia’s death. The emotion was strong. It was so heavy and made me think so much, made me feel so much devastation. But now the truth was out to the world. How could he worm his way out of things this time? I was speed reading here, completely unable to put this book down!

“What good is the real truth anyway? What good is the truth when no one wants to understand all the complex layers of it? He is a puppet on a string, and always has been.”

The ending chapters slotted together with such precision. Nothing turned out how I expected it to, and god did I love it. There were little twists and huge secrets, perfect reveals right until the end and it was so incredibly satisfying. I loved the emotion, and I loved thinking about the bigger picture when all was said and done. I couldn’t help but think of where these characters would be years into the future after the weight of everything they’d gone through lifted a little. Who they’d turn out to be. I closed this book with so many feelings. About how well you can truly know someone, at what point are you unable to forgive? It left me wanting to carry out my own research into undercover police work, as well as police infiltration into activist groups. The whole thing both fascinates and terrifies me, and this book encapsulates it all perfectly. If you’re already a fan of Liv and her writing, you will love this. If you haven’t read Liv’s books yet, this is a perfect place to start. You’ll be hooked, I promise! Another easy five star, one I would recommend to those who love a thriller with heart.

Overall thoughts

To Love A Liar is a twisty, unpredictable and immersive thriller about love, trust and betrayal, and how living a double life distorts identity, as well as reality. Chris is an undercover cop who is called to an inquest over the nineteen year old case of his dead lover. His wife then disappears, leaving him questioning who he is, just how much he’s involved and what he’s capable of. This book gave me chills and had me completely obsessed with everything Chris had experienced in his life undercover, as well as his ‘other’ life with Sophia. Secrets unravel, lies get bigger and out of control. It’s not only a powerfully gripping, addictive read, but it’s also full of heart and emotion. Liv’s character development is always such a treat, and I loved trying to sus out who these people really were, whether they had anything to hide. A beautifully atmospheric, tense and unforgettable read.

Huge thanks to Liv Matthews and Viking Books for my special proof copy and place on the blog tour! You can grab your own copy of To Love A Liar right now on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following Liv on Instagram and X for more updates!

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