Christina Baker Kline: A #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, Christina Baker Kline is published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times and the NYT Book Review, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Psychology Today, Poets & Writers, and Salon. Born in England and raised in the American South and Maine, Kline is a graduate of Yale (B.A.), Cambridge (M.A.) and the University of Virginia (M.F.A.), where she was a Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing.

Anne Burt is the coauthor with #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline of the thriller PLEASE DON’T LIE. Anne’s debut novel, THE DIG, was an American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick, the Strand Book Store’s mystery selection for spring 2023, and Indie Next’s lead “Thrills & Chills” reading group title for summer 2024. Anne is also the editor of MY FATHER MARRIED YOUR MOTHER and co-editor of ABOUT FACE. Her essays and fiction have appeared in numerous publications and venues, including Salon, NPR, and Working Mother, and she is a past winner of Meridian Literary Magazine’s Editors’ Prize in Fiction.

Q: How would you describe what Please Don’t Lie is about in 1-2 sentences?

A: Please Don’t Lie is a twisty psychological thriller about a young woman hoping to rebuild her life in a remote Adirondack town after a series of devastating losses – only to discover that the people around her, including her new husband, aren’t who they claim to be. It’s a story about trust, survival, and the dangerous space between truth and deception.

Q: How did the two of you come to write a book together? 

A: We’ve been friends for 25 years, and our creative partnership has evolved gradually – from editing an essay collection to pitching a TV series to developing a podcast outline. The real turning point came when we realized we didn’t want to hand that podcast idea off – we wanted to write it ourselves. That became the seed of Please Don’t Lie. It turns out that after years of talking about stories, we were ready to create one together.

Q: Were there any unexpected surprises or challenges writing a book in a singular voice?

A: The biggest surprise was how naturally that voice emerged. It didn’t sound like either of us individually; it became its own thing: sharper, less hesitant, more willing to twist the knife. Merging two distinct writing rhythms wasn’t always seamless, but we learned to lean into each other’s strengths and keep each other honest. Reading the entire manuscript aloud multiple times was essential to calibrating tone and pacing.

Q: Why was it important to you to set your book in the Adirondacks, and how did you create the fictional town of Crystal River?

A: The Adirondacks are both breathtaking and treacherous – perfect terrain for psychological suspense. The landscape gave us natural pockets of unpredictability: sudden storms, patchy cell service, vast isolation. Crystal River is fictional, but rooted atmospherically in places we know well. We spent a week together in a remote Airbnb to absorb the atmosphere, and that eerie, off-the-grid vibe made its way into every scene.

Q: Trust in marriage is a central theme of the book. Why was that important for the two of you to address?

A: Because trust is rarely absolute – and marriage, for all its intimacy, is full of blind spots. We’re fascinated by how people create stories about their partners, and about themselves, in order to feel safe. In Please Don’t Lie, we wanted to explore what happens when that safety erodes. What do you do when the person you trusted most starts to seem like a stranger?

Q: When you created your characters, do you draw on aspects of people you know? 

A: Not directly, but of course we’re inspired by the personalities of the people around us – especially their contradictions. Hayley and Megan aren’t based on anyone specific, but their personalities emerged from conversations we’ve had for years about regret, ambition, loyalty, self-deception. That said, it’s possible a few annoying text threads or lingering glances from real life made their way into the book…

Q: How did you plot out the mystery so there are clues, red herrings and the reader is left stunned by the outcome, yet can see that the signs were there?

A: We outlined the novel in painstaking detail – beats, reversals, emotional arcs, even snippets of dialogue – because thrillers demand precision. But we let ourselves stay open to surprise. Some of the best twists came during revision, when we saw new connections between clues we’d planted. The goal was to make the final reveal feel both shocking and inevitable.

Q: Please Don’t Lie is the first in a series of thrillers set in Crystal River. Can you tell us what is planned for the next book?

A: Sure! Our next book, Watch Her Lie (working title), opens with a tradwife influencer who vanishes mid-livestream. The disappearance sparks a viral investigation that exposes a toxic web of obsession and deceit. Some familiar faces from Please Don’t Lie return, but each novel in the Crystal River series stands on its own. That town still has a lot of secrets to give up.

Q: Do you each have solo projects in the works and can you share what will be next for you individually?

A: Christina’s next novel, The Foursome, comes out in spring 2026 – it’s a sweeping historical story with layered female characters and complex moral dilemmas. Anne is finishing a draft of her next novel, The Feather Palace, which takes on big questions of family and identity. Writing thrillers together has sharpened both of our solo voices.

Q: Any film or TV news you can tease? 

A: We can’t share specifics yet, but there’s been interest! We’re intrigued by the idea of seeing Crystal River on screen. The dinner party scene alone would make for great television. Stay tuned…