📖 Book Description
Everything I’ve been told about my family is a lie.
My cousin and my aunt died in a tragic accident on a family holiday.
I was fourteen when it happened.
One moment, we were planning a day at the mall.
The next, they were dead in a car crash.
A closed case.
A past I was meant to forget.Thirty years later.
It starts with small things that don’t add up.
A mug left on the kitchen counter. I didn’t put it there.
A hand-delivered envelope containing an old-fashioned friendship bracelet.
A bunch of fresh flowers left on my uncle’s grave.I’m clearing out my mum’s attic when I find it. A diary.
Belonging to the aunt who was killed in the crash . . .My uncle was doing terrible things to the people who loved him.
He wasn’t the charming, kind and generous man I remember at all.He was a monster . . .
📚Book Information
The Family Lies by Lorna Henderson
Publisher
Joffe Books
Available formats
📖 Digital Edition • ISBN: 9781807880477 • Pages: 246 • Published: 28 July 2026
Find out more
Amazon • Goodreads • The StoryGraph
🌟 Book Tour
I’m delighted to be taking part in the Virtual Book Tour for The Family Ties, hosted by Zooloo’s Book Tours.
The full tour schedule can be found here.
My sincere thanks to Zooloo’s Book Tours for the opportunity to take part in this virtual book tour, and to Joffe Books for providing digital review copy of The Family Ties. As always, my review is based solely on my own reading experience and reflects my honest opinion.
👤 About the Author
Ellie Henderson lives near the sea on the east coast of Scotland and is a regular visitor to the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland. When she’s not writing she runs creative workshops in the community. Ellie also writes psychological fiction under the name Lorna Henderson
🔗 Connect with the Author
Website • Facebook • Instagram
👩🏻💻 My Review
Having previously enjoyed Ellie Henderson’s contemporary fiction, I was intrigued to discover her psychological thrillers, written under the name Lorna Henderson. This was my first thriller by the author, and although it was quite different from the books I’d read before, it turned out to be a brilliant surprise.
This was one of those books that completely drew me in from the opening chapters. I knew almost immediately that it was going to be a book I’d want to spend the day with, so I settled into my favourite chair with drinks, snacks and no intention of doing anything else. Rather than racing through it because of endless cliffhangers, I simply became immersed in the story. It was the kind of book where everything else could wait, and I happily spent the day enjoying every moment of the journey.
The story unfolds at exactly the right pace, gradually revealing pieces of the past while keeping enough unanswered questions to maintain a real sense of intrigue. Alongside the mystery, there’s an underlying feeling of unease that quietly builds as the story progresses, making it difficult to predict exactly where things are heading. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the time spent in Canada. Having visited myself at around a similar age to the characters, I could easily relate to that sense of excitement and adventure, and just how vast and far away it felt. It added an extra layer of authenticity for me and made those scenes especially enjoyable.
Although this is very different from Lorna Henderson’s previous novels, her ability to create believable relationships and emotionally engaging characters shines through here just as strongly. The move into psychological suspense feels surprisingly natural, combining family drama, mystery and steadily building tension into a story that kept me invested from beginning to end.
Having now experienced both sides of the author’s writing, it’s clear that she has a real talent for creating emotionally engaging stories, whatever the genre. The Family Ties is an absorbing family mystery that balances emotion with suspense, and it has certainly encouraged me to read more of her thrillers.
#LornaHenderson #TheFamilyLies
#JoffeBooks #ZooloosBookTours
This review may also appear on my social media channels and selected book platforms.
All links were correct at the time of publication.
DISCLOSURE: I received a review copy of this book via Zooloo’s Book Tours and NetGalley.
As always, my thoughts are honest and my own.
This review is original content.
Please credit and link back if you wish to quote.
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