She Lied First

Sisters make the best flatmates ... except when they are both keeping terrible secrets.

The stunning new standalone psychological thriller from the author of the popular Detective Kate Miles series.

The dream apartment. The start of a grand adventure. And two lives about to unravel.

Devika is living her best life, moving out of home in her final year of university. Close to the beach and away from her mother. Independent and self-sufficient, just like Kalyani. There's just one awful secret that Kal can never find out about.

Kalyani has it made. A new job. A unit she can afford, and her little sister as her roomie. She's finally achieved the life she's always wanted. Except for the one big thing she's yet to confide in Devi. A truth that gets harder to reveal the longer she waits.

When their lives are torn apart by betrayal, and Kal refuses to forgive her sister, Devi must peel back everything she thought she knew to rediscover Kalyani, lie by lie and secret by secret.

'A gripping, confident thriller with a deeply felt emotional core. McKenzie captures the intensity, contradiction, love and damage of family with rare nuance, bringing a fresh and grounded perspective to the genre' Shankari Chandran, Miles Franklin Award-winning author

'Packed with secrets and lies, Dinuka's first standalone suspense is a twisty kaleidoscope of a novel. The pieces of the puzzle slide together in an immensely satisfying way' Allie Reynolds

'Brilliantly clever and twisty!She Lied First delves deep into complex family relationships. And just when you think you've figured it out, McKenzie reveals another secret. This is an absolute page-turner with relatable characters and multiple layers of intrigue.' Petronella McGovern

'A complex, suspenseful, mind-bending story of lies, secrets and betrayal' Cass Moriarty

Praise for Dinuka McKenzie:

'Dinuka McKenzie has talent to burn' Dervla McTiernan

'A born storyteller' Michael Robotham

'How lucky are we to have Dinuka McKenzie?' Hayley Scrivenor

'A new star in Aussie crime' Craig Sisterson

'McKenzie is an exciting voice - a new contender for Queen of Australian crime' Katherine Kovacic

About the Author

Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian writer and the author of the Detective Kate Miles crime series published in Australia and the UK. She is the winner of the 2020 HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards, the Bad Sydney Crime Danger Awards, longlisted for the Richell Prize, and highly commended in the Australian Crime Writers' Association Louie Award. Her short fiction has appeared in the 2022 Dark Deeds Down Under crime and thriller anthology. Dinuka lives in Southern Sydney on Dharawal country.