Deception: The Sunday Times Bestseller 2022

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With dreams of being a writer, she now works on a newspaper selling advertising. She very much keeps to herself with the occasional love interest but Amelia is very careful about any relationship she undertakes. She has seen the control that a man can exert and wishes for better choices in her own life. Little did she know she would be part of a scoop herself one day. She had discovered the body of a young women. Journalist were spreading lies about the victim. A raw, truthful and moving account, building intrigue as Alice gradually uncovers her mother's life of deception, lies - and love' WOMAN'S WEEKLY Eve should never have married Don Hathaway. Yes, he gave her two beautiful children - Olly and Tabitha - but he is a bully. Worse than that, he hurts her.

Amelia, while traumatised by the discovery of such a brutal crime, is also very much concerned with how the public and the media will portray this young woman. With her boss’s approval, Amelia interviews the family of the victim and writes a piece for the paper. Amelia is a talented writer and her ability to portray the real personality of this young woman is evident by all. Something awakens in Amelia and she decides to delve further into the mystery surrounding this case. Lesley and her brother ended up in orphanages for three years after their mother died because their father was in the Royal Marines. They eventually got to go home again when their father remarried a sharp ex-Army nurse and was joined later by two more kids that were adopted by their father and stepmother, as well as a series of foster children that would come through. Written with Pearse's typically engaging and effortless style of storytelling, Deception is an intriguing book of highs, lows, struggles and perseverance' CULTUREFLY If the title is anything to go by, I should have been warned..but, I definitely was not prepared for the amount of Betrayal I was about to witness and live through Eve!The story then follows Eve and her children over the years after breaking free but it looks as if the past is always lurking around the corner waiting for the truth to come out and justice to be done. With Lesley Pearse's reputation for grippy, gritting stories that never shy away from the seamier side of life, I was expecting distressing themes from Betrayal. And, yes, this story pulled no punches – literally – from the very start. A Lesley Pearse book is always one that has a very easy flow to the writing. The characters are a mix of personalities bringing many relevant themes to the fore, in this case focusing on domestic abuse, bullying and dominating behaviour. As Amelia pieces together clues, the reader gets an insight into lives lived and the long lasting impact of actions taken in the past. Amelia has always doubted her own ability and, at times, her vulnerability exposes her to very confusing and very challenging situations. She questions herself many times, doubting her judgement, unsure of who and what to believe.

So, Amelia persuades her newspaper editor to allow her to take on the story so she can uncover what sits behind the smear campaign that seems to dominate the story rather than the loss of life. As her investigation begins and Amelia is drawn further into the case, more bodies are discovered, yet people aren’t talking; everyone one seems to know something, but everyone seems to have a problem telling the truth. Why the conspiracy of lies? Then her husband enlists in the Army and is sent to the battlefields. Belle starts to realize slowly that her entire life is on the verge of falling apart. But she is resilient and will not stand by and watch it happen. Belle volunteers to help treat the wounded and ends up working abroad as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross In France.

She had been lucky to get the housekeeping job in Kingsbridge. A girl of twenty-two whose only real skill was helping her father to fish, wouldn’t expect to get such a position.

But then here’s the contrasting thing…the book highlighted some really difficult subjects including marital abuse, grooming and suicide, to name but a few, and didn’t shy away from them, in fact it is a brutal start to the book….which then made the other parts seem so contrasted Eve decides to permanently move her family to Sidmouth, to finally start over and to work on the interior decorating career she has always wanted. But secrets have a way of following you and Eve soon learns that even in a quaint little fisherman's town like Sidmouth, there are still monsters lurking around every corner. And sometimes those monsters are the people you trust the most. She is the author of the Belle series, which has three books in it. Belle was published in 2011, The Promise in 2012, and Survivor rounded out the trilogy in 2014. It was well received by readers, enough so that a 2016 collection of the Belle series came out called The Complete Belle Collection. In this exciting and historical city, Belle gradually begins to come into her own. Now of age, she gradually learns how to operate skill fully within her life as a courtesan and even adapts to enjoy it. However, she is always thinking of the home she left behind. Even though she is the golden girl for right now of the prostitution world in this bustling southern city, she knows that she only has so long to dominate this cage before it turns into a prison once more that holds her forever. Got to say I don’t think I am the target audience for this book, generally I read a lot of what is classed ‘women’s fiction’ and love it but this for me actually did feel it was correctly labelled, a bit Mills and Boon ish in large swathes of it

Yet although it took me a few days ( that’s a lot for me ) I wanted to finish the book and see the final outcome I've loved Lesley Pearse's books from the beginning. It's hard to believe Betrayal is book 31! It's just as good a read as all of the others. Eve Hathaway's husband Don is the worst kind of bully. For years she's put up with his beating and berating towards herself and their children Tabby and Ollie. Finally, FINALLY after one too many instances of the abuse, Eve finds the courage to walk away. Despite some flaws, I found Eve to be a strong and brave protagonist in many ways. All she wants is the best for her children, even if she's weighed down with such a burden that she can't share. This also means that's she has surpressed trust issues and can't fully commit to another romance in the future. I put all my faith in Amelia and although she put her life in jeopardy, the danger she places herself in eventually works in her favour. The culprit didn’t come as too much of a surprise and some aspects of the case were predictable, but I still enjoyed being swept up in this murder investigation.

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I certainly found myself questioning my morals with this book because I am very much one who believes in doing the right thing and without giving too much away Eve does something unforgivable that would usually have me turning against a character however because we have seen what poor Eve has had to endure through her life there was a part of me that excused her for her actions. A strong piece of writing and storytelling that has the power to transport you and invite you into the drama.

A very confusing book to review for me as it was like 2 books joined as one, no doubt well written but maybe not for my appreciation LIAR is not a typical murder mystery. There are none of the graphic descriptions of violence we now expect to read as standard in many crime fiction books. Lesley Pearse ‘does’ crime in her own gentle way. This is based in the 1970’s in West London. A time of power cuts and dustbin men going on strike. Amelias past family life was awful. A Father who drank aplenty and liked using his fists. A mother quite partial to the bottle too. Who neglected her children and had to fend for themselves. Faced with this staggering deception, Alice decides she must learn the whole, terrible truth about her mother. The betrayal of the title is how Don treats Eve, however, she is so immersed in her one and only long term relationship she believes leaving him would be an act of betrayal of their wedding vows. It is a clear and stark insight into the other side of the equation when those who have -thankfully-never been in a relationship like this, ask 'Why didn't you leave?' People rarely ask 'What stopped you feeling that you could?' It's another subtle layer to the abusive relationship and as Eve sees the reactions of her children, as well as the threat of violence towards her son, that gives her the push she needs to seek help.In parallel to her detective work, Amelia’s personal life is also facing difficulties, leaving Amelia with more than one battle to deal with. One thing we learn as readers is that Amelia is very courageous and fearless…but can she come out of this unscathed? Amelia loves to write and her dream is to become a reporter, instead she sells advertising space at her local newspaper. Also the writing style is written in a way my 15 year old self wrote fan fictions. Just so simple and boring. A natural storyteller, Lesley has lived an eventful life but is also inspired by others’ stories of courage and adversity, often giving voice to women lost in history and people damaged by their childhood experiences.’ There were times where I just wanted to grab Eve and run away..like to hell with this world and all its downsides!