Heidi Perks opens her latest thriller with a fire that destroys the well-known, but sometimes controversial, advertising agency of Morris and Wood. A large portion of the people in the area never wanted it built there in the first place, and many petitioned against it. Now, it is up in flames. Through flashbacks as well as current-day police interviews, Perks takes the reader on a thrill-ride of a whodunnit as we learn that the controversy outside the building is nothing compared to what was going on inside the building.
Laura is just returning to work after six months of maternity leave. She and her husband Nate have decided he will stay home with the baby while Laura goes back to work. Nate’s work in IT does not offer the salary that Laura’s position at Morris and Wood does, so the plan seems to be the best solution. Laura’s return, however, does not go as she expects it to, in several different ways.
First, Laura’s temporary replacement Mia has been made a permanent staff member, much to Laura’s surprise. Laura had expected to slip back into her job as if she had never missed a step, but with Mia now in an equal position, she has taken over Laura’s primary account in Laura’s absence. Additionally, Laura and Nate begin to have friction in their relationship as Laura’s old workaholic-type attitudes almost immediately return. But now it isn’t just Nate that is affected, as their young son is missing out on time with her as well.
There is also more to Mia than meets the eye, some of which we learn as readers that other characters in the story take much longer to find out. Her decision to take on Laura’s position during her maternity leave was not a spur of the moment decision. There is much more going on in Mia’s world than her boss or her co-workers are aware of.
Speaking of the boss, Harry Wood himself (and his wife Janie) are also major players in this thriller. After the controversial building of the office itself, the family moved from London and Janie’s job as a barrister ended somewhat abruptly. Their children are getting older and Janie is starting to realise there is a distance between herself and Harry that is not getting smaller, as she thought it might, as their lives have settled into routine.
Perks sets a great stage and fills it with fascinating characters, and then she ever so slowly hand feeds the reader breadcrumbs, leading them to a dramatic conclusion that is both satisfying and shocking. Perks is an author that rewards you for paying attention, and for thinking of these characters as genuine three-dimensional people. She wants you to think about their motives and motivations. She wants you to think about men and women and how we all work with, and relate to, each other. Your prize for that effort is a genuinely engrossing story full of twists, that stays with you well after you finish the book.
Three Perfect Liars is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From the author of Her One Mistake , hailed as “chilling, captivating” by New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda, comes a riveting new suspense novel about three ambitious women whose lives are turned upside down in the aftermath of a horrifying fire, which destroys a successful advertising agency and threatens to expose a tangled web of lies.
Laura has returned to work at Morris and Wood after her maternity leave, only to discover that the woman she brought in to cover for her isn’t planning on going anywhere. Despite her close relationship with the agency’s powerful CEO, Harry Wood, she feels sidelined—and outmaneuvered—as she struggles to balance the twin demands of work and motherhood.
Mia was only supposed to be a temporary hire at Morris and Wood, but she’s managed to make herself indispensable to everyone. Everyone, that is, except Laura. If people only knew why she was so desperate to keep her job, they might not want her to stay.
Janie gave up everything to support her husband and the successful agency he runs. But she has her own dark secret to protect…and will go to any lengths to keep it safe.
With signature prose lauded as “breathtaking” and “bone-chilling” by USA TODAY bestselling author Cristina Alger and plenty of shocking twists and turns, Three Perfect Liars is an unputdownable thriller for fans of Watching You and The Couple Next Door.
