Little Lies

By: Heather Gudenkauf

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In this riveting prequel to her novel Little Mercies, New York Times best-selling author Heather Gudenkauf explores how even the smallest lies can have far-reaching consequences.

When the body of a woman is discovered in a local park - with her bewildered four-year-old son sitting beside her - veteran social worker Ellen Moore is called in to assist in the police investigation. Positioned beneath a statue of Leto, the goddess of motherhood, the crime is weighted with meaning and, Ellen discovers, remarkably similar to one from a decade past.

Ellen's professional duty is to protect the child, but she's not equipped to contend with a killer. As she races to connect the dots, she knows her time is running out. And the stakes are high: If she fails, another mother is sure to make the ultimate sacrifice.

©2014 Heather Gudenkauf (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, Inc., all rights reserved.

Introducing a compelling new heroine!

Would you consider the audio edition of Little Lies to be better than the print version?

Mostly. Kate Rudd is a good narrator, although some of her diction is a little flat. I can't describe it, but it drives me nuts... but thankfully it's rare, and the rest of her performance is wonderful

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I normally don't like novellas; I honestly think it could have been flushed out a bit better. But Ellen is a compelling character - a devoted mother, a bit obsessive, a social worker who is neither hardened to her work nor beaten down by it.

Which scene was your favorite?

I was surprised by the identity of the killer - I guess that's the mark of a good mystery.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Well, clocking in at 2 hours - 15 minutes of which was a preview of "Little Mercies" - it's not hard to do. It was a good read.

Any additional comments?

I normally don't like novellas. For some reason they just seem short and lacking in some way. If this book stood on its own, it's OK, I guess, but it's a great introduction to Ellen, a main character in Gudenkauf's full-length "Little Mercies". Hopefully Little Mercies refers back to this book in some way...

not a lot of story

too short to catch the listener. not the usual work of ms gudenkauf. I will keep her as a favorite author though.

Little Lies Are Deadly

Suffer the little children who are so often damaged by neglectful adults who should never become parents! Hold on...there is a twist ending coming!

Great Read

I really enjoyed her writing style and the vivid pictures she painted. It is evident she lives in Iowa and understands the Midwest.

Kate Rudd does a wonderful job, I listen to her performances every chance I get.

Too short

This is a short story. The story was okay, but it was absolutely too short to build characters.

Sad with a twist

Unexpected twist…sort of. Good read even. Worth your time and money for yhe book.

2.75 Stars 🌟

Another first time author for me. Apparently, this is the prequel to another book - Little Mercies - by this author. I have not read the main book so this was my first experience with this author. This is a short story introducing the reader to a social worker Ellen Moore who has been trying to help and save children for many years. She gets called out to a scene of the murder of a mother with the young 4 year old child left alive at the scene that is very similar to a crime that was committed many years ago. The similarities are a bit chilling.

Ellen seems to have a good relationship with the police and there is one detective in particular that seems to be a reliable partner in cases such as this. It is apparent that they are comfortable working together and this particular officer/detective was also around during the first case - which is still unsolved to this day.

I listened to this completely on audio and the narrator was Kate Rudd. Ms. Rudd is an accomplished narrator and I was trying to remember where I had heard her before and I think that it was the Kingfountain series by Jeff Wheeler that her voice reminded me the most of while I was listening to this story.

Honestly, there is not too much to be said about this prequel. It is fairly short - around 2 hours - and this isn't just a prequel but it is a self contained case that is somehow also solved in that short time frame. There was not much character development of the characters that we get to meet and the murderer (as well as the circumstances) just didn't really resonate with me. I thought, "Seriously?" when it is resolved.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of the prequel was. Yes, maybe it was to introduce Ellen as a caring and intelligent social worker and if that was the case, that makes sense since she is really the only character that has any depth. Possibly it could also be to introduce Jonah - the boy from the first murder scene that is still unsolved. I'm not sure.

Will I continue onward and read the next book in this series? Probably not.

Very sad

The story was like a diary of a social worker. Two cases involving children were covered. Other than choosing a profession to do God’s work, the main character as well as supporting characters lacked depth. The end was okay in one way and blah in others. With such a sad topic, there seemed to be no redemption, even though I was hoping for a break in the sadness.

Excellent short story!

I immediately bought the next book. Trying to think of chores I can do while listening. Want to start it now.

That was painful to listen to

I don’t usually write reviews but the narrator was terrible. She annunciated every word like a robot or an electronic voice. The author is partly to blame because there were no contractions - everything was” “will not” “do not” “can not” “should not”. People don’t talk like that and it was so annoying - it was all I could do to grit my teeth and listen to the end. Also the story was pretty lame