Beautiful Liars

May 27, 2019
Ashdown (Little Sister) burnishes her reputation with this intricately plotted psychological thriller set in London. In January 2000, 17-year-old Juliet Sherman went missing after walking home from a girls’ night out. The last person known to have seen Juliet was her friend Martha Benn. That same evening, Juliet was also with another friend, Olivia Heathcote. Eighteen years later, Martha, now a TV producer, is looking to jump-start her waning career with a new true crime series. She chooses Juliet’s disappearance as the anchor story in an effort not just to solve the crime but to relieve her guilt over what happened that night. Her first step is to reconnect with Olivia, but unbeknownst to Martha, Casey, a deranged fan of Martha, intercepts a letter meant for Olivia. Pretending to be Olivia, Casey inserts herself into the investigation, thus beginning a deadly game of cat and mouse. Oddly, Casey has intimate details about the crime and David Crown, the only major suspect and Juliet’s suspected lover. The alternating narratives of Martha and Casey add depth to this twisty tale. Ashdown keeps the reader guessing throughout. Agent: Kate Shaw, Viney Agency (U.K.).