Liar is set during the seventies. Amelia’s start in life wasn’t a good one, her father was free with his hands and her mother lost herself in drink to escape. When her father beats her worse than usual she ends up in hospital and is helped to find somewhere to live where she slowly builds a new life for herself. We meet her after a few years living alone and working at a newspaper selling advertising space.

When she discovers the body of a young woman on a pile of rubbish her boss sends her to visit the victim’s family to get their exclusive story. He allows her to write it up and publishes it in the paper. Suddenly Amelia starts to be noticed and when she meets the man she believes to be ‘the one’ she feels for the first time that her life is turning around and going in the direction she had hoped.

I raced through this book and because of the title kept wondering who the liar in question might be. Lesley Pearse is a brilliant writer and Liar is a great, fast-paced read with lots of twists and turns and a satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.