Hello beautiful people! We’re back in Karin Slaughter’s world, and if you’ve followed my site for a while, you know how much I adore both the Will Trent and Sara Linton series. I’ve invested in these characters for years, and let me tell you, this one took me through it. I was hooked from start to finish, and given that the Will Trent Series is pretty extensive at this point, if you haven’t read others before, you can still definitely enjoy this one.
Main Characters:
Will Trent: Our main man, newly married, freshly in love, and trying to have a peaceful honeymoon, except, of course, nothing in Will’s world is ever peaceful, when their romantic getaway drags him straight back into his childhood trauma, it’s clear this trip is about to be anything but relaxing
Sara Linton: Will’s wife, doctor, and absolute rock, she’s forced to watch her new husband unravel as old wounds resurface, all while being pulled into a murder investigation she definitely didn’t pack for
Mercy McAlpine: The woman who runs the resort where Will and Sara are staying, and the center of the chaos, when she turns up dead, her complicated past starts spilling out
Dave McAlpine: Mercy’s abusive ex-husband and the very same person who tormented Will when they were kids, his reappearance rips open wounds Will never truly healed.
Jon McAlpine: Mercy’s son, caught between his family’s dysfunction and the truth about his parents
Faith Mitchell: Will’s loyal partner, who never hesitates to go to bat for him, even when things get dark
Bitty McAlpine: Mercy’s mother and Dave’s one-time saviour figure, she’s the kind of woman who always saw the “good” in Dave, even when it came at the expense of her own daughter
My Review
This book had me hooked. Karin Slaughter always finds new ways to dig deeper into Will and Sara’s relationship, and This Is Why We Lied might just be one of her most emotional yet. I gave This Is Why We Lied a 9/10. It’s dark, emotional, and classic Slaughter, raw, unflinching, and impossible to put down. As someone who’s been following these characters forever, this one felt deeply personal, and I always enjoy getting to see Will and Sara do their thing together.
The book follows Sara and Will on their honeymoon, which quickly changes from a trip of love to a trip of horrors. Will and Sara, both successful and happy in their life, go to a secluded cabin retreat in the woods to celebrate. A place that means a lot to Will because it’s near where he grew up, but it quickly turns out to be far too close to the past than he would have wanted. Mercy, the owner of the place they are staying at, seems like a lowly and run-down woman. Will soon understands why when they are introduced to her ex-husband (and like also kind of adopted brother), who Will lived with in a foster home and tortured an already very broken boy. Dave is a difficult and childish man who, upon seeing Will again, quickly goes into his mean bully role. Their son Jon, an odd mix between his stoic mother and dick head father. When Mercy is found bloody and battered, Will and Sara’s honeymoon quickly turns into a murder investigation. Dave, being an easy suspect, runs off. Will and Sara are forced to pull apart to difficult layers of this family’s history, and who may have had the motivation to kill the woman who kept it all running.
I loved that we got a closer look at Will’s past, it’s been referenced so many times before, and we know some of the gory details, but here we finally see the kind of pain that shaped him on a deeper level. Watching him face those ghosts while trying to protect Sara and still fight for justice it just reminded me why he’s such a compelling character. He might be haunted, but he never stops fighting for the little people.
That said, I did find it a little strange that Will would pick a honeymoon spot that ended up dredging up so much trauma. Sure, he couldn’t have known, but part of me was like, this couldn’t have been the best option, really? Still, that tension added a lot to the story; you could feel Sara’s frustration and heartbreak, her helplessness in trying to protect him from something she couldn’t fix.
The McAlpine family was so frustrating in the best way. Their tangled relationships, secrets, and messy dynamics kept the story charged from start to finish. It’s the kind of cast that makes you want to shake everyone and hug them at the same time.
This book felt like a reminder that love doesn’t erase pain, it just gives you someone to hold onto while you face it. If you’re a long-time fan, this book will hit you right in the chest. And if you’re new? Well, buckle up.
*** Don’t read any further if you don’t want to read any spoilers ***
Mercy is found dead early on, and the investigation quickly turns into a trip down memory lane for Will, one he never wanted to take. Dave, her abusive ex and Will’s childhood tormentor, becomes the prime suspect due to his extensive past of being abusive to Mercy and also manipulating the other people around them to turn against her.
The real gut punch? It turns out Jon, Mercy’s own son, was the one who killed her. The truth behind it is as heartbreaking as it is twisted. His anger with her, potentially spun from seeing how his own father would treat her, spirals into something he can’t take back. It was crushing because it’s clear at the end that his grandmother knew that he had done it, and tried to protect him, along with Dave. Once again, doing everything other than the right thing for Mercy.
Through it all, Sara and Will’s relationship only gets stronger. They come out of it bruised, but more connected than ever.
I hope you enjoyed this review! Thank you for checking it out! Be sure to subscribe to the site to be one of the first to know when I release a new review!
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