Lies and Loyalties

‘An utterly gripping page-turner’ SPECTATOR

‘Heartache, soul searching and finger pointing swirl around this complex tale of a dysfunctional, yet powerful family’ DAILY MIRROR

‘A gripping tale to satisfy all lovers of a finely twisting plot’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

One cool March morning in London, MP Leo Barr is told that his brother, Charlie, is dead. He has hanged himself from a chestnut tree in the grounds of a mental hospital. His family reacts in different ways. Charlie’s mother, Imogen, sees no point in pretending that life is still worth living – he was always her favourite. Leo and his lawyer brother Roland fight, as they always have over Charlie. The fourth brother Ron, a Catholic priest, must break the news to Charlie’s wife, presently in HMP Holloway.

In the days following Charlie’s death the conflict builds among members of this diverse and complex family. Who really loves whom? What are the motives behind Roland’s fixed antagonism towards Charlie? Is Leo right to put his career on the line? Above and between them all is the larger-than-life figure of Charlie. He follows no rules, not even about dying, and it becomes clear that his tragedy is only part of a web of mystery and deceit that connects them all.

LIES & LOYALTIES is a powerful human drama, at the heart of which one family – divided by rivalry and frustrated love and forced, at last, to learn the truth about themselves.