Would I Lie to You?: A Novel

by Nicole Blades

Would I Lie to You is a thrilling spy next door story that may have you cheering for all the wrong people, perfect for fans of Finley Donovan and Killers of a Certain Age.

What if a covert, high-stakes cat burglar is given one last job before she can retire, but the gig steal the classified code to an innovative genetic editing tool her unaware husband is developing? 

Ask anyone about Lucille “Lu” Barlow and they’ll tell you that she’s a loving wife and mom, fire-body Pilates studio owner, and kind neighbor. But none of them know the true Lu. Because Lu is a liar and a thief—albeit reluctantly lately. She’s been part of a dangerous, deeply covert crime syndicate for the last 30 years, with a string of incredible, international heists under her belt and a shoebox full of fake passports, weapons, cash stacks, and skeletons.

But when her unsuspecting husband, Harry, accepts a lucrative job at the nation’s leading biotech company, it means moving the family from her familiar Brooklyn base to the well-heeled New England town of Partridge Hollow. Lu sees it as her shot to finally retire from crime life, something she’s wanted since her son’s birth eight years ago. But Partridge Hollow isn’t what it seems either. Lu quickly discovers that her new Stepford-esque neighbors each have their own secrets hidden inside their mansions, into which she occasionally creeps.

She also uncovers the most scandalous truth of that this move for her husband's career was orchestrated by her illicit employer. Worse, she’s tasked with stealing the highly classified code for an innovative gene editing tool that Harry is developing.

Fans of Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Counterfeit, and Killers of a Certain Age will devour this book!

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2026

About the author

Nicole Blades is a novelist and journalist with nearly two decades of experience in the media industry. Her cover stories and features have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Runner’s World, Women's Health, and more.

Her novels often focus on the façade and filters people put on to face the world. Her new book, WOULD I LIE TO YOU?, will be out Summer 2026! The domestic spy thriller joins Nicole’s previous novels, HAVE YOU MET NORA?, THE THUNDER BENEATH US, and EARTH'S WATERS.

A proud Caribbean-Canadian, Nicole currently lives in New England with her husband and their son. For more, subscribe to Nicole’s newsletter, Come to Find Out… , on Substack and follow her on social media at: TikTok, Instagram, Bluesky, and Threads.

Reviews

[Lillian Cook]

One of the best books I have 📚

[tre be · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heists!!!! this seems to be the new plot everyone's rolling with these days and I love it. From Netflix’s Nemesis to the biggest heist of all time - right in the white house. Our very own FOTUS has been stealing the people’s money off the top. The world is watching and nobody is doing a damn thing. What a time to be alive 😎

But on to the book. Lou is a pro thief who is living a double life. By day she's a loving wife and mother, by night she commits high stakes crimes, but she's no longer about that life. She wants out, but as we all know leaving isn't so simple...and now her newest job hits close to home. 

I really liked the conflict Lou faced with her new "job" - it really took things up a notch. Then, I liked tagging along with Lou carrying out orders. It was really good, but I think it could've been GREAT as a thriller. I would've enjoyed a faster pace with more action happening to make this more of a thriller. 

The slow pace and extra details made it feel more cozy mystery-ish. I loved the narrator's voice and would love to hear more of her works, but her particular voice may have also taken away from the thriller factor. In thrillers, the narration always seem low, more sinister and apart of the plot and her voice didn't seem to match the plot, if that makes sense. 

I really liked this! Mind you, the book has a 3.5 GR rating, but that didn't bother me. If I want to read something, damn the ratings, and I don't trust GR anyway. 

[Tell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review tonight!

[Rachel Baldwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I didn’t love the narrator on this audio book, the British accent was bad. There were moments where I found Lu’s story interesting but the stakes she was up against were never said so it felt flat. It felt like there was so much build up of little clues dropping that it felt like there was going to be a big reveal at the end. Spoiler… there wasn’t a big reveal. I was so disappointed with the ending!

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucille "Lu" Barlow is a high stakes thief working for an organization called Atlas, but she is tired of the life and just wants to spend her life loving her husband and son. When her husband accepts a position in Connecticut, the family ends up moving from Brooklyn to Patridge Hollow. Patridge Hollow seems like something out of the Stepford Wives with huge houses and a group of wives whose husbands all work at the same company as Lu's husband. When Lu decides she wants to stop work as a thief, she is given one last mission: to take the work from her husband's project and give the company a virus. Lu decides the impossible task if worth it if she can leave that life behind and protect her husband at the same time.

This book was bad. There are so many extra characters in this story that bring absolutely nothing to it - the author could have cut so many of these stupid interactions and back stories. The only character that was decent was Lu's son, Solomon. The rest need a lot of help. The pacing of this novel was incredibly slow and felt like nothing was going on half of the time. This book ended up leaving me with more questions and wtf was that ending - I'm assuming the author is writing another book because if not that was one of the worst endings I've read of all times.

Thanks Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Why did I read? sounded interesting. Would I read again? no lol that ending was ass

[Tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Protagonist Lu Barlow works as a cat burglar while raising her young son, enjoying life with her hot husband, and getting to know her new neighbors...but when her handler doles out a job that requires Lu to betray her family, the affluent suburb she now calls home becomes fraught with deceit and danger. I absolutely love Blades' sleek, quick-witted writing style, and as a forever fan of heist stories and multidimensional thieves, this particular narrative had me in a trance. I'll be recommending this book to everyone I meet (and craving more of Blades' brilliant storytelling).

[Nina Samone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are my own.

So this is one of few spy/double life books I have read, it’s a little different for me and it was very descriptive, which I think slowed the pace down a lot. The descriptions did get a bit muddled and blended due to running paragraphs and lack of indentation and white space to give the reader mental space to absorb so much information.

The overall vibes of the book were great, the story and concept were interesting but I feel like there were a few loose ends in the story and a lot of unnecessary characters that I didn’t feel connected to or that didn’t add any real value to the story.

I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending - but I think it’s because I didn’t fully understand it?

I did feel connected to Lu as a character and think she was developed well and had a great character struggle going on in the story. She was also witty and bold.

Her son was a character I loved and the element of motherhood in the story made me feel the connection between the two as a mom myself, it made her situation and struggle more relatable.

I loved the occasional “innit” from her husband Harry, it gave the writing more credibility knowing a regions lingo without just saying randomly a character is from that region, it really SHOWED the readers, not just told!

Notes:
🩷 some spice
🕵️‍♀️ spy mystery
🫶🏽 bipoc representation

[Arthur Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an eARC of Would I Lie to You? in exchange for my honest review!

One of the books that the marketing compares this to is Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, which is fitting, considering the quick-footed tone that Would I Lie to You? gives off while dishing out its criminal capers. It captures an upbeat kind of mood that I could see translating well into a movie or a TV show. It's certainly a mood that keeps me engaged with the story, even when I'm left wishing that this could amp up the thrills sometimes. It can come off like it's taking its time to gradually build up the tension, and then I'm sitting here wanting it to pick up the pace. Even if the execution could be tightened up in that regard, though, this remains a solidly charming ride that endears me to Lu and the domestic life that she's trying her best to preserve in the midst of all these cat burglar shenanigans. I like hanging around not only Lu, but also her husband Harry and their son Solomon. This is a loving and devoted family, and I'm rooting for them to remain as safe as possible.

While I do think the conclusion wraps up a little too suddenly, it puts me in a place where I'm wondering if we'll get a sequel sometime. And hey, if that happens, then I'd be up for revisiting Lu's world. So now I'm officially rating Would I Lie to You? 3.5 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 3 stars.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


This novel ended up being a mixed read for me.


The premise—a blend of domestic thriller and espionage—immediately caught my attention, but the execution didn’t fully deliver on the level of tension I was expecting. The story leans heavily into a slow-burn approach and introduces a cast of characters that doesn’t really add to the story. Causing the pacing to feel sluggish at times. There are a few twists in the latter half that shift the story, but leave more questions than answers, with a cliffhanger ending that sets up a continuation.


I also found myself uncertain about the portrayal of social dynamics throughout the book. Several moments involving microaggressions/macroaggressions. Personally, the narrative intent behind them felt unclear. It was difficult to tell whether these instances were meant to be satirical, critical, or purely observational, which created some disconnect in my reading experience.


All that said, Lu’s son, Solomon, was easily a standout character!


Readers who enjoy slower-paced, character-driven suspense may find more to appreciate here.

[Joan Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recruited by her foster father and mentor, Lu is an accomplished cat burglar. Now that she has a regular life and a family, she wants out of this 'job' but she's not sure that anyone has ever successfully walked away from her employers, "The Atlas". When her husband's job takes her away from Brooklyn and into a posh neighborhood, Lu vows to make her currently assigned heist the last one.

The only really likeable characters in the story are Lu's husband and son. The women that Lu interacts with in her new neighborhood are all cheating, rich, neurotic carbon copies of each other and I disliked the entire lot of them. Some of the violence in the story didn't make sense, and the ending was abrupt and vague. The action, if you can call it that, was slow to build and I honestly don't know why I kept reading, though I did slog through to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Ms. Woc Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced frothy thriller, Would I Lie to You doesn't have a dull moment. On the surface Lucille (Lu) seems like your average working mom. But Pilates aren't the actual cause of the random injuries she tries to hide from her unsuspecting husband. Lu has been working for a crime syndicate since she was adopted as a teen, stealing valuables and assuming false identifies. But Lu is ready to leave that life behind her. And she sees the move to suburbia for her husband's lucrative new job as her fresh start. But in order to leave her old life behind she must pull off one last heist. She must steal the code to a new software her husband's biotech company has developed. And Lu believes that the neighborhood wives are her best shot at getting past the company's high level security.

Throughout the book Lu tries her best to fit in with the wives, bringing sarcasm to every situation. And we also get some fun scenes of her sneaking around doing her spy thing.

[Karma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wickedly fun and smart, Nicole Blades’ WOULD I LIE TO YOU? is a spy-next-door novel about marriage, motherhood and what happens when being “good” is the most dangerous choice of all. The story follows the flawed but feisty Lu, who is caught between protecting her family and confronting the life she’s trying to leave behind. Add in a zany cast of characters, who remind us that everyone has a secret or two, and you get a fast-paced, highly entertaining domestic thriller. Perfect for fans of FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT and KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, this novel exposes the lies we tell for love, and the secrets we keep to survive. A “must read” for 2026! – Karma Brown, #1 international bestselling author of RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for an advance e-galley for honest review.

3 stars for the beginning 3/4 of the book, 2 for the ending- I realized where it was going and DID NOT like the choices being made. There was promise with the premise, but there was ultimately too much going on in the story that seemed both extraneous and under-developed.

[Gregory Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I was slightly disappointed by the "promise" ending, this is an original, intriguing and engaging domestic thriller by a strong writer. Its unique mix of pure thriller, sensitive domestic depth, "housewives-of" intrigue, and Caribbean flavour set it apart from almost anything I've read. Well worth it.

[Jessy B. Goode · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a new author for me but a genre I've visited a lot. It was entertaining and an easy read. I read it over the course of a weekend because I was so interested to see what she'd do next. It wasn't the best thriller I've read, but it hit most of the tropes and had a level of satisfaction to it.

[Iasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character Lu was a personality and her son Solomon was a force. I loved the double life approach and how things could be blended even when she tried to keep them seperate. I disliked Finola from the beginning. Every interaction with her was so fake and I was surprised that Lu didn't see it. Anyway, even though it was a good story I disliked the ending. Good easy read if you like spy stories.

[Colleen Oakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Move over Finlay Donovan—Lu Barlow's in town. This fun and clever suburban spy thriller had me turning pages at a breakneck pace. Nicole has one of the freshest and wittiest voices I've read in years and I WANT MORE. Can't wait for Book 2!

[Kimberly Lowrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a GREAT read!! I love the relationship between Lu and her son, Lu and her husband, and Lu the cat burglar vs Lu the mom. Terrific pacing, lots of fun movie references, and a cliffhanger of an ending — waiting with bated breath for the sequel!

[Beth Agejew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mission Impossible meets John Wick. Riveting with plenty of twists and turns. A bit of a slow start, but once you get into it, the story flies.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off let me say this is one of my favorite reads of this year. Although the pacing was a little bit slower then I’m use to it didn’t take away from the story and all it’s excitement. From start the story pulls you in and with every turn of the page there was more laughs and adventure. The story was cleverly written and packed with mystery. Nicole Blades is a new author for me and although I was a little hesitant, lets be real after the first few chapters I knew this story was going to be everything. The twist were jaw dropping worthy and had me speechless for sometime. The characters were likeable and entertaining as ever. There was never a dull moment with Lu and this story. The story did however give off Mr. & Mrs. Smith meets Finlay Donovan vibes but trust when I say its just vibes. The plot had me wanting more. The ending wasn’t what I expected but with that I’m hoping we’ll be getting a book 2 at some point.

Thank you Nicole Blades, Crooked Lane Books and LibraryThings for the eARC. This review is that of my own.