The perfect lie

Evert Struyck has it all: a beautiful wife, two children, a thriving business, and an enviable social circle. Then, on a freezing winter night, he drugs his family, drinks a bottle of vodka, and sets his house on fire. His wife and children escape by the skin of their teeth. Evert does not. The tragedy sends shockwaves through his group of friends. But when Babette and her children are taken in by her friend Karen, cracks begin to appear in the seemingly perfect friendships that bind their exclusive dinner club together. When other women in the group become involved in a series of mysterious accidents, it becomes increasingly clear that Evert’s death was no random act of desperation. More than one person stood to gain from his demise. SASKIA NOORT (1967) is a novelist and columnist whose books have sold over 3.5 million copies and been translated into fifteen languages. The Grown-Up was published in the US in 2025. Her work is frequently adapted for television, film and theatre, including the hit series The Couple Next Door starring Sam Heughan, based on New Neighbours. Her latest novel, Adem, is currently being adapted for film, while her bestselling novel The Dinner Club has become a Netflix series. The novel is the first part of a trilogy, followed by Debet and Offspring, neither of which has yet been translated into English.