She Lied First, Dinuka McKenzie

The first standalone psychological thriller from the author of the Detective Kate Miller series is compelling reading.

This statement might initially surprise some readers because there is much in the plot of She Lied First that could seem all a bit too murky, bordering on overblown. There is much to intrigue and bamboozle in this story told from a variety of viewpoints over a shifting timeline, littered with characters for whom keeping secrets is second nature.

Two young women, Devika (Devi) and Kalyani (Kal), meet and very quickly decide to flat-share together.

Kal and I ended up in a two-bedroom, ground-floor, yellow-brick seventies special, set at least five streets back from the ocean, and costing us a pretty penny for the privilege.

The scenario isn’t unheard of, but Kel has a clear motive behind the move which Devi is unaware of. By having the initial phases of the story told mostly from Devi’s viewpoint, there is the possibility that things are being skewed by a naive, spoilt young woman. Kal’s relating of her own story is equally self-involved, but with an intensity that is explained as her own life circumstances are revealed. Interspersed with occasional chapters from Kal’s boyfriend Nate and Devi’s mother Rupa, this feels initially like a tale about the extremes of youth – quick decisions, obsessions, deep reactions and emotions. Adding to that heightened emotional state, there is the shifting timeline that moves from mid to late 2024 (present), and back a few months into late 2023. There is a lot happening in those few short, sharp, confusing months. Devi’s consultation with her therapist sums it up:

‘You said you moved in together this year?’ He smiles encouragingly, willing me to take the conversational reins. ‘It sounds like you were close.’

Were close. I merely nod.

She Lied First is, first and foremost, an exploration of secrets, with everyone keeping something from somebody. They aren’t the sort of little secrets that people often indulge in to make for an easy life. These are big, explosive, dangerous, and ultimately life-changing things being kept knowingly from the people they most affect. A very early observation from Devi spells out how that feels:

These are the things I keep to myself: I lied, but she lied first. I hurt her. But she hurt me the most.

Given that Devi refers to Kal as her ‘sister’ right from the start of the novel, it would be fair for readers to assume that this is the case, both girls having shared Sri Lankan ancestry, but this is anything but a straightforward relationship.

Devi is a university student, an indulged only daughter of a wealthy, successful but absent father and lauded doctor, Sonny, and his wife Rupa, a smothering, controlling woman who will not let go of her daughter, no matter how hard Devi pushes back. A resident of the luxurious leafy Sydney suburbs, the move to a flat-share in Cronulla is a chance to strike out on her own, with funding provided by her father. Only there’s a secret she must keep from her new flatmate.

The only thing that mattered was that at nearly twenty-one, I was finally independent and living away from home with Kal.

Kal is the daughter of a single mother from Brisbane, with a tumultuous relationship with her mother’s neighbour, who was her main father figure growing up. The death of her mother precipitated the move to Sydney and work as a nurse in a major hospital, a chance to start over. And to think through how to find her unknown father. Only there’s a secret she must keep from her new flatmate.

I could offer the smaller room to Devi at a discounted rate, something she could manage with a part-time job. I needed to make this an attractive option for her, to lean into her hunger for independence.

The relationship between the two flatmates is unclear from the start, and remains that way for quite a while. The author has written the unexplained tension between them in a concisely controlled manner, waiting just the right amount of time between each reveal, ensuring that the reader is in for a disconcerting time, not helped by the unexplained use of the term ‘sister’, Nate’s own questionable background and motivations, and Rupa becoming increasingly odd about the flat-share arrangement. Bubbling away in the background is the state of Sonny and Rupa’s marriage, with Sonny living overseas, ostensibly to care for his ageing parents, a move that never feels right.

Meanwhile Devi’s first face-to-face meeting with Kal and Nate as a couple is an absolute bombshell. Nate aka Cash is somebody she already knows intimately.

Over her shoulder Nate caught my eye, an unmistakable flicker of warning in his gaze. He raised a finger to his lips, disguising it as a swipe. A quick movement meant only for me.

The problem is that Devi knows a lot more about Nate than he realises, and she’s worried enough to be prodding some dangerous old wounds.

The structure of the novel delivers a series of body blows to the reader. The multiple timelines make it feel at points like each narrator knows all too well what has happened and to whom. Which means the reader could be forgiven for thinking there’s not an honest, reliable person in this entire novel.

The distinct possibility of multiple unreliable narrators creates a minefield, especially given that, despite their flaws, failures, and deceptions, both Kal and Devi are unexpectedly sympathetic characters. Both have a form of emotional immaturity, although Devi’s is more obviously based in her background and the way she was raised. Which goes back to the emotional damage inflicted on Rupa, and on it goes.

Kal, despite a happier childhood with a loving mother, has never been able to move on from not knowing who her father is, and that quest becomes all-consuming.

The way the houses of cards eventually collapse is chilling. A death, which may be accidental, may be more sinister, eventually forces all these secrets out into the open. DNA testing gets involved, the police are called, truths outed, and more deceptions constructed as the characters left alive start scrambling once again for control. Which is fleeting at best, and likely to be even more damaging in the long run.

A masterclass in psychological trauma and damage presented as a very unusually structured thriller, She Lied First is engrossing, disturbing and utterly compelling.