Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 03:35     Subject: Re:First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't usually read this genre, and I found it a little confusing. Spoilers ahead!







I think there was only one person who was all bad: Mr. Smith.

Her husband did have a shady business, but was not trying to screw her over.

The woman who "allegedly" died in the fire was on her side the whole time. The fight in the bar was a set-up and when the narrator started the fire, she snuck out in a housekeeping cart.

The friend (I can't remember his name -- George?) was innocent, and rode off into the sunset.

She and the husband stayed together, doing something private investigator/spy/scam related.

That's what I got from it, but I could be wrong!


I thought George was mr Smith!


Really? I’m not sure how realistic it is that the head honcho was a messenger boy and also a worker bee for Ryan.




- I’m a year after you lol but still..

Yes, I agree. There’s no way George was actually Mr. Smith! I think George thought he was and was actually *put in charge* by Ryan. The real Mr Smith.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2025 08:21     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:I didn’t like this book at all. It was so slow, tedious, and confusing!

Maybe I’m a bad reader?!


Same. I did finish, but didn’t really enjoy. It felt too contrived to me.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2025 01:50     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Have to agree with the slow, tedious, confusion statement.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:25     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:Loved the book. Listened to it on a road trip straight through and very much enjoyed the twists.

I’m left with one question though:
What significance was there in Evie getting confirmation of the politician’s protection on her way to Atlanta? Was it just for backup support with detectives (even though it never came up) and to tie together her prior plot past with her marks to the present or was there something else I missed?


I think she was purposely visiting specific places/people because she knew Mr. Smith was tracking her and she wanted him to know she went to see the Governor. Mr. Smith suspected she really did get some dirt on him and was keeping it for herself rather than turning it over to him. By visiting him, she reinforces that suspicion in Mr. Smith.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:23     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you believe the simple denouement that George is Mr. Smith, then you've been duped by the obvious, just like the losers searching for Ralph Tate's ugly painting. Ryan is Mr. Smith, forced into assuming this role along with all the other nefarious businesses when his grandfather, the original Mr. Smith, died. Evie (Lucca) always wanted the sweet house and the husband, and Ryan fit the mold. Ryan wanted out of the Mr. Smith-business, so he slowly and selectively eliminated the "employees." By setting up the fake Lucca Marino and killing her off, he thought he could keep the real Lucca, with whom he was falling in love, from ever being able to leave him and return to her past identity. But as in all things, Lucca lied first, convincing Ryan that she loved him by changing his stolen business accounting turned over to "Mr Smith" to make his business look unworthy of takeover. Then she made him believe she "caught" George as the real Mr. Smith, so Ryan could exit that con game for good. Devon went to Ryan's home in Lake Forbing (see chapter 21) to set up the whole tech room so Lucca could assume the role and run it as Miss Smith, completely separate from Ryan. And with that, author Ashley Elston has set us up for a sequel.


Whoa!! Thank you for writing this out/carefully explaining!! This makes the most sense to me. A twist within a twist...very interesting!


But then again...wait...Mr. Smith had people killed, I don't think RYAN would do that or that Lucca would love him given that. It had to be George was Mr. Smith.


No, that PP is wrong. Devon had proof that George was Mr Smith. And Evie would not have set him up to be killed if she wasn’t sure. So was Ryan just another worker in Ms Smith’s group? Wasn’t he trying to get her? Was Evie ok with that because they could both be honest with Mr Smith gone.

I also don’t think Evie took over MR smith’s business. She just started a similar one and the name was a joke, since no one owns her anymore.


I agree. I think she might turn Robinhood, rather than the swindling business. But does Ryan clean up his East Texas business?
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:20     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:So who's body was in hotel room if it wasn't Amy's?


She tasked Devon with finding an unidentified body in a morgue who matched her characteristics and age range....perhaps the most improbable accomplishment in the entire story. Next to having imposter Lucca's dental records to replace with real Lucca's.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:18     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you believe the simple denouement that George is Mr. Smith, then you've been duped by the obvious, just like the losers searching for Ralph Tate's ugly painting. Ryan is Mr. Smith, forced into assuming this role along with all the other nefarious businesses when his grandfather, the original Mr. Smith, died. Evie (Lucca) always wanted the sweet house and the husband, and Ryan fit the mold. Ryan wanted out of the Mr. Smith-business, so he slowly and selectively eliminated the "employees." By setting up the fake Lucca Marino and killing her off, he thought he could keep the real Lucca, with whom he was falling in love, from ever being able to leave him and return to her past identity. But as in all things, Lucca lied first, convincing Ryan that she loved him by changing his stolen business accounting turned over to "Mr Smith" to make his business look unworthy of takeover. Then she made him believe she "caught" George as the real Mr. Smith, so Ryan could exit that con game for good. Devon went to Ryan's home in Lake Forbing (see chapter 21) to set up the whole tech room so Lucca could assume the role and run it as Miss Smith, completely separate from Ryan. And with that, author Ashley Elston has set us up for a sequel.


Whoa!! Thank you for writing this out/carefully explaining!! This makes the most sense to me. A twist within a twist...very interesting!


But then again...wait...Mr. Smith had people killed, I don't think RYAN would do that or that Lucca would love him given that. It had to be George was Mr. Smith.


The two questions/red flags I noted when I read the book were:
(1) no explanation as to how Ryan got involved with Mr. Smith or George
(2) one time when Lucca called Matt(?) and made him let her talk to Mr. Smith - I think when she was in the car with Ryan? - she noted that his disguised voice was a little higher than usual....suggesting she was talking with somebody different than Mr. Smith.
Anyone else note anything about that?
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:12     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:I'm at 70% on the audiobook version, and I'm struggling to complete this book. I'm finding it hard to follow and get annoyed with the constant time frame changes. I was going to wait to open this thread until I finished the book but decided today that I might give up so I'd go ahead and read the spoilers. The comments here are more interesting than I'm finding the book.


I can see how the audio version would be more difficult to follow the time shifts and all the different pseudo-names. Try the book. Still a little confusing, but pretty easy to flip back and remind yourself/clarify.

While I was reading the book, I could easily see it as a movie or tv series. The rights have been purchased, so I expect we'll see a film version soon.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:10     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is the significance of King Harvest Fan message board? I’m sure it was mentioned previously but I can’t remember


Is this where she communicated with Devon? They would leave coded messages to arrange their meetups.


It's where Mr. Smith received his clients' messages.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:09     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:If you believe the simple denouement that George is Mr. Smith, then you've been duped by the obvious, just like the losers searching for Ralph Tate's ugly painting. Ryan is Mr. Smith, forced into assuming this role along with all the other nefarious businesses when his grandfather, the original Mr. Smith, died. Evie (Lucca) always wanted the sweet house and the husband, and Ryan fit the mold. Ryan wanted out of the Mr. Smith-business, so he slowly and selectively eliminated the "employees." By setting up the fake Lucca Marino and killing her off, he thought he could keep the real Lucca, with whom he was falling in love, from ever being able to leave him and return to her past identity. But as in all things, Lucca lied first, convincing Ryan that she loved him by changing his stolen business accounting turned over to "Mr Smith" to make his business look unworthy of takeover. Then she made him believe she "caught" George as the real Mr. Smith, so Ryan could exit that con game for good. Devon went to Ryan's home in Lake Forbing (see chapter 21) to set up the whole tech room so Lucca could assume the role and run it as Miss Smith, completely separate from Ryan. And with that, author Ashley Elston has set us up for a sequel.


I can see how Ryan being the real Mr. Smith can fit - meaning they set-up George and sacrificed him to the previous crime victim. But Ryan is still going to his East Texas business at the end of the story, suggesting he's continuing with his crooked side gig. So either (1) he really was Mr. Smith and they've partnered up or (2) he's continuing on with his old business and she's taking the lead on the Smith business/solo managing the Smith business?
But if Ryan is not Mr. Smith, I don't understand how he gets mixed up with George. "Mr. Smith" presumably wants to take over Ryan's business, but there's no suggestion as to how he gets roped into the whole scheme. So that would lend weight to the Ryan = Mr. Smith interpretation. Plus, he does have the nasty cruel side Lucca witnessed at his East Texas office.
Regardless, Ryan doesn't turn a new leaf at the end - even if Lucca continues on with the Smith business without him.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 21:00     Subject: First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:Thank you so much for explaining the Miss Smith reference at the end - I was glued to the book the whole time but that threw me right at the end. So yes of course Lucca/Evie and Amy are partnering up as Lucca is taking over Mr. Smith/George’s business after his unfortunate demise - yep make sense - so it’s just sort of a joke that Amy makes at the end of the story to let the reader know what happened to Mr. Smith’s transport business and all his employees - they have a new boss! There could totally be a sequel to this story - I’d love it! Maybe how Evie and Amy and Ryan might merge their operations and clients to work together and then a disgruntled operative or client from the past or a Smith relative shows up for a hostile takeover or something else super sinister!


The book I read includes preview chapters of her next novel. I'm guessing that it is a continuation of this one, though that's not clear in the first two preview chapters. But disguises are involved and services-for-hire, so.... Maybe they turn to "good" deeds rather than criminal activity, though?
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 20:56     Subject: Re:First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:SPOILER ALERT!





Do you think George ( the guy who went to the bank and was hauled away by the mob people) was actually Mr. Smith or was Mr. Smith the husband? Do they call her Miss Smith in the end because she takes over the operations or bc her husband was the real Mr. Smith?



Oh! I might have been too naive to pick up on those possibilities.

I thought Mr. Smith was an entirely different person. I thought there was some reference to George going off and not being involved in the scams anymore. And I took Ryan at face value. I thought they took over operations and maybe calling her Miss Smith is a joke. IDK, though!


I thought so, too. The PPP's scenario didn't occur to me and is an interesting one. But I don't think that work because there is a comment in the narrative that Mr Smith will be dealt with by the people he scammed that they turned him over to. That clears him out of the way. I think Ryan and she just decided to continue on with their crooked work and she assumed the professional name Smith because she took Mr. Smith's place - by besting him.

Anonymous
Post 03/11/2025 14:51     Subject: Re:First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:Not sure why some found it confusing. To be sure there were some plot twists but otherwise kind of boring. Girl meets Mission Impossible (emphasis on the impossible plot).


I agree- it was confusing at parts while you still were guessing what was going on but she wrapped it up at the end and I didn't think there were any loose ends.
Anonymous
Post 03/08/2025 19:06     Subject: Re:First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Anonymous wrote:Not sure why some found it confusing. To be sure there were some plot twists but otherwise kind of boring. Girl meets Mission Impossible (emphasis on the impossible plot).
Maybe they did not want to finish reading it and just wanted to know how it ends.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2025 11:18     Subject: Re:First Lie Wins- can we discuss ending?
Not sure why some found it confusing. To be sure there were some plot twists but otherwise kind of boring. Girl meets Mission Impossible (emphasis on the impossible plot).