A dark thriller set mainly in GLASGOW
Psychological Thriller set on the EAST COAST of ENGLAND
19th November 2025
Some of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins, psychological thriller set on the East Coast of ENGLAND.
A masterclass in atmospheric storytelling
Fiona Cummins’ Some of Us Are Liars is a psychological thriller that grips and immerses from the beginning. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a luxurious beachside estate along the UK’s East Coast. It’s a location that pulses with both opulence and menace. It’s here, during an over-the-top wedding celebration hosted for her sister by global supermodel and actor Winter Kellaway, that a single tragic misstep shatters a family and sets the narrative in motion.
The sense of place is exquisitely portrayed. Cummins conjures the estate with cinematic clarity: the clink of champagne flutes, the shimmer of fairy lights, the hush of waves just beyond the garden. But beneath the glamour lies a creeping dread — the kind that seeps into the reader’s bones. The estate becomes a character in its own right, a gilded cage where secrets fester and truths unravel.
The narrative, at times a bit stilted, is told through multiple perspectives — some reliable, others not — and each voice is distinct and slowly compelling. Although she uses some strange phrases (perhaps an editing error rather than the author’s?), Cummins has a gift for capturing the quiet devastation of grief and betrayal in a single, searing line.
The novel also reintroduces Saul Anguish, a detective familiar to Cummins’ fans, whose presence adds an investigative edge to the otherwise emotionally charged family drama. His chapters are leaner, darker, and provide a necessary counterbalance to the lush domestic scenes, particularly as he struggles with his own demons.
Cummins doesn’t just tell a story — she builds a world, then slowly peels back its glossy veneer to reveal the rot beneath. And be prepared for a stranger-than-fiction ending – despite the sometimes clunky prose, I spent a pleasurable Sunday buried in the story, not being able to guess whodunnit!
Val for the TripFiction Team
Catch Val on TwitterX
Join team TripFiction on Social Media:
Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction) and BlueSky(tripfiction.bsky.social) and Threads (@tripfiction)
Please wait...
