Tell Me No Lies by Lisa Hall

By Guy Bergstrom

How well do you know the person you love and live with—the one lying bed next to you as you sleep?

There’s nobody you’re closer to, physically or emotionally. And nobody who could hurt you more. That’s the landscape that British thriller author Lisa Hall explores in TELL ME NO LIES.

It’s the second novel for Hall, who lives in the small village of Kent with what she calls her towering To Be Read pile of books, a “rather large brood of children, dogs, chickens, and ponies,” and her husband.

As a young girl, Hall said she dreamed about becoming an author or a librarian. Now she’s living that dream.

What inspired you to write a novel, and in particular a thriller? 

With my first book I didn’t set out to write a thriller, it kind of just ended up that way.

The ending of that book was the first part of the novel that came to me, and it wouldn’t go away until I wrote it down.

With TELL ME NO LIES the idea was kicking around in my head for a long time and I knew the only way to write it was as a thriller—it wouldn’t have worked any other way.

How is TELL ME NO LIES different than your first novel?  

The first book was very much focused on other peoples’ perceptions of what goes on in a relationship—the idea that behind the perfect façade that we present to others the true nature of a relationship can be very different.

TELL ME NO LIES takes a look at things from inside the relationship, and asks who exactly can you trust?

What is it about reading books, or writing a novel, that feels different to you than passing the time watching movies or taking vacations? 

I love being taken to another world, one that comes from my own imagination rather than something that is dictated to me on a screen. With regards to writing, the idea of being able to create something that inspires that imagination in others is a big draw.

Which authors—thrillers or other genres—inspire you? 

I’m a big fan of British crime writers. I love Tim Weaver, M. J. Arlidge, Peter James, and Val McDermid. I’m also a big fan of Patricia Highsmith and Patrick Redmond.

What’s your next project, and where do you tend to get inspirations for novels? 

I’ve just handed my third novel to my agent and she seems to be enjoying it so far. It’s another psychological thriller that explores the question, “How well do you know the person lying next to you at night?” but from a different angle.  When his wife goes missing, a husband goes looking for her and finds out she’s been less than truthful about her life before they met.

*****

Lisa loves words, reading and everything there is to love about books. She has dreamed of being a writer since she was a little girl – either that or a librarian – and after years of talking about it, was finally brave enough to put pen to paper (and let people actually read it). Lisa lives in a small village in Kent, surrounded by her towering TBR pile, a rather large brood of children, dogs, chickens and ponies and her long-suffering husband. She is also rather partial to eating cheese and drinking wine.

To learn more about Lisa, please visit her website.