Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In such a small community as the Falkland Islands, a missing child is unheard of. In such a dangerous landscape it can only be a terrible tragedy, surely...

When another child goes missing, and then a third, it’s no longer possible to believe that their deaths were accidental, and the villagers must admit that there is a murderer among them. Even Catrin Quinn, a damaged woman living a reclusive life after the accidental deaths of her own two sons a few years ago, gets involved in the searches and the speculation.

And suddenly, in this wild and beautiful place that generations have called home, no one feels safe and the hysteria begins to rise.

But three islanders—Catrin, her childhood best friend, Rachel, and her ex-lover Callum—are hiding terrible secrets. And they have two things in common: all three of them are grieving, and none of them trust anyone, not even themselves.

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Catrin and Rachel have been best friends since they were children but after Catrin's children died when Rachel was babysitting have their friendship abruptly ended. Now they both are suffering, Catrin by grief and Rachel by guilt. Then a child goes missing and that is not the first child missing on the Falklands since Catrin's children died...and then Rachel youngest child is taken and everyone thinks Catrin is behind that.

I had a hard time getting into the book. The story is very, very dark. The book is divided into three part, first Catrin, then Callum (Catrin's ex-lover) and finally Rachel. They all tell their story during the days that the child is missing. Catrin is consumed with the thought of killing Rachel, and I was a bit uncertain if I really would be able to finish the book while I read her part of the book. It was just so dark and there is a part in the book that involves stranded whales that really bothered me. I actually closed the book at that part and decided to read something else.

But then when I picked up the book again some day later and thought that I read some more to see if the story gets, well more "enjoyable", and the story started to get better when Callum took over the reins and you get some more backstory to everything. But it's the ending, Rachel's part that truly makes the book a 4-star book and not a 3-star book. The last 100 pages are packed with twists. You think that you have everything figured out and then something is revealed and you realize that nope you hadn't. And there is some ray of light towards the end that made me happy and when you think that everything is going to be fine BAM a new twist that I never ever saw coming!