‘Faculty of Liars’ by R L Heber

Published by Point Blank,
6 August 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-83643-177-0 (PB0)

Elizabeth Harker is in love – and not with her husband. She and her lover have taken great care to cover their tracks, and when it's announced that her husband will be the next president of the prestigious American university they all work for, she decides to end the relationship despite her feelings. 

Then her lover is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth begins to wonder if she is in some way responsible. She is desperate to hide her grief and give nothing away, since it is made very clear that protecting the university's reputation is of paramount importance. But something is going on under the surface. At first, she has no more than vague suspicions, but gradually she begins to piece together shreds of information. 

The novel's great strength lies in the way the various characters are depicted. Jeff, Elizabeth's husband, is immersed in his new role, and keen that she should become as involved as possible on a social and practical level – or is he just trying to keep her occupied? Lavinia, a moving force in the governing body, is kind, but has a wily side. Lieutenant Newton, who is running the murder investigation, doesn't seem to be getting anywhere – but social media posts appear which subtly suggest a link between Elizabeth and the murder, then disappear just as quickly. And holding all the reins is Abraham, the university's communications manager, and it soon becomes clear that he knows far more than he is telling, and is a master manipulator, both of people and of information. Even Nicola, her dead lover's ex-wife, is absorbed into the university's elite very quickly. Elizabeth slowly starts to question who she can trust. 

The carefully controlled and slightly claustrophobic environment of the university comes across loud and clear. The image is everything, and unearthing threats to it can only be dangerous. Nevertheless, Elizabeth unearths enough to make her keep on digging, even when it puts her husband's position and her own at risk. 

Why was Elizabeth's lover murdered? Was it because of their affair, or was there some other reason? She has no family nearby, and none to speak of elsewhere; is there anyone she can trust enough to confide in? When secrets finally emerge and she puts together the full picture, what will she do with it? And will she dare? 

This is one of those slow-burn mysteries, with a great deal going on under a glossy surface but stay with it to the explosive ending. It may destroy your faith in mankind – or it may just restore it.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

R L Heber is a journalist and author of three previous novels and has been selected as a WHSmith Fresh Talent. She has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Prospect, Sunday People, the Irish Times, and London Standard amongst others, and has reported from Kosovo, and the Middle East. She has also led on comms and runs her own business. She lives in London. 

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.