A self-confessed sun-worshipper, I moved from the UK to the UAE in the late 1990s. You Lied First is my sixth novel but the first to be set, at least partially, in the sunny Sultanate of Oman.
It’s an unusual setting for a psychological thriller, but also a perfect one. As an expatriate living in the neighbouring UAE, I am very aware of how different legal systems and social expectations can quietly unsettle a tourist’s sense of what they think they know. Of course, this might not matter when things are going well but, when things go disastrously wrong, as they do in You Lied First, the unease and disorientation of being caught in an unfamiliar legal framework adds a potent layer of psychological tension to a difficult situation. The tropes of ‘holiday gone wrong’ and ‘fear of foreign justice’ are popular for a reason!
The novel sees two British families, who know each other only because their teens are dating, holidaying in a luxury villa in Muscat. To begin with, mum Sara thinks the worst she’ll have to worry about is making sure her daughter dresses appropriately and doesn’t kiss her boyfriend in public but when events take a catastrophic turn, the two families make a fraught decision under the heat of the desert sun. “What happens in Vegas” doesn’t always stay in “Vegas”—and certainly not when your moral integrity has been compromised. As the tourists return to the UK, they’ve no idea of the consequences they’ve set in motion, how their relationships will fracture, and the dark ways in which their decision will catch up with them.
I was inspired by the stories you see in the news that you hope will never happen to you or your loved ones: tourists facing jail in a country far from home—a country whose jurisdiction they might not understand and whose language they don’t speak.
It’s easy to judge the actions of others from the safety and comfort of your home but I hope the novel pushes you to consider the question: how far would you go to protect your freedom? And at what cost? And, ultimately, I hope every reader will ask themselves: What would I have done?
