By Leslie Lindsay
A Goodreads Hottest Thrillers of 2018 Selection
When tragedy strikes in a Chicago building, three women’s lives are thrust together in a tale of secrets, lies, and grief, in THE GOOD LIAR (Lake Union Publishing, April 3 2018)
A year ago, Cecily (Lily) Grayson became the poster child for a horrifying explosion the ripped a Chicago building apart on October 10th. The media is calling this Triple Ten because it occurred at ten in the morning. Cecily was supposed to have been in the building that fateful day, but she wasn’t; she was late for a meeting. Her husband, Tom, worked in that building, so did her best friend, Kaitlyn. They both died.
Meanwhile, Franny Maycombe, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched in horror as that building went up in flames. She was desperate to reconnect and now, it looks like she’ll never have that opportunity.
Now, the anniversary of the explosion haunts the town. Documentaries are being made, memorials, and even a memory book, showcasing all 513 lives lost.
And yet, thousands of miles away, in Montreal, another woman is hiding some deep secrets.
I found THE GOOD LIAR wholly original, delightfully twisted domestic suspense. The writing is razor-sharp, witty, and smart. McKenzie definitely has a gift for dialogue. In some ways, THE GOOD LIAR is more about ‘good,’ ‘better’ and ‘best,’ in terms of who can be the most deceiving. You decide.
“A riveting story that revolves around the aftermath of a national tragedy: three women, three separate yet deftly intertwined lives. I adored the look at the story behind the story, the background lives of the women we so often see in the news. The twists are shocking, the characters are well drawn but unpredictable, and the conclusion is as poignant as it is surprising. THE GOOD LIAR is thrilling, captivating, and not to be missed!”
—Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year
and The Blackbird Season
Please join me in welcoming Catherine McKenzie back to the blog couch.
Leslie Lindsay: Catherine, welcome back! I know the idea for this novel has been percolating for quite some time, with the thought, ‘what would happen if someone used a national tragedy to escape from their life?’ What an intriguing concept. Can you elaborate, please?
Catherine McKenzie: Thanks for having me! It’s perhaps awful to say but it is something that kind of haunts me every time I see a national tragedy on TV. I can’t help but wondering, what would you do if everyone thought you were supposed to be in the Twin Towers, for example, and you weren’t. Would you use that event to escape your own life? What would make you consider it. That’s one of the threads that I used in this book.
L.L.: And yet, you’ve said the writing came more difficult than others. What do you think contributed to that feeling and how were you able to muster through?
Catherine McKenzie: I had a deadline! I had some challenges in my personal life while I was writing this book and that took up a lot of the time and energy that I use to write. So I found myself having to write the last third of the book over my Christmas holiday which I did, but which was a bit stressful.
L.L.: In many ways, THE GOOD LIAR is about deception born of tragedy. Or does tragedy lead to deception? It’s a bit chicken-and-egg. What are your thoughts?
Catherine McKenzie: I think that tragedy can reveal deception. Think of all the things someone might learn about you if you died or disappeared suddenly. Feeling nervous?
L.L.: THE GOOD LIAR is told from the POV of three different women: Kaitlyn, Cecily, and Franny. Is there one you connected with most? Or enjoyed writing more than the other?
Catherine McKenzie: Franny was fun to write because she was so different from my experience. It’s always fun to get in the shoes of a character who is so completely different than you.
L.L.: Did you write THE GOOD LIAR in a linear fashion, as the story unfolds, Point A to Point B, or did you write certain portions (characters) and then piece them together?
Catherine McKenzie: I always write in the order the story unfolds, whether that is linear or not – it’s linear to me! Sometimes I’ve shifted around events or chapters, though not in THE GOOD LIAR.
L.L.: Do you ever think about what might happen with your characters once you finish a novel? Or, do you sort of close the book and move on?
Catherine McKenzie: No, that’s how I know a book is finished. When I don’t have any questions about the characters in my mind anymore, I am ready to be done with them.
L.L.: Franny was obsessed with finding her birth mother. Cecily was obsessed with her failing marriage, and Kaitlyn was obsessed with running. What’s obsessing you these days, and do you think it’s important for characters to have an ‘obsession?’
Catherine McKenzie: I think it’s important for characters to have a focal point. I think characters in books are characters in crisis, so their crisis is front and center and that can seem obsessional. I don’t think anything’s obsessing me at the moment, which must mean I’m not in crisis. Oh, wait… I have a book coming out!
L.L.: Catherine, it’s been a pleasure! Is there anything I forgot to ask, but should have?
Catherine McKenzie: Nope! Thank you so much for your thoughtful questions.
For more information, to connect with the author via social media, or to purchase a copy of THE GOOD LIAR, please see:
Order Links:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Catherine McKenzie, a graduate of McGill University, practices law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. An avid skier and runner, Catherine’s novels Spin, Arranged, Forgotten, and Hidden are all international bestsellers and have been translated into numerous languages. Hidden was an Amazon #1 best seller and a Digital Book World bestseller. Her fifth novel, Smoke, was an Amazon bestseller, a Goodreads Best Book for October 2015, and an Amazon Top 100 Book of 2015. Her sixth novel, Fractured, was a Goodreads Best Book for October and Fall 2016, a Buzzfeed Big Book of Fall 2016, and made numerous other Best Book lists including those for Real Simple, Redbook, PopSugar, and Read It Forward.
You can connect with me, Leslie Lindsay, via these websites:
- GoodReads
- Facebook: LeslieLindsayWriter
- Twitter: @LeslieLindsay1
- Email: leslie_lindsay@hotmail.com
- Amazon
LOVE IT? SHARE IT!
[Cover and author image courtesy of Kathleen Carter Communications and used with permission. Neurobiology of writing image retrieved from, image of laptop from, all images retrieved on 3.20.18]
Leslie A. Lindsay| Writer & Creative 
Title describes it all.