After fulfilling her first dream, it wasn’t until she moved back to Coventry thirteen years later that the second finally came true. I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from HarperCollins via Edelweiss.Ĭaz Frear grew up in Coventry, England, and spent her teenage years dreaming of moving to London and writing a novel. I very much look forward to following Cat Kinsella in further books and already have a copy of “ Stone Cold Heart” loaded on my Kindle. The characters were well rendered and the mystery/police case was interesting and rather unique. I really enjoyed the writing style which reminded me of a cross between Tana French and Angela Marsons. A time when emotions and stress run high for most people. The action in the book takes place Christmas week 2016. Her ‘work-Dad’, Detective Sergeant Lu Parnell, her diminutive yet commanding Detective Chief Inspector (who is aptly named Steele). She is estranged from her Dad, she has little in common with her older sister Jacqui, and she outright dislikes her brother Noel.Ĭat’s police family were an interesting lot. Cat was very close to her mother who passed away a few years ago.Ĭat’s family, like a lot of families, is quite dysfunctional. Once the apple of her father’s eye, Cat now harbors a deep suspicion of him which started when she was only eight years old. Her father is a bit of a rogue and a scoundrel, always delving into ‘shady’ endeavors to make money. “The most devastating punishments aren’t always the legal ones.”Ī Londoner born and bred, Cat grew up in a flat over a pub in Islington. She is obsessed with fairness and justice.

Also, Cat is still reeling from emotional trauma she experienced on her last case. She compromises her personal and professional ethics and is deeply conflicted over this. She likes her work and is good at it, yet she fears that family loyalty has jeopardized her career. Unmarried, she rents an attic room from a family with young children. She was a twenty-six year old Detective Constable with little experience on the murder squad.

“ Sweet Little Lies” was different in that the protagonist is not a Detective Inspector, or someone of high rank. I read a lot of police procedurals and enjoy them very much. This is the conundrum Cat Kinsella finds herself in. “I’ve spent most of my life, not exactly sure in the belief, but certainly toying with – then blocking out – the idea that Dad might have killed Maryanne Doyle in 1998.”

“Problem is, while the lie may be sweet as it falls from your lips, the feeling in your gut is always putridly sour.

Little lies book