The Diary of Lies

LoveReading Says

Scottish journalist Shona Sandison grapples with shady contacts and even shadier circumstances to expose an evil government plan in her latest outing. 

The Diary of Lies by Philip Miller features all the hallmarks of a good political thriller: dodgy meetings, whispered conversations, an odd computer hacker, and dead bodies. Sandison, who wins a prestigious journalism award in the novel’s opening, navigates these challenges in a post-Brexit and post-Covid world. 

This novel feels like reading the corkboard of a conspiracy theorist, with many strands of red string connecting people, places and plans. 

Sandison is a fearless reporter, following every tip she receives, even when it leads to an unsavoury sex shop in Soho or a remote Scottish mansion. It’s clear that Miller, who worked as a journalist for 20 years and is now a civil servant, knows his way around the British news industry. 

Perfect for fans of the Slow Horses series by Mick Herron, for its conspiracies and government malfeasance, and Ian Rankin, for the supporting role that the city of Edinburgh plays. 

This is Shona’s third outing, following The Goldenacre and The Hollow Tree. Readers of the previous two novels undoubtedly will note characters and Easter eggs from those books, but this also works as a stand-alone novel. 

The Diary of Lies is a gripping page-turner where the reader never stops rooting for Sandison to expose the evil she finds at the heart of government and industry, and survive. 

Maureen Stapleton

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