Little Black Lies

Having read all of Sharon Bolton's novels, it can be said that Little Black Lies is her finest work. The book is filled with plenty of twists, lies, and betrayals, while throwing the reader head first into an emotionally gripping, stunning, and brilliant story. Brace yourself. This book takes no prisoners as it winds through a cast of characters' unusual lives in the Falkland Islands, and just when you think you have it figured out, you DON'T! I couldn't put it down, and came away completely amazed!

This story is supposed to be a murder mystery set on the Falkland Islands. Instead, it seems to be more a book about the Falkland Islands, with a secondary murder mystery. It read more as an advertisement for these islands in the South Atlantic ocean.Honestly, by the time this book was finished, I was very tired of reading about every road and beach and type of wildlife on the islands. Not to mention the war there which occurred in the 80's.Beyond that, I figured everything out before the book ended, which is always a total downer for me. I also found the constant quoting of poems to be annoying and ineffective.Nevertheless, I gave this book 3 stars, because I did like the way each third of the book was written from each of the three main characters' perspectives over the same 3 or 4 days. It's an interesting take on a suspense novel. I just wish the author had focused more on the actual suspense and less on the location and surroundings.

This is another excellent mystery with psychological elements by author Bolton. It is a stand alone story set in the Falkland Islands rather than a part of her earlier female detective U.K. series. It is atmospheric and has enough truly well-written twists to make Hitchcock want to come back to life and make the movie. The turns make sense, too, when taken together rather than the way some novels seem to be unfair or illogical when they have such a series of twists. The island terrain, the political history of the Falkland and the essential isolation of a small community play key roles in the book in addition to providing challenging atmosphere.Bolton is skillful in telling the story from three different viewpoints and adhering to the fact each character only knows part of what is happening and each is hiding some personal information. This is very difficult to do as that omniscient author wants to intrude. Her writing always contains interesting insights into a location and a subject and this may be her best writing yet.It is not a police procedural, nor heavy on action over insight. Nor is it a cozy either which it might be given the island setting. It is more in the vein of P.D. James, Elizabeth George, or Louise Penny in creating character and atmosphere and dealing with insight into human behavior. To me that makes it exceptional readingConcerning the new review categories: I found the questions and choices offered too subjective and limited. They were frustrating to make a selection. I would say no violence actually because violence happens as a background but not as descriptive element of the story. (It is a mystery so involves some violence.) The same with sexual content. And it is not in alternating persons where A tells what happens, B tells, return to A. It is in 3 distinct segments told by 3 main characters.

I enjoyed it - but not one of my favorite Bolton books It is well-written with excellent detail given to the setting and supporting characters, just like all of Bolton's books - she's a good writer. I just wasn't really interested in the actual story. CAitlin's 2 children had died 3 years before the story begins - they died when the car they were in rolled off a cliffNow, 3 years later - boys are going missing. The story opens as the 3rd boy disappears.The story is told from 3 perspectives, Caitlin, Callum and Rachel. Caitlin is severely depressed, Callum suffers from PTSD, Rachel is the reason Caitlins children died

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is well-written with excellent detail given to the setting and supporting characters. I guess what I didn't like was that there was maybe too much detail given to the setting. Pages and pages were devoted to describing the harsh environment and landscape of the Falkland Islands, and at first I appreciated this. I've never been to this part of the world and don't know much about it, I learned a lot by reading this book. The islands sound intriguing, beautiful, mysterious and a little scary. The problem was that so much of the book was devoted to writing about the islands and their history. It got repetitive.I also didn't care much for the main characters. The book is told from 3 perspectives, and I didn't care for 1 of them (Callum) at all. Out of the other 2, only 1 (Rachel) was relatable and clearly drawn. The other (Catrin) seemed all over the place and I just could never get a firm grip on who she was and what she was all about. I did appreciate many of the supporting characters in this book. There were many quirky personalities that flitted through the pages that provided comedy and depth.The last greivance I had with this book is the ending. I won't spoil it, I'll just say it was weak and unbelievable.