First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston | Thriller Book Review | Ep. 1

🧶 Murder Mitten Kittens Book Club – Episode 1Book: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston ⚠️ FULL SPOILERSWelcome to the Murder Mitten Kitten Club, where we explore meow-der and mayhem one book at a time.For our very first episode, we dive claws-first into First Lie Wins, a sharp psychological thriller about deception, manufactured identity, surveillance, and what happens when the lie you tell becomes the life you’re forced to live.This isn’t just a whodunit — it’s a who-am-I-really story that asks: How far would you go to survive?Ashley Elston’s adult-fiction debut delivers:• A morally gray heroine • An unreliable narrator • A story where psychological control is more dangerous than physical violenceThrough nonlinear storytelling and strategic reveals, the novel explores identity as performance, survival, and erasure.And it asks a chilling question: If your identity is manufactured… do you still own it?---⚠️ Listener Discretion AdvisedThis episode discusses:• homicide • staged deaths • stalking • coercive psychological control • identity theft • manipulationThe violence and criminal behavior discussed in this episode are not sanitized.---🔍 What We Break Down• Unreliable narration & nonlinear structure • Identity as costume, weapon, and survival mechanism • Psychological power without physical violence • Surveillance as domination • Moral gray areas and complicityIf you love psychological thrillers, morally complex female protagonists, and stories that blur the line between victim and predator, this episode is for you.---🕵️ Claw & Order: A True Crime ConnectionThis episode includes a real-world case that mirrors one of the novel’s missions.We discuss the theft and recovery of Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre — stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art in 1985 and recovered more than 30 years later.Read more here: https://news.arizona.edu/news/stolen-painting-returns-home-uarizona---📚 SourcesAshley Elston — First Lie Wins Pamela Dorman Books / Penguin Random House (2024)University of Arizona News — “Stolen Painting Returns Home to UArizona” (2022)---🐾 Stay Cozy, Stay CautiousFollow us on Instagram for mini episodes, clips, and behind-the-scenes mayhem:📸 @murdermittenkittensbcIf you enjoyed this episode, like, follow, and share with your fellow bookish true-crime kittens.Until next time: Stay curious. Stay cozy. And remember…In this world, the First Lie Wins.