One Little Lie
by Carne Maxwell
“Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!” So said Sir Walter Scott And so it was when Melissa decided to tell one little lie.
Set on Waiheke Island, the novel is about four young women with a longstanding friendship taking a working holiday during their University break to earn some money picking tomatoes. The story gradually weaves in relationships and romances until the heroine makes a poor decision and covers it up with one little lie.
This lie grows in magnitude until it involves a pregnancy, her family, her friends, drug taking, drug dealing, and eventually a death which rocks the little community. And we are left with the quandary – was it an accident or was it murder?
The story is told through the voices of Melissa, her cousin Seth, Stephen and Clive, a local policeman, all one time friends but circumstances occur to change the dynamics of this friendship.
From the first chapter where Melissa is abducted and almost buried alive I was hooked and eagerly read the chapters as the plot evolved to its satisfactory conclusion.
The story scans well, is easy to follow and descriptive with such passages as “Lies. You tell one and wham – it’s like a ticking time bomb in your head. It quietly sits there fermenting away and pops up, without warning, over and over and over again. Even if you tell the truth there’s no escape because you’ve already ruined everything”
I found it difficult to put down and would hide in a corner ignoring what else I could be doing, but deciding that, to read a good book was good for the soul. This was one of those books.
“One Little Lie” is a novel set in New Zealand with a New Zealand flavour and will be enjoyed by people of all ages as they too think about the consequences of not telling the truth.
Walter Scott was right.
by Carne Maxwell
“Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!” So said Sir Walter Scott And so it was when Melissa decided to tell one little lie.
Set on Waiheke Island, the novel is about four young women with a longstanding friendship taking a working holiday during their University break to earn some money picking tomatoes. The story gradually weaves in relationships and romances until the heroine makes a poor decision and covers it up with one little lie.
This lie grows in magnitude until it involves a pregnancy, her family, her friends, drug taking, drug dealing, and eventually a death which rocks the little community. And we are left with the quandary – was it an accident or was it murder?
The story is told through the voices of Melissa, her cousin Seth, Stephen and Clive, a local policeman, all one time friends but circumstances occur to change the dynamics of this friendship.
From the first chapter where Melissa is abducted and almost buried alive I was hooked and eagerly read the chapters as the plot evolved to its satisfactory conclusion.
The story scans well, is easy to follow and descriptive with such passages as “Lies. You tell one and wham – it’s like a ticking time bomb in your head. It quietly sits there fermenting away and pops up, without warning, over and over and over again. Even if you tell the truth there’s no escape because you’ve already ruined everything”
I found it difficult to put down and would hide in a corner ignoring what else I could be doing, but deciding that, to read a good book was good for the soul. This was one of those books.
“One Little Lie” is a novel set in New Zealand with a New Zealand flavour and will be enjoyed by people of all ages as they too think about the consequences of not telling the truth.
Walter Scott was right.
Review by Merilyn Mary
Title: One Little Lie
Author: Carne Maxwell
Publisher: Carne Maxwell
ISBN: 9780473534509
RRP: $30 from author’s website. Varies in stores from $29.99 - $37.99
Available: website https://www.carnemaxwellauthor.co.nz
some Paper Plus stores; Poppies Howick; Writers Plot Upper Hutt; The Women’s Bookshop Ponsonby; Wheelers
Amazon: print ISBN 9780473534509; kindle IBSN 9780473547271
iBooks ISBN 9780473547288; Kobo ISBN 9780473547264
Barnes & Noble ISBN 9780473547264; Google Books ISBN 9780473547264
Author: Carne Maxwell
Publisher: Carne Maxwell
ISBN: 9780473534509
RRP: $30 from author’s website. Varies in stores from $29.99 - $37.99
Available: website https://www.carnemaxwellauthor.co.nz
some Paper Plus stores; Poppies Howick; Writers Plot Upper Hutt; The Women’s Bookshop Ponsonby; Wheelers
Amazon: print ISBN 9780473534509; kindle IBSN 9780473547271
iBooks ISBN 9780473547288; Kobo ISBN 9780473547264
Barnes & Noble ISBN 9780473547264; Google Books ISBN 9780473547264
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