Eerie and sinister, A Place to Lie is a fascinating psychological thriller with a disturbing fairy tale vibe. With the crux of the story set in Witchwood, a fictional village on the edge of the Forest of Dean, the novel explores the lingering impact of lies, guilt and the devastating loss of childhood innocence.
The story is juxtaposed between the summer of 1990 when sisters Caroline and Joanna are sent to spend their summer holidays with their great aunt; and present day in which Joanna is struggling to come to terms with the violent, shocking death of her sister.
Although estranged from Caroline for the past decade, Joanna can’t make sense of the violence surrounding her death. However Joanna soon learns that before her death Caroline was living in fear. But fear of what? And how is the summer of 1990 and the village of Witchwood connected to Caroline’s death?
Witchwood was supposed to be a summer respite from the traumatic childhood Caroline and Joanna experienced back home in the city. As the girls were left to run carefree, they made friendships, experienced first crushes and played in the woods.
Yet what else was happening in the woods? Then when an evil tragedy occurs rocking the village to its core, the sisters carefree summer suddenly end, taking with it their childhood innocence.
I’ve got to be honest with you – when I started reading A Place to Lie, I struggled to get into it. Although I was enjoying it, initially it didn’t grip me. But on reflection I think that was more to do with me as I just had loads of other things going on at the time, and this is a book that deserves concentration. So I decided to have a break and read another book instead. Then a few days later I went back to A Place to Lie – and crikey, with its twists and turns, I was totally consumed.
What I especially loved about this book is the complex, creepy characters and the sinister atmospheric setting it evokes. As the eerie tension intensified, I just didn’t know how the story would end. It’s author Rebecca Griffiths skilfully plants clues throughout the narrative, but the clues are so well concealed, the outcome is truly shocking.
Published in paperback on Thursday 22 August, A Place to Lie is a must read for all fans of psychological thrillers. In my view the plot is brilliantly constructed, creating a dramatically intensive read.
Thank you Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour of this chilling novel. Thank you also to Sphere for my advance copy. Thank you especially to Rebecca Griffiths for this sinister and thought-provoking read .
Today is the first day of the A Place to Lie blog tour. To also read the reviews from my fellow book bloggers, please see below.
Happy reading everyone! 🙂
Thanks for the blog tour support xx