Eighteen years ago Martha said goodbye to best friend Juliet on a moonlit London towpath.
The next morning Juliet’s bike was found abandoned at the waterside.
She was never seen again.
Nearly two decades later Martha is a TV celebrity, preparing to host a new crime show… and the first case will be that of missing student Juliet Sherman. After all these years Martha must reach out to old friends and try to piece together the final moments of Juliet’s life.
But what happens when your perfect friends turn out to be perfect strangers…?
Beautiful Liars by Isabel Ashdown Review
Secrets Will Out!
Beautiful Liars is the fifth book by Isabel Ashdown and her first fiction novel in the crime genre, but I am sorry to say, that this is the first of her books I have had the pleasure to read. I am over the moon to be given the chance to help kick off the first week of her epic blog tour with this review. 
About the Book
Beautiful Liars is a fabulous character driven mystery. Isabel promises twists and turns wrapped up in a story about secrets and friendship.
18 years ago, Martha, Juliet, and Liv were three best friends living a perfectly happy life. But when Juliet’s bike is found abandoned by the edge of a canal, their lives are set never to be the same again.
Almost two decades later, Martha, who now has a successful TV career, has vowed to open the cold case that involves her missing friend, hoping to solve the case once and for all. But opening up that case will lead to secrets being outed and lives being changed forever.
As I mentioned, this was a ‘cherry pop’ for me and having never read any of Isabel’s work, I had no idea what to expect. But having read so many thrillers lately, I was expecting similar themes, dark characters and more twists than a curly wurly. What I wasn’t expecting was a steady burner that would creep up on me!
Beautiful Liars is an enthralling book about those secrets we keep so hidden that most of the time we manage to completely forget we are keeping them. A book about the small details we overlook each day when we are turning a blind eye to the real issues in our lives.
The opening chapter of the book hooks you immediately and although I figured out one of the main twists fairly on, Beautiful Liars is one of those books that demands you keep reading to the end to find out if you are right. Despite the fact that I knew what was going on, I couldn’t put the book down, instead, I spent most of the time screaming at the book waiting for the characters to wake up and see the truth.
The theme of friendship that is threaded through the book is so relatable. How many of us were involved in a friendship of three when we were at school? What emotions did that bring? Jealousy, secrets … Ashdown explores these without ever having you question the girls’ loyalty to each other.
Isabel managed one aspect of this book particularly well… characterisation. Meeting one of the other characters, Casey early in the book left me feeling uncomfortable from her very first introduction, but her behaviour throughout the book drew me further into the story each time. A character that you instantly dislike, sympathise with and scream ‘stupid girl’ in equal measure! I won’t say much more than that, I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but suffice to say that her character is one that you will love to hate.
Beautiful Liars is a crime novel with a great plot and complex characters. Even if you do work out the twist early, I guarantee you won’t be able to put it down until you are proven right. The characters demand that you continue to read, after all.. their story doesn’t end until you turn the very last page!
Beautiful Liars is published by:Trapeze
ISBN: 978-140917-472-1
