Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

 

Nine year old Avery Wooler is a difficult child. When she goes missing suspicion falls on her father, William Wooler, the last person to see her alive. As the police investigate they discover that there are lots of secrets in the small community.

Everyone Here Is Lying has you hooked from the very beginning. The book opens with a confrontation between father and daughter. Next thing we know is that Avery is missing. You immediately assume the father is responsible. Unfortunately William Wooler doesn't admit to having seen his daughter since he shouldn't have been at home. William has been conducting an affair with a married neighbour instead of being at work. When the police discover he's been lying they are convinced he's responsible for Avery's disappearance.

As the police continue to investigate we learn that quite a few of the neighbours are hiding secrets and there is more than one suspect. You really do begin to wonder who is telling the truth and who is responsible. A complete lack of evidence makes it even more difficult to determine exactly what has happened. There is lots of finger pointing and conjecture, this results in distrust among the community and the break-up of more than one relationship. 

I loved the way that suspicion fell on different people at different times; how for some individuals it was almost impossible to provide an alibi and prove their innocence. It really does highlight that you never really know what is going on behind closed doors. I was completely engrossed in the way that little snippets of information changed the focus of the investigation and suspicion would switch from one person to another. There was also a moment were you wondered if a false accusation was going to result in tragic consequences.

Unfortunately the twist didn't work for me. I really couldn't see the characterisation that was depicted and how it played out, leaving the conclusion a little flat for me after the first half of the novel was so good.

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapend will be published on 6th July 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.