“The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.”–Stephen King.

This book has been on my ever-growing TBR pile for some time, and my only regret after reading it is, I wish I’d read it sooner. The Perfect Liar is a taught thriller with well-crafted characters set against the beautiful backdrop of Tuscany.

Three friends, Susanne, who is getting over a divorce, Dale, who is dealing with a relationship break-up, and Evie, who is still grieving the loss of her recently deceased mother, decide to take a holiday together in Italy. Susanne’s neighbour owns a villa in San Gimignano – a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena – and agrees to let the three friends stay there during the summer, for free, on the proviso they keep an eye on her godson, Harry. Harry, a twenty-four-year-old Cambridge graduate who has been travelling around Europe for a while, is already at the villa when the three friends arrive. Well-spoken and well-mannered, Harry seems very charming. He also, much to her surprise, and that of her friends, takes a shine to Susanne, which, despite their large age gap, sees them embark on a steamy affair together. However, all is not as it seems at the picture-perfect Villa Giardino. Especially when it comes to Harry.

The Perfect Liar is a perfectly paced, multi-layered thriller, full of intrigue and deceit, with both believable and well-rounded characters. The writing is sublime – I could feel the sun, see the architecture, and taste the food. If you’ve never been lucky enough to holiday in Tuscany, you’ll probably want to after reading this; a page-turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat, immersed in both the plot and the story’s beautiful surroundings, culminating in not one, but two twists.

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