In the first two PL Kanes, Her Last Secret and Her Husband’s Grave, I dealt with the issue of family ties – a father investigating the murder of his estranged daughter, and a cousin being called to look into the death of a partner. I wanted to carry on that theme in The Family Lie, this time looking at things from the perspective of a son, Mitch Prescott, returning to his remote hometown to delve into the suspicious passing of his dad. There are all the usual aspects that readers have come to expect from a PL Kane novel: a twisty plot, an intriguing location – which this time features a set of very creepy caves – an emotional core and characters you really care about and can invest in. At the same time, it allowed me to also explore a subject I’ve been wanting to write about for a while, namely cults and the cult of personality. Those of you who remember my Hooded Man books from way back – a post-apocalyptic version of Robin Hood – will recall I touched on this a little bit. But here I really get into the meat of the topic.
I wrote this novel – the third in the deal with HQ/HarperCollins – during the first lockdown, which of course brought its own set of difficulties, especially to begin with. Everyone in the house was either at home or working from home, so sometimes it was hard to concentrate – earphones were my friend last summer, I can tell you! But we got there in the end, and by the time I was halfway through it was really flying. I think I was racking up something like 4 or 5k words a day by that point. As with the other novels, this one can be read totally as a standalone, though if you have read Her Husband’s Grave you’ll see that a couple of characters do return. Young DS Ashley Watts, for instance, and psychic Bella Prescott, who is actually the sister of Mitch.
I’m hoping readers have as much of a blast reading it as I did writing it. In fact I was more than a little sad when I’d finished, I’d become so attached to my cast of characters. If that happens for people who’ve picked it up too, then I’ll be a very happy man indeed. Who knows, maybe I’ll bring some of them back once again in the future… But for now, I’ll leave you to find out for yourself what exactly is The Family Lie?
The Family Lie is published by HarperCollins
P.L. KANE is the pseudonym of a #1 bestselling and award-winning author and editor, who has had over a hundred books published in the fields of SF, YA and Horror/Dark Fantasy. In terms of crime fiction, previous books include the novels Her Last Secret and Her Husband’s Grave (a sellout on Waterstones.com and Amazon.co.uk), the collection Nailbiters and the anthology Exit Wounds, which contains stories by the likes of Lee Child, Dean Koontz, Val McDermid and Dennis Lehane. Kane has been a guest at many events and conventions, and has had work optioned and adapted for film and television (including by Lions Gate/NBC, for primetime US network TV). Several of Kane’s stories have been turned into short movies, and Loose Canon Films/Hydra Films recently adapted ‘Men of the Cloth’ into a feature, Sacrifice, starring Barbara Crampton (You’re Next) which sold to Epic Pictures/101 Films. Kane’s audio drama work for places such as Bafflegab and Spiteful Puppet/ITV features the acting talents of people like Tom Meeten (The Ghoul), Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who/Shetland), Alice Lowe (Prevenge) and Ian Ogilvy (Return of the Saint). Visit www.plkane.com for more details.
