But I Smile Anyway…

Allow me to introduce to you the next release from best-selling author Teresa Driscoll, Tell Me Lies. Oh, what a good read!

The Blurb

From bestselling author Teresa Driscoll comes a chilling thriller of past secrets and present terror. Deep in a rural hideaway, it’s only the owls watching them…right?

After a betrayal that sent their marriage into freefall, Hannah and Sam are desperate for a fresh start with their eight-year-old daughter Lily—and where better than picture-perfect Owl Cottage in beautiful Cornwall. But something about the holiday home stirs dark memories for Hannah…

When she finds dead creatures on the doorstep and hears mysterious knocks at the door, Hannah can’t help wondering whether someone is messing with her—or whether the past she’s been running from has finally claimed her sanity.

As the disturbing events at Owl Cottage seep out into the local community and the police become involved, Hannah turns to Sam for help, but when he dismisses her worries, she wonders if she was wrong to ever trust him. Are the memories making her paranoid, or is this something more sinister than she dares imagine?

My Review

Tell Me Lies by Teresa Driscoll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve not read Teresa Driscoll’s books before, but this one had me hooked and on the lookout for her other books!
Hannah is in a bit of a mess.
She suffered huge trauma as a child and teenager, and just when her life was settled with her husband, Sam, and daughter, Lily, something pulls the rug from under her feet.
To start afresh, the small family take a holiday and settles in what seems like an idyllic cottage named Owl Cottage. Perfect for Hannah, who loves owls.
The thing is, idyllic rarely stays as such. Strange things begin to happen, causing Hannah and her family to begin to regret coming.
Told mainly from the POV of Hannah, with some switches to Sam, Maud, Hannah’s mother, and the DI in charge of the eventual case. We also meet Hannah’s neurotic friend Amy and her handsome, but a bit smarmy, husband Adam.
Her mother is worried. She can see her daughter in free fall, and knowing what has happened in the past, she’s concerned about what Hannah might do.
Sam is tense, not knowing what impact his actions will have on his wife.
The DI in charge of what should be a simple sudden death case ends up unearthing a lot more than that.
I read this fairly quickly and was invested from the beginning. I could feel the anxiety and confusion in Hannah throughout. She did become a bit self-absorbed at times, but considering all she had been through, it’s not a surprise.

About the Author

Teresa Driscoll is a former BBC TV news presenter whose psychological thrillers have
sold nearly two million copies across the world. Her first thriller I Am Watching You hit
Kindle Number 1 in the UK, USA and Australia and has sold more than a million copies
in English alone.
Teresa writes women’s fiction as well as thrillers and her work has been optioned for
film and sold for translation in more than 20 territories. For decades Teresa was a
journalist working across newspapers, magazines and television. Covering crime for so
long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and
the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction. Teresa lives
in glorious Devon with her family and blogs regularly about her ‘writing life’ on her
website, http://www.teresadriscoll.com.